Getting a Autism Diagnosis?

Can a child psychologists give a medical diagnosis of Autism or other related Autism Spectrum Disorders like PDD-NOS etc. I know my son is on the spectrum, he has many Autistic behaviors and it's very clear even to someone who knows nothing of Autism that my son is disabled. We are on the waiting list to have an evaluation with a developmental pediatrician but we can get into a child Psychologists pretty soon and I'm wondering if they can do what the big evaluation can but sooner and without my child going through 4-5 hrs which is how long it would be for the evaluation that we are on the waiting list for. We won't get as many services until we get an official diagnosis for insurance so that's why I'm wondering.Getting a Autism Diagnosis?
yes a child psychologist can give a mental diagnosis of PDD-NOS or an autism spectrum disorder (but just double check with that child psychologist so you don't waste your time if that particular person isn't qualified enough). i know that they can because my psychologist originally diagnosed me with PDD

i also know that soon the new DSM is coming out and there will no longer be disorders in the book like PDD or Aspergers (all of these are mild forms of autism and affect kids socially but not necessary cognitively) and they will all be classified as autism spectrum disorders just with different severity... i thought that might be useful information...

good luck with everything

EDIT: sorry i'm wrong... they can't. my team of doctors (including my psychologist) diagnoised me... but my doctor was in on it too.Getting a Autism Diagnosis?
A child psychologist CANNOT give this diagnosis.



I have been through the mill will this and finally got a diagnosis last year. My son is 11. You need to ask the psychologist or your family doctor to refer you to the local community autism team. They will assess your son and give you a diagnosis. If you are not happy with their assessment you can ask for a second opinion from a national body for autism.



All the caregivers in my sons life were convinced that my son had Aspergers. Teachers, psychologists, support teachers. The community autism team assessed my son and told me that they couldn't diagnose Aspergers because my son didn't tick all the boxes for it. I knew that me and all the other people were right, we were spending every day with my son not just an hour in a room. So I got my GP to refer us to the Scottish Centre for Autism for a second opinion. We went, spent two hours there and the doctor gave me a debrief of the assessment and basically said "I gonna cut to the chase here. He has Aspergers there is no doubt about it." Our lives are now on the right track, but my son lost his place at an Autistic school because of that first assessment.



Push for the assessment and don't take no for an answer. You know your child. You spend every day with him. He needs you to be his advocate, his champion.



Please feel free to email me if you need more advice. I know what it's like to be stuck on the wheel waiting for an answer.Getting a Autism Diagnosis?
No, a child psychologist can not give a medical diagnosis. A medical diagnosis can only be given by a medical doctor: a pediatric neurologist, a psychiatrist, etc. A child psychologist can give a psychological diagnosis but not a medical one b/c they are not medical doctors. You will not qualify for any benefits, insurances, and your child will not be given any accomodations in K-12 without an official medical diagnosis. We are going through this process with my 5 year old son now b/c in order for him to get any kind of help when he starts kindergarten in public school, he has to have a medical diagnosis of autism or developmental delays or whatever it is he has. Also, I've learned the hard way that child psychologists are quick to label a child as autistic when they may not really be. We've been told over and over by all of the early intervention specialists that work with our son that he fits on the autism scale, but the pediatric neurologist we are taking him to is one of the foremost experts in the US for autism and says he has delays but that he does NOT in any way, shape, or form fit into any category on the autism scale. Upon reading up on autism-related disorders, we saw where many of his behaviors do match, but not all and not the most pronounced ones. So, even though it takes forever to get into a medical specialist and get your son evaluated, do it because if your son gets labelled wrongly, that wrong label will follow him through his life and he won't get the best help he needs to reach his potential. We are now seeing many changes in our son: he used to avoid people socially but now is very sociable. He used to only be able to say about 10 words but even I couldn't understand him most of the time and he'd only talk to me usually. Now he talks a LOT and about so many things. He used to not be able to use descriptive words or form sentences correctly, but he is doing every bit of that now. He now pretend-plays and also plays with other kids. He is now learning his alphabet and writing. We're finding that if you tell him how to spell something one time, he remembers it. He is starting to recognize words when he sees them. It is amazing how far he has come with early intervention and lots of people praying for him. God bless you and your son and I hope you find the help he needs.

You don't mention how old he is or if he is in early intervention so I just want to tell you that if he is preschool aged, he can get early intervention through the county educational services in your area. If you cannot find a number for them, call your local school administrative offices and ask them how to get in contact with the educational service center for early intervention in your area. They told us wrong about our son, but they have helped him tremendously and provide speech therapy, and motor skills therapy and it is all free.