An autism evaluation is not a test your child passes or fails. It’s a process to better understand how your child’s brain works, how they experience the world, and what supports help them thrive. Autism is a natural variation in human neurodevelopment, not something caused by parenting or something that needs to be “fixed.” The goal of an evaluation is clarity, not judgment. The evaluation will include assessment of areas including intellectual/cognitive abilities, language development, sensory processing, attention, executive functioning (e.g., emotional regulation, task initiation, mental flexibility), and adaptive functioning. Neurodivergent individuals (people who think, learn, process information, or experience the world in a different way) are often neurodivergent in more than one way, so the evaluation is comprehensive and explores all needed areas of functioning identified through the intake process. All evaluations are tailored to the individual child. Many neurodivergent individuals experience co-occurring mental health symptoms (e.g., anxiety, irritability), which are also assessed for. From the evaluation, you will gain: A strengths-based profile of how your child thinks, communicates, and learns; practical recommendations for school, home, and community supports; and space to ask questions and process what this means for your family. A diagnosis, if given, is a tool, not a limit. It can open doors to understanding, accommodations, and self-acceptance. Many families report that the evaluation brings relief, language for advocacy, and a clearer path forward.

Fun facts: 1- The creator of Pokémon (Satoshi Tajiri) is autistic; 2- Many autistic individuals excel at identifying patterns, rules, and structures in information.