Autism Diagnostic Evaluations for Children

Our autism diagnostic evaluations for children, up to age 12, are a collaborative, compassionate process designed to honor your child’s unique way of being in the world, while engaging your sense of knowing as the adult(s) in their life.

It’s important to us that you understand that many schools won’t accept reports that aren’t done by their school personnel and/or that don’t follow the typical assessment route (i.e., standard neuropsychological testing by a psychologist). As such, we are often a good fit for your child if you’re looking for a neuro-affirming approach to diagnosis in order to best care for your child at home and/or help them understand themselves, especially if they were missed by the traditional testing (such as those children who are highly perceptive, empathetic, or sensitive; achieving academically; engaging socially; and/or masking to fit in), or as a compliment to standard testing.

We take a neuro-affirming approach that values insight from both you and your child. Rather than focusing on deficits, like the traditional model of evaluation, we explore your child’s neurotype with curiosity and center their strengths and needs. Every step of the process is grounded in the belief that your child should be supported and understood, not fixed or changed.

Our goal is that the evaluation experience feels insightful and that the written report offers clarity, direction, and practical resources and recommendations. Most importantly, we want your child to feel celebrated in who they are.

We use an equitable sliding scale pricing model. (See “Our Pricing” below for more about this approach and help determining your rate.)

  • Accessible rate:

    • Autism evaluation: $1100 (or 2 payments of $550)

  • Sustainable rate:

    • Autism evaluation: $1300 (or 2 payments of $650)

  • Inclusive rate:

    • Autism evaluation: $1500 (or 2 payments of $750)

The diagnostic interview session for your child’s evaluation can be a combination of in-person and virtual via telehealth, as it is typically 3-5 hours in total. The length of the sessions and way we approach depends on your child’s age. If we divide the time, this might initially look like a collateral interview with you, which can be in-person or via telehealth, and is 1-3 hours. Then, we would meet with your child, either in-person (if they’re younger) or virtually (if they’re almost in the teen range), which is another 1-3 hours, depending on their age; for younger children, we have the option to use our office’s play room for their portion. The length of time skews more toward assessment of the child as they get older, depending on their desire for engagement. We may also provide collateral questionnaires to teachers or other important adults; this is recommended if you’re hoping to use the report for any school accommodations, as we can provide some of the test results they are most likely looking for. The session to review your child’s report, evaluation outcomes, and recommendations is 25-minutes; these are only conducted virtually via telehealth. The overall evaluation process takes your clinician an average of up to 11 hours, depending on the amount of collateral data that needs collected.

Our Process

    • Diagnostic evaluation is the process of determining if someone meets the clinical criteria for a diagnosis, like autism. We treat the DSM-5 criteria as an adaptive framework, applying it with nuance and care through a neuro-affirming lens.

    • In our country, diagnostic evaluation typically uses the DSM-5 criteria, and there are many tools based on this criteria that can be used for diagnostic evaluation. Most of these tools are rooted to neuronormative perspectives and evaluate based on deficits. However, there are tools that center the neurodivergent experience; we designed our evaluation process using these. If you’re curious about what specific tools we use, just ask!

    • We follow the Lived Experience Informed Practice model, meaning lived experience is the foundation for our diagnostic exploration. We then blend this with an understanding of your child’s life circumstances, an intersectional lens, clinical best practice, and evidence-based research to make meaning.

    • We engage you and your child collaboratively during this process, which includes: gathering developmental and social history; completing self-report questionnaires; conducting a diagnostic interview session and collateral interview(s) with you and other adults; observing or having an interview session with your child; writing an evaluation report; and finally, reviewing the report, evaluation outcomes, and recommendations.

    • Yes! In the Commonwealth of Virginia, under Virginia Code §54.1-3500, licensed clinical social workers (LCSW) can provide diagnostic services at the autonomous practice level and use the DSM for diagnostic evaluation. (Learn more here.) We map our diagnostic reports back to the DSM-5 for this reason.

    • While LCSWs cannot conduct full neuropsychological testing — which is typical for the normative process of evaluation — autism and ADHD evaluations do not require this testing for diagnosis, and our process is intentionally designed to be neuro-affirming.

