Autism Diagnostic Clinic

Our Autism Diagnostic Clinic specialists excel in care and education, providing high quality clinical services such as diagnostic evaluations and treatment, for patients with autism spectrum disorder and related disorders, their families and caregivers.

They also improve access to care and outcomes for children by training the next generation of providers in best practices for evaluating, diagnosing and treating autism spectrum disorder.

Eligibility

This clinic is appropriate for children as young as 16 months of age through late adolescence.

Autism Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation

A diagnostic evaluation at MMI is a two-part process that includes two appointments.

The first appointment involves a clinical interview, and the second appointment is when the comprehensive evaluation (testing) takes place.

Clinical Interview

The first appointment is an interview completed with you (parent or guardian) and your child, either in person or through a video appointment (i.e. telehealth). During this appointment, we will ask you questions about your child’s development and observe your child.

The interview appointment generally takes about 45 to 90 minutes and helps clinicians come up with an appropriate assessment plan for your child and family.

Preparing for Your Clinical Interview

• Think about your child’s developmental progress (e.g., Is your child meeting developmental milestones as expected?). If you are unsure of when typical developmental milestones are achieved, please review websites and other resources that provide information about developmental milestones.
• Send to us copies of previous evaluations, including any specialized school plans or previous testing.
  • Fax: 402-559-1783
  • Email
• Individualized Education Plan.
• Individualized Family Service Plan.
• Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team Report.
• Psychological Evaluations.
• Make sure your child is present for the appointment.

Comprehensive Evaluation

After the clinical interview appointment, most children are scheduled for a comprehensive evaulation, or testing appointment. The evaluation typically lasts between three to four hours. Time permitting, a summary of diagnoses and recommendations is provided the day of the evaluation.

For older children and adolescents, we may schedule a lunch break if we think that testing will take five or more hours.

The tests administered are unique to your child, but in general, these tests typically include:

• Developmental or cognitive assessment.
• Assessment of social interaction and play skills.
• EarliPoint^TM
  • EarliPoint may be used with toddlers.
• Adaptive skills assessment.
• Social-Emotional assessment.
• Speech Language evaluation.
  • Speech language pathologists may be included on evaluations depending on your child’s needs.
• Feedback session with caregivers to discuss any diagnoses provided, along with recommendations.
  • Occasionally, clinicians may decide to gather additional information before conducting the feedback session. If this is the case for your child, your clinician will discuss options for you and your family the day of your appointment.

Preparing for Your Comprehensive Evaluation

• Do your best to make sure your child sleeps well the night before the appointment and eats prior to the appointment (e.g., breakfast or lunch).
• Plan for extra travel time to accommodate for traffic (testing appointments start promptly at their scheduled times).
• Administer any prescribed medications as normal.
• Bring your child’s glasses and hearing aids, if applicable.
• You may bring snacks, drinks and comfort or leisure items for your child to access during breaks. We want you and your child to be as comfortable as possible throughout the appointment.
• No peanut products are allowed in our clinic.
• Bring any records (e.g., Individualized Education Plan, other evaluation reports) that may assist the team in understanding your child.

Resources

• American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: Online resources for caregivers about certain disorders (anxiety, ADHD, autism) and topics (bullying).
• Autism Navigator: Online instructional courses for caregivers and professionals.
• CARE Program: A brief introduction to autism spectrum disorder.
• e-Unstuck and On Target Program: An online learning course supporting executive functioning and behavior regulation in children with autism, developed by the authors of the school-based Unstuck and On Target executive functioning curriculum.
• National Autism Center at May Institute: Evidence-based information about autism for families, practitioners and communities.
• Book: Social Skills Training for Children and Adolescents with Asperger’s Syndrome and Social Communication Problems (Jed Baker).
• Book: Preparing for Life: The Complete Handbook for the Transition to Adulthood for Those with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome (Jed Baker).