Autism Assessment

What Is Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)?

At the CPAC, we see Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) through a neurodiversity or neurodivergence lens, but also recognize that Autism brings a host of challenges associated with social communication, sensory integration, and navigating this neurotypical world making it equally imperative to maintain the view that it is a developmental disorder.

ASD affects people in two big ways. First, it can make it harder for them to communicate and socialize with others. Second, it can cause people to have repetitive behaviors and limited interests. We strive to find middle ground between seeing ASD as a neurotype and a genetic disorder of brain development. ASD is characterized by persistent impairments in social communication, and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behaviors, interests, or activities.

Autism Assessments

The CPAC provides cutting-edge Autism assessments grounded in a neurodiversity framework for children 6-years-old and older, adolescents, and adults based in the latest developments in psychological science. The assessment typically takes place over two appointments: a diagnostic interview and then an in-office visit to complete the direct assessments. The second appointment typically takes 3-4 hours.

The Autism assessment provided by the CPAC is comprehensive and includes: caregiver interviews; review of medical, academic, and previous testing records; consultation with medical providers such as Therapists, Psychiatrists, Physicians, and Teachers, if relevant; caregiver questionnaires; and in office assessment with the client.

In addition to cognitive and mental health assessments, our Autism assessments include a combination of the following ASD-specific assessments:

• Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Second Edition (ADOS-2)
• Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Second Edition (CARS-2)
• Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R)
• Social Responsiveness Scale, Second Edition (SRS-2)
• Sensory Processing Measure, Second Edition (SPM-2)
• Gilliam Autism Rating Scale, Third Edition (GARS-3)

We believe, for best practice, it’s important to include psychological and cognitive testing as part of the assessment to help us rule out other diagnoses.