Parental concerns around their child showing signs of autism spectrum disorder are often dismissed by frontline professionals. If concerns are acknowledged, you may be facing lengthy NHS waiting times for an autism assessment.
Early identification of autism can have a significant impact on a child’s life, ensuring that the child’s needs are understood and appropriately catered for. This in turn, helps the child to reach their potential in later life. In this article, our Clinical Director discusses the benefits of an early diagnosis of autism.
Understanding a child’s profile
During an autism assessment, all aspects of a child’s functioning and how their autism impacts these are considered. This enables the clinical team completing the autism evaluation to understand the child’s individual profiles of needs, strengths and differences. This understanding is key to ensuring that the right support and interventions are utilised. Some of the key areas that make up an autistic child’s profile are:
Communication skills:
There are many building blocks that form part of a child’s language development. During an assessment, the team will assess a child’s verbal and non-verbal language development
Social interaction:
The clinical team will consider the child’s recognition and understanding of others, as well as their interest and motivation in interacting with adults and peers
Restricted and repetitive behaviours:
Clinicians will explore any restricted and repetitive behaviours, the purpose they serve and the impact on the child
Sensory profile:
Understanding a child’s sensory profile is key for autistic children. The team will explore the child’s areas of hypo- and hyper-sensitivities and the behaviours associated with them
Early support and intervention
An autism diagnosis, along with a profile of the child’s autism characteristics and developmental level, can help to ensure that the correct support and intervention are put into place both formally and informally. Following an autism assessment and diagnosis, you will be provided with advice and recommendations to implement at home, as well as advised on what other services can offer in terms of support and intervention. Early intervention and support can help to:
- Improve communication and interaction
- Develop independent skills
- Manage a child’s sensory needs
- Reduce anxiety and associated challenging behaviours
- Improve sleep
Meeting the child’s educational needs
An early autism diagnosis can help to ensure that a child’s educational needs are met most appropriately. Autistic children perceive and process information in a different way to their neurotypical peers and therefore learn differently. All autistic children will need classroom adaptations and differentiation in the way that they are taught. Some children may need specialist educational provision. An early autism diagnosis can:
- Ensure that any future education setting is aware of the child’s needs so that they can put suitable adjustments in place and arrange a supported transition
- Help a nursery or school recognise the adjustments that need to be put into place
- Provide some insight into a child’s needs as part of the EHCP process
- Support the admission process for those applying to autism specific schools
Support and understanding within the family
It can be difficult for parents and wider family members to recognise and respond to a child’s behaviours without understanding their diagnosis and profile. An early autism diagnosis can provide the essential understanding that enables:
- Parents need to be able to create a sensory-neutral environment to help reduce overwhelm
- Family members need to adapt their communication
- Understand what a child is trying to communicate through their behaviours
- Wider family members to recognise the child’s differences and the cause of these
Access to groups and activities
Many parents find linking in with other parents of autistic children beneficial. Being around those who understand that the child’s behaviours are due to autism and are not caused by parenting or the child being naughty can reduce the stress that parents of autistic children experience when out in broader public environments. Other parents with similar experiences can also be a great source of support and advice, through sharing their own experiences of what has worked and what hasn’t.
Many local autism parent support groups can be accessed, and these groups often organise not only parent meet-ups but also dedicated activities and trips for autistic children, meaning that your child will have additional opportunities to be around others and have fun.
An early autism diagnosis can also act as evidence of need to allow parents to apply for passports or fast access passes when visiting the cinema, theme parks or other activities and events.
Financial assistance
Some parents of autistic children are entitled to financial assistance because of their child’s disability. An autism diagnosis, along with the assessment report, can be used to evidence a child’s needs when applying for benefits such as Disability Living Allowance or grant support from charities such as the Family Fund.
Self understanding
As your child grows and develops, it will be critical for them to be able to understand themselves. Those without a diagnosis are more likely to engage in camouflaging and masking behaviours and experience low self-esteem, anxiety and depression as a result of feeling different and not understanding why.
An autism diagnosis can aid in self-understanding and self-acceptance throughout later life. It enables children, teenagers and adults to recognise their unique strengths and differences and to embrace these. This in turn means that they are less at risk of burnout and overwhelm and can choose to live their lives in a way that works for them.
Early diagnosis of autism, the first step in meeting a child’s needs
Autism understanding, acceptