Autism Assessments

No. You can contact Playology directly to arrange an autism assessment for your child. You do not need a referral from a GP, paediatrician or other professional to get started.

If your child's paediatrician is already leading their diagnostic assessment, they can also refer to Playology for Psychology, Speech Pathology, or both, depending on the information they need.

Medicare rebates may be available for some autism assessment appointments when your child has been referred for assessment by a paediatrician or psychiatrist under the relevant Medicare pathway.

Unfortunately, a standard GP referral does not provide access to these particular autism assessment rebates.

If you're hoping to use Medicare, please speak with our Client Care team before beginning the assessment so we can check your referral and let you know which appointments may be eligible.

Psychology assessments completed by a registered psychologist may be eligible for a rebate through private health extras cover. Assessments completed by a provisional psychologist are generally not eligible.

Whether you can claim, and how much you can claim, depends on your insurer, level of cover and policy, so we recommend checking directly with your private health insurer.

You cannot claim both Medicare and private health insurance for the same appointment. However, where an assessment involves multiple appointments, you may be able to use Medicare for some eligible appointments and private health insurance for others.

You do not need to see a paediatrician before contacting Playology or beginning a Playology-led autism assessment.

When Playology is leading the assessment, we recommend paediatrian review as an important part of the broader assessment process. A paediatrician can consider medical, physical health and developmental factors that sit outside the scope of allied health assessment.

If your child's paediatrician has already begun the diagnostic process, we can instead complete the Psychology and/or Speech Pathology assessment they have requested and provide our findings back to them.

You don't need to be certain of the results before seeking an assessment - that's what an assessment is for.

Families may consider assessment when they have noticed ongoing differences in areas such as communication, social interaction, play, friendships, sensory experiences, routines, focused interests, flexibility or regulation, or when their child seems to be working particularly hard to manage everyday social or environmental demands.

An assessment is about understanding the overall pattern rather than looking for one particular behaviour or characteristic.

We're very used to this, and consider it as part of our overall assessment process. We know that children don't always communicate, interact or regulate in the same way across different environments. Some children may also consciously or unconsciously mask aspects of their experience, particularly in settings where they are working hard to meet social or behavioural expectations.

This is one reason we don't base an autism assessment on a single appointment or observation. We bring together developmental history, information from different settings, questionnaires, direct assessment and, where helpful, consultation with educators or other professionals.

Autism can look very different from one child to another, regardless of gender. However, research suggests that some autistic girls may be more likely to have presentations that are less readily recognised, which can contribute to autism being identified later or missed altogether.

For example, some children may appear socially confident, have friendships, use eye contact and gestures, or have interests that don't immediately stand out as unusual. They may learn social rules, imitate others, rehearse what to say, or consciously or unconsciously mask or camouflage aspects of their autistic experience. Their differences may become more apparent as social demands increase, or through the effort involved in navigating everyday situations.

While masking and more subtle presentations have been particularly recognised in autistic girls, they are not exclusive to girls. Boys and gender-diverse young people can also mask, compensate, or have an autistic presentation that doesn't fit common stereotypes.

This is why our assessments consider the many different ways autism can present, including more subtle or masked presentations. We bring together developmental history, everyday experiences, information from different settings and assessment observations, rather than relying on any one behaviour or assessment activity.

Some autistic children experience a strong and persistent need to avoid or resist everyday demands, particularly when demands create anxiety, uncertainty or a sense of losing autonomy or control. You may have heard this described as Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) or Persistent Drive for Autonomy.

In Australia, PDA is recognised as a behavioural profile that can occur within autism, rather than as a separate diagnosis. A demand avoidant profile can be an important part of understanding how an autistic child experiences and responds to everyday expectations.

During an autism assessment, we can explore patterns around demands, autonomy and control, anxiety or distress, flexibility and regulation, including how these experiences may vary across home, school and other settings. Where a demand avoidant profile is an important part of understanding your child, we can describe this within their assessment findings and consider it when making recommendations for support.

We also adapt the assessment process to your child. For children who experience significant demand avoidance, a highly structured or directive assessment approach may make it harder for them to participate or show us how they naturally communicate and interact. We can adjust how activities are introduced, offer greater choice and flexibility, follow your child's interests, reduce unnecessary demands, allow additional time or breaks, and use information and observations gathered across different contexts.

The aim isn't to make your child comply with an assessment. It's to create an assessment process in which they can participate as comfortably and authentically as possible, while still gathering the information needed to answer the assessment questions.

An autism assessment is not undertaken with a predetermined outcome.

If your child does not meet the diagnostic criteria for autism, we will explain why, what we learned through the assessment, and whether another developmental, communication, learning or mental health difference may better explain the pattern we observed.

Regardless of the diagnostic outcome, our aim is for you to leave with a clearer understanding of your child and practical recommendations for what may help next.

Yes, where appropriate. Autism and ADHD can co-occur, and there can also be overlap in how some characteristics present.

If there are questions about both autism and ADHD, we can consider this when planning your child's assessment rather than automatically treating them as completely separate assessment processes. Your psychologist will discuss which components are appropriate for your child.

Yes. Previous assessment reports, school or kindergarten information and reports from other health professionals can all provide useful information about your child's development and experiences over time.

We will consider what information is already available when planning the assessment so that we can determine what additional assessment is needed.

Completing an autism assessment does not automatically mean that a child will meet NDIS access requirements. It can form part of the evidence provided to the NDIS, but the assessment and evidence your child needs will depend on their individual circumstances and the NDIS pathway being considered.

For children under 6, it may be possible to access the NDIS under the developmental delay early intervention criteria without having a formal diagnosis. 

For other children, including children who are getting older or whose NDIS eligibility is being reviewed, families may be asked to provide further evidence about a permanent disability or impairment. 

Importantly, a diagnosis alone may not be enough. The NDIS may also require evidence showing how your child's disability or impairment affects their everyday functioning and support needs. Depending on what has been requested, this may involve additional functional assessment or information from other professionals.

NDIS evidence requirements are determined by the NDIA and can change over time. If you are considering an autism assessment to apply for the NDIS, or because your child's existing NDIS eligibility is being reviewed, please contact us before booking. Let us know what the NDIS or your Early Childhood Partner has asked you to provide, and we can help you work out which assessment pathway may be appropriate.