Our pediatrician referred our 3-year-old for an autism evaluation after some flags on the M-CHAT screening. The developmental clinic quoted us a NINE MONTH waitlist, which feels insane.
Two questions: what actually happens at the evaluation when we finally get there? And is there anything useful we can (or should) be doing during the wait? Someone mentioned the school district can also evaluate - is that the same thing?
The nine-month wait is sadly normal - and there's a lot you can do with it.
What the evaluation usually looks like: a detailed developmental-history interview with you, a play-based structured observation with your child (most commonly the ADOS-2), often some cognitive and language measures, plus questionnaires for parents and any teachers. Usually 2-4 hours total, sometimes split over two visits, with a written report a few weeks later.
While you wait - this is the important part:
1) Get on several waitlists, not one, and ask each clinic to add you to their cancellation list. Families regularly jump months ahead this way.
2) You do NOT need a diagnosis to start speech or OT. Ask your pediatrician for those referrals now.
3) At age 3, your free parallel track is the school district: request a special education evaluation in writing. Under 3, it's Early Intervention. The school evaluation determines eligibility for services at school - it is not a medical diagnosis - but it can get real help started months before the clinic visit, and the two don't conflict. Most families end up wanting both: the school eval for an IEP, the medical diagnosis for insurance-funded therapy.
4) Keep a short list of specific observations ("lines up cars for 40 minutes," "no response to name since about 18 months") - concrete examples make the history interview far more accurate.
The wait feels like lost time. It doesn't have to be.
Our wait was quoted at 8 months - the cancellation list got us in at 3. And starting speech through Early Intervention during the wait mattered more than I expected: the diagnosis eventually unlocked insurance coverage for ABA, but those EI sessions are what carried us through the waiting period. Take Rachel's advice, all of it.
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