Autism Assessments & Diagnosis in Western Australia

The autism assessment process can be confusing for parents beginning to investigate the possibility of a diagnosis. In Western Australia, autism assessments can be arranged through a referral from a paediatrician or GP, or by referring yourself.

What’s involved?

Different practices and clinicians may use different tools to assess a child for autism. At CommuniKids Speech Therapy, our autism assessments consist of three components:

1. Parent interview – a comprehensive parent interview is completed with one or both caregivers. This covers general history, as well as questions specific to an autism diagnosis.
2. Child assessment – the speech pathologist completes an assessment with the child. This involves a variety of tasks during which the speech therapist looks for verbal and non-verbal signs of autism.
3. Additional information – the speech therapist will then gather additional information from other therapists, teachers, day care educators and other sources as needed. If required, a school or day care observation may also be completed.

Once these components are completed, the speech pathologist will prepare a comprehensive report, that addresses the DSM-5 criteria for autism.

In WA, an autism diagnosis for a child under 12 requires an assessment to be completed by a paediatrician, a psychologist and a speech pathologist. Adolescents aged 13 to 17 need an assessment by a paediatrician or psychiatrist, a psychologist, and a speech pathologist if required. A provisional diagnosis may be possible after the speech pathology and psychology assessments, which can open up some funding options while waiting for the diagnosis to be finalised.

CommuniKids Speech Therapy currently offers the speech therapy component of the autism assessment. Get in touch to talk to our friendly admin team about what we offer and current availability.