    • This section contains a lot of info, but we include this for our fellow autistic/ADHD folx who benefit from clear, detailed expectations.

    • You will complete our client inquiry form to let us know you would like to schedule. Please let us know if you would like your collateral interview as part of the diagnostic interview session or on a separate day/time. We will then email you with date/time options, and you will be expected to reply to schedule.

    • Once you schedule your session, you will be emailed a link through Carepatron, our HIPAA-compliant portal. You are expected to establish your portal for ongoing communication.

    • In the portal, you will receive consents and questionnaires, as well as your invoice. These need to be completed and the invoice paid at least 72 hours prior to your child’s scheduled session.

    • During the diagnostic interview session, your child is invited to stim, take breaks, and care for themselves in the ways they need; please encourage/guide this as their adult. If they’re in-person, our office has lots of comfy seating, plenty of fidgets to choose from, and natural lighting. Here is a picture of what it looks like! We also have a separate play room we can use for their session, if they are younger, as well as a room with no windows, if light sensitivity is a concern. They can also bring whatever they need to feel supported (fidgets, comfort items, food, drinks, etc.) and wear comfy clothes — we model inclusivity by doing the same!

    • As part of the evaluation process, we start with a collateral interview with you, which can be completed either in-person or via telehealth. You encouraged to do this interview a different day than your child’s, because a few hours is a lot at one time!

    • Once your child’s evaluation report is ready, we will reach out to you to schedule the 25-minute report review session; this will be via telehealth (video session). If you chose the split payment option, the final payment will also be due 24 hours before this session. During the review, we invite questions, as well as feedback to ensure the report feels aligned and affirming.

    • We provide services both in-person and virtually via telehealth.

    • Our office for in-person sessions is in Richmond, VA near Bryan Park (address provided after scheduling). This space is owned by The Properties of Light, an intentionally neuro-affirming practice. Our space includes the option of a play room for child sessions.

    • We can also provide virtual services throughout Virginia, as long as the client is in the state at the time of the session.

Our Pricing

We are committed to cost transparency.

    • No — all of our services are out-of-pocket to ensure autonomy over diagnostic disclosure; if we took insurance, any diagnosis would become a part of your child’s medical record/history. This feels especially important in this social and political climate.

    • Our equitable sliding scale model helps to distribute wealth and ensure accessibility to services for clients of all financial statuses.

    • We use a self-determined sliding scale model for our services, with three rate tiers: (Learn more about identifying your rate here.)

      • Inclusive rate: above the cost of providing these services, offering mutual aid; for those with more financial resources

      • Sustainable rate: at the cost of providing these services (our “regular” rate); for those with average financial resources

      • Accessible rate: below the cost of providing these services, engaging mutual aid; for those with less financial resources

    • Self-determined means we do not require any disclosure to select your rate, as we believe in the integrity and self-awareness of our clients. Simply select your rate when you schedule.

    • We understand that, even with our equitable sliding scale pricing model, the cost of private pay autism evaluations can be prohibitive. We are working to identify grants and other opportunities to cover some or all of our accessible rate for a few clients each year. If you would like to be added to our waitlist for these reduced fee and pro bono sessions, please email us.

    • We evaluated market rates for autism evaluations for children, which typically range anywhere from $2500-5000. We then set our rates well below this, while attending to the work involved and our financial sustainability as a business. Here is the typical time commitment for a child’s autism evaluation:

      • 1-1.5 hours of prep, reviewing self-report questionnaires

      • 3-5 hours of diagnostic interview session with the client and collateral interviews with the important adult(s)

      • 3-4 hours of session analysis and writing of diagnostic report and recommendations

      • 30-minute session to review report, evaluation outcomes, and recommendations

      • Total: up to 11 hours for an evaluation

    • Our sustainable rate averages to $110/hour, which is below the market rate for private pay therapy services ($182/hour in 2022).

    • Payments are due in advance, made securely through our portal.

    • We have two payment options: (1) In-full, up to 72 hours prior to their diagnostic interview session, or (2) Two equal split payments, with the first half due up to 72 hours prior to the diagnostic evaluation session and the second due up to 24 hours prior to the report review session. We understand if you need to space these two sessions out to make the payments more manageable; you can do so up to 2-months post-initial session.