Autism evaluation- what to expect?

[Alexigail]

My son (4) is being evaluated for autism on Friday. He has already "qualified" for special education, though we're waiting for this evaluation to decide whether to send him to preschool or not.

 

I'm just wondering if anyone knows what we can expect at the evaluation. I know there's an interview portion and then testing, but I have no idea what kinds of tests they do and what it will be like - ? He's had speech evaluations but had trouble answering the questions because his communication is limited. I'm just wondering what kinds of things they will be doing.

 

Thanks!

 

PS I hope this is the right place to ask. I'm still learning to navigate the boards :)

[Kathryn]

Who is doing it? Ours was with a psychologist at a developmental pediatrician's office. They did an IQ test, asked us questions, and sent us to lunch with more questions to fill out. Then the psychologist did the ADOS with him, which is basically him playing with him in a prescribed manner and observing his actions and responses. I wish I could remember the names of the questionnaires we had to answer. Oh, one was the ADI-R.

[Alexigail]

Thanks, that's helpful, at least to have something to look up :) . I'm so nervous about this whole thing.

 

There will be 90 min with "medical staff" including one pediatrician and I'm assuming a language therapist or psychologist. Then 30 min with "Social Work", which I'm guessing is interviews (?) They did say that we would have the results on the same day, which is good.

 

When he had his speech evaluations, he enjoyed them but was always completely exhausted afterwards, so I'm trying to think of ways to make the day easier on him. He would also get very frustrated at times with all the questions etc. I just have no idea what to expect.

[MeaganS]

When my dd was diagnosed last year, they had me fill out a really long questionaire, the Vineland test, I think, among other things. There was a developmental pediatrician, her Resident student, a speech pathologist, and a psychologist. Mostly it was me answering questions. They did some game-like tests with her as well for a while. The other main test was the ADOS. They couldn't do the IQ test or other cognitive tests because her anxiety levels were through the roof (doctor's offices make her nervous).