Imagine you waited months, maybe longer, to get an evaluation for your child. You suspected autism, or perhaps you did not. Either way you are handed a thick report with many numbers and standard scores and a diagnosis that was not what you expected. Your child does not have autism.
Now what?
Well, hopefully in obtaining a comprehensive evaluation and a diagnosis, or a report with no diagnosis, the psychologist offered some concrete recommendations for your child. As clinicians at CLEAR, we always mention a type of therapy or support and name providers we know or have worked with in the past who do that kind of therapy or support.
Next Steps
We are always surprised at CLEAR when we hear that not all reports give those detailed next steps that families can follow. Whether the report confirms what you thought was going on, or tells you something different, a good psychological evaluation will help guide you. Unfortunately, we are used to hearing from families and other providers that not all diagnoses come with the direction a family needs for what to do next.
Finding the Right Services
One thing that is really helpful about obtaining an accurate diagnosis is the direction to services that meet a child’s needs. For example, play therapy may be an indicated recommendation for a child dealing with divorce or other trauma. For a child with some behavior challenges associated with autism, ABA therapy may be a better fit. Diagnosis can help indicate the support needed.
There are many kinds of therapy available. A child who does not have autism may have trouble getting therapy like ABA covered by an insurance company. A child with depression, AD/HD, anxiety, or a phobia may easily qualify for psychotherapy, family therapy, play therapy, or another treatment like occupational therapy or neurofeedback. There are many treatments out there with research to support them and information on what the treatments do.
How We Can Help
At CLEAR, we offer a reference library of diagnoses and of treatment providers if a family is interested in learning more about a certain diagnosis or a type of treatment.
With a CADE profile you will receive treatment recommendations based on the symptoms for the profile you create. Click here to sign up to create a CADE profile for your child.
One of our biggest pet peeves in our careers in psychology has been seeing the wasted time and frustration a family may have invested in a treatment that is not indicated to support the symptoms their child is experiencing. We want to direct families to proven treatments that can help their child with areas of concern.
Contact us today to learn more!
