FAQs

Answer: You are under no obligation to share an ASC diagnosis with anyone. Should you wish to disclose the diagnosis to key people in your life/your child’s life, the clinician can discuss this with you.  Minds and Hearts will not provide this information to any third party without your consent. If you have been referred by another professional, your clinician will write to this person with the outcome of the assessment.

Answer: It is difficult to “force” someone to attend the clinic.  It is important that the person attending the clinic wants to be there.  It may be helpful to explain that the appointment is to help both of you to improve and learn better ways of managing and coping. Should you be unable to encourage the person to attend, it may be helpful to attend the clinic alone to discuss concerns as well as management strategies and advice.

Answer: It is still the case in Queensland that a specialized medical practitioner i.e. a paediatrician, child psychiatrist, must sign the paperwork from the school in order for funding to be approved for a child.  Psychologists at Minds and Hearts are specialists in ASC and are well-qualified to provide an accurate diagnostic assessment and useful recommendations. However afterwards, to obtain school funding, should the school require it, you will still need to see a medical specialist. A GP referral is needed for this visit.  It is most likely that the medical specialist would need to make his/her own assessment.  The advantage of having a diagnostic assessment at Minds and Hearts is that we are a specialists in ASC and can provide high quality, specialized follow-up care if needed.

Answer: No, you do not have to tell your child about the reason he/she is attending the clinic.  You may tell your child that they are coming along to meet someone that is interested in getting to know more about their interests, family, pets, friends etc.  Should your child receive a diagnosis on the autism spectrum, the clinician can speak with you about when and how to convey this diagnosis to your child in the future.

Answer: No, not always.  Sometimes the clinician may require further information and may need to contact (with your permission) school teachers, other family members, other specialists involved in the person’s care.

Answer: Because there is so much neural development between the ages of 3 and 6 years, the diagnostic picture is not clear at a very young age and may still be emerging.  The clinician may therefore provide a provisional diagnosis and encourage the child to be reviewed every 6 months until the child reaches the age of 6 or 7 years.  

Answer: Yes.  It is important to continue with normal medication regimes when attending an appointment at the clinic.

Answer: Any previous reports by paediatricians, psychiatrists, psychologists, speech pathologists, audiologists, occupational therapists are useful for the clinician to view to assist with the assessment process.  The child’s most recent school report can also be helpful.  It is important to send copies of these documents in approximately one week prior to the appointment to allow the clinician time to review these.  Also bring any completed questionnaires that were posted out to you. 

Answer: While it is certainly beneficial to have both parents attend appointments at Minds and Hearts, it is not vital.  It is in the best interests of the client if the parent who attends the clinic conveys any information and strategies to his/her partner.

Answer: When conducting a diagnostic assessment with an adult it is helpful to have a family member or partner attend the appointment also to gain further information to assist with the assessment.  The individual being assessed will have some time with the clinician answering questions and completing activities and the partner or family member will have also have some time alone with the clinician.  A number of questionnaires may be used to assist in the assessment process.

Answer: Generally the clinician will spend the first 45 minutes with the teenager on his/her own asking him/her questions and getting him/her to complete activities. The remainder of the time is spent with the parent/s while the teenager is in the waiting room.

Answer: A diagnostic assessment at Minds and Hearts commences with an initial pre-diagnostic assessment appointment.  Prior to the appointment parent/s are asked to complete some questionnaires on their child.  They will also be sent a questionnaire that the teacher will be asked to fill out prior to the appointment.  The aim of the pre-diagnostic assessment appointment is to determine whether the diagnostic assessment will be helpful to the family and to plan for what this will involve.  Should the clinician feel that a diagnostic assessment is the best way forward for a family they will arrange a series of appointments aimed at gathering the information required to determine whether or not an individual is on the autism spectrum.  In the appointment following the pre-diagnostic assessment interview, the first half an hour is spent with the parent and child together and the child is asked a number of questions and asked to complete some activities.  If the child is very young, the clinician will spend time playing with and observing the child.  The remainder of the appointments are spent with the parent/parents.   The clinician may require between 2 and 5 sessions to gather enough information to review in preparation for the feedback session.  The feedback session is one hour in length and usually held one to two weeks after the previous appointment.  During the feedback session the clinician explains whether the child is on the autism spectrum, if so what label best describes the child’s profile of abilities, and if not, what may better explain the child’s strengths and challenges.  The clinician also provides recommendations for areas for the family to address.  Some families request a report summarising the assessment and recommendations and this is an additional charge.