Help Your Child Find Peace and Connection

Pediatric Autism Testing

Children and Adolescents / Georgetown, TX

A comprehensive neuropsychologival evaluation (“autism testing”) is the first step.

An evaluation will…

  • Identifies autism as well as common co-occurring conditions, such as ADHD, anxiety, OCD, learning differences, and fine motor delays.

  • Equips you and your child with knowledge about your child’s specific autistic profile.

  • Supports informed decision-making around medication (Is medication nice-to-have or must-have?)

  • Provides information on the type of behavioral therapy a child might need.

  • Identifies specific educational supports based on your child’s autistic profile, strengths, and weaknesses. The evaluation also supports (not guarantees) qualifying for formal educational support, such as a 504 Plan or IEP.

Grow On the Spectrum

Research demonstrates the lives of autistics can improve with intervention and support. There are numerous treatments (medication and non-medication) that produce significant improvement in reducing minority stress and risk for high dependence.

Science-based supports include:

  • Speech and language therapy to improve language, communication, and articulation skills.

  • Occupational therapy improves performance in daily tasks, improves motor coordination, and handles sensory sensitivities.

  • Social skills training equips children with skills to interact and strengthen relationships with neurotypical peers.

  • CBT helps autistic youth learn skills to reduce anxiety and depression.

  • RODBT helps autistic teens and young adults overcome anxiety, worry, avoidance, and perfectionism to build a life worth sharing.

  • Parent training helps equip parents with a unique skill set to raise their autistic child, strengthen the parent-child relationship, and improve parent confidence.

  • Early intervention and school-based support can improve language, motor, and academic functioning.

From $2700

(or $135/mo for 24 mo with your CareCredit credit card*)

Comprehensive Autism Evaluation

The comprehensive evaluation evaluates autism and its most common co-occurring problems, such as ADHD, dyslexia, and anxiety. This evaluation uses a mix of traditional and neuroaffirming measures, such as the MIGDAS-2. This evaluation may be used to access services through the school and government.

NEW!

$2100

(or $105/mo for 24 mo with your CareCredit credit card*)

Focused Autism Evaluation

The focused evaluation evaluates autism while screening for the most common co-occurring problems. If there is evidence for co-occurring problems, you may be able to use the report to access additional school or insurance-based evaluations. This evaluation uses traditional measures, such as the ADOS-2.

*This price is available with the 24-month 17.90% APR Financing through CareCredit.

A 6-month No Interest Promo Financing is also available.

You can learn more here.

A comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation is an investment in your child’s future.

Just like braces are a one-time investment for oral health, my comprehensive assessments aim to be a one-time investment that delivers a clear and thorough understanding of your or your loved one’s strengths, difficulties, and needs.

This reduces potential future time and money costs on less effective efforts.

My evaluation services include:

Minimal waitlist and wait (for now).

Can’t wait 12-18 months for an evaluation? I am transitioning from my role at a large, academic children’s hospital. I have a minimal wait time for an assessment, but my caseload is growing and I plan to complete only about 50 evaluations per year. Most clients complete the evaluation process in about a month (from intake to receiving the report).

Comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation.

Gain clarity and confidence. My evaluations can include assessments of intelligence, academic, language, motor skills, executive functioning, personality, attention, motivation, emotions, behaviors, social skills, and career interests - far more comprehensive than what you get at an insurance-based psychologist, school, or pediatrician’s office.

A streamlined process.

You already have a lot on your plate. Schedule an appointment and complete the online paperwork emailed directly to you. From there, I will walk you through the process step-by-step. Contacting me throughout the process will be as easy as texting.

A prioritized plan.

I will give you a focused list of what services to get, who to contact, and an order of priority, limiting the guesswork and stress of finding the right doctors and professionals for your child.

Continued support.

Clients who receive evaluation services will receive three free support sessions (a $525 value). Parenting a child with challenges is hard enough. You don’t have to do it alone. I’ll walk with you. Together, we can handle the anxiety and stress of the diagnosis and securing additional services. Some clients even elect to use the sessions for brief, focused counseling to evoke their teenager’s motivation for change or to implement the recommended strategies successfully. Most children (aged 8+) will receive their own affirming results session to move toward self-acceptance and boost motivation to engage in treatment.

“Kids do well when they can.”

— Ross Greene, PhD

How It Works

Step 1.

Schedule a free 15-minute consultation or contact me using the form below.

Step 2.

We will briefly discuss your challenges and goals and my services during our 15-minute conversation.

Step 3.

If you decide to proceed, my friendly staff will contact you to schedule an intake appointment and complete the initial paperwork.

Step 4.

During our intake appointment, we will develop a counseling treatment plan (or evaluation plan) based on an in-depth interview with a parent (or yourself for adults) covering topics such as challenges, developmental history, medical history, and educational history. We will determine the price of the evaluation.

Step 5.

Complete the evaluation, attend the strategy planning feedback session to discuss diagnoses and recommendations, and receive the report, which can be used to access supports.

Step 6. (Optional)

Use your three free support sessions for additional strategy planning sessions or brief counseling.

Are you ready to get started?


or fill out the form below to contact me today.

Important things to know about Autism.

What is autism?

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is considered a neurodevelopmental disorder involving difficulties with social communication, sensory sensitivities, social struggles, unusual interests, and unusual and repetitive behaviors.

Some Common Autism Signs

  1. Autistics tend to talk passionately about specific topics and not engage in small talk.

  2. Non-autistics use body language to provide information, especially information difficult to describe in words. Autistics find social interactions stressful, and their “body language” is used to regulate that stress. These behaviors might include looking away, hand flapping, excessive fidgeting with materials, or appearing bored.

  3. Unfortunately, due to these differences in communication and social interaction, autistics tend to be rejected by non-autistic peers. Autistic behaviors might come off as blunt, rude, and aloof to non-autistic.

  4. The non-autistic world is stressful and overwhelming for autistics. One of my teenage clients described the world as “full of hellfire.” Thus, many autistics do not enjoy exploring the hellfire world. Instead, they find comfort and security in routines and what is familiar. Watching the same TV shows, playing the same games, having the same conversations, and even taking the same route to school helps them avoid the hellfire.

Neurodivergence is about more than ADHD and autism.

Kassiane Asasumasu, an American autism rights advocate, coined the term neurodivergent.

When your nervous system diverges significantly from the “general population” in some way, you are considered neurodivergent.

This means folks with psychiatric diagnoses, neurological disorders, and brain injuries are neurodivergent. People with learning disabilities, epilepsy, and Parkinson’s are also neurodivergent, for example. Neurodivergence can refer to people who have delays, such as someone with Down Syndrome, and disorders, such as someone with schizophrenia.

Autism is a different type of nervous system.

Autism is more than specific behavioral problems, such as poor eye contact and conversations. Autistics have a different type of nervous system.

About 2% of the population is autistic. That means the world is created by non-autistics for non-autistics. Autistics suffer from the mismatch between their brain and the non-autistic world. This mismatch is what creates the “disorder.”

Two percent does not sound like much, but 2% means over 6 million Americans and over 600,000 Texans are autistic are suffering from the social and sensory overload of living in a non-autistic world.

What is Neurodiversity?

Neurodiversity is a term typically attributed to Australian Sociology by Judy Singer.

Human nervous systems differ significantly from person to person. Consequently, individuals react to situations, relationships, thoughts, feelings, sensations, and urges in a variety of ways.