Diagnosis/Identification in Later Childhood or Adolescence

The professional who is conducting the assessment will suggest information that will be helpful in the assessment process. They may send questionnaires to be completed prior to the assessment sessions. They often obtain the child’s developmental history through a form that they provide for the parent to fill out. 

Most often the parents will not be in the room during the direct assessment of the child or adolescent; however, many evaluators will spend time with a parent or parents interviewing them about their child and giving the parents opportunity to ask questions.  Usually, this parent interview is conducted without the child in the room. This is because it helps parents to be more open in discussing their child’s characteristics and needs. Many children and adolescents feel uncomfortable being in a room as they are being discussed. In some situations, there are elements of the child’s history that the parents feel their child is not ready to know. The information may be something that requires more maturity before the child is able to understand and process it without being overwhelmed.

The number of sessions varies widely depending on the setting and the approach used to diagnose or identify autism. The autism evaluation may last from 1 to 2 hours to over 8 hours.