Autism Evaluations

The Autism Evaluation Process

Dr. Jenn and Kim have been certified as Center of Excellence providers in Washington State to assess for autism spectrum disorders and provide recommendations for services including ABA Therapy.

Center of Excellence Evaluations

We have decided to conduct these evaluations in at least 2 visits. The first visit is mainly history gathering. For this we ask that you have completed our COE Autism Evaluation Form and bring it with you to the appointment or submit it through Jotforms. (Click on the above button to link to the Jotforms.)

If your child has any of the following, please be sure to bring copies of them:

• An Individualized Education Plan (IEP)
• Previous developmental testing
• Recent notes from therapists including speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy

The second visit allows us to interact more with your child including playing with him/her, watching how he/she interacts with you and others in the room. If you happen to have any photos or videos of behaviors which are concerning to you, please have those available to show us.

We have found that breaking the appointment into 2 smaller appointments helps keep the child from getting too overwhelmed and allows for a more accurate picture of what is going on. If you feel that your child would do better in 3 shorter sessions, please let us know.

DSM-5 diagnosis

Dr. Jenn and Kim will then take time to put together all the information to determine if your child fits the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder, and if so, what level he/she would meet. Sometimes we determine that additional evaluation by a psychologist is necessary, and we will help to facilitate this and also help coordinate therapy services to help support your child's needs.

Review Diagnosis and Notes

Once the note is written, we will get a copy to you to review as we want to make sure what we documented is correct. A lot is shared during these visits, so we always want to make sure our diagnosis is based off the most accurate information.

Provide a Care Plan

We will then provide a plan which includes recommendations for therapies, ABA or other resources as indicated. We have the ability to send genetic testing to GeneDx as part of the care plan to evaluate for an underlying genetic cause contributing to the child's condition.