Multidisciplinary Autism

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that is generally evident by the age of 3 that affects verbal and nonverbal communication.  Licensed psychologists are qualified professionals in the assessment and identification/diagnosis of ASD.  However, as a primarily communication disorder, speech language pathologists (SLPs) specialize in communication assessment and intervention.

As such, Dr. Andersen has teamed up with a local SLP to provide high quality multidisciplinary evaluations.  That is you or your child will be evaluated by two specialists yielding a precise diagnosis and targeted interventions.

To further illustrate the need for a SLP to be a part of your or your child's evaluation, the following are common symptoms of ASD that SLPs specialize in evaluating.

• Deficits in social reciprocity (i.e., back-and-forth conversation)
• Abnormal approach to social interactions
• Lack of interest in sharing, other's interests/emotions
• Difficulty initiating or responding to social interactions
• Difficulty sustaining eye contact or typical physical space (e.g., standing too close to others)
• Difficulty developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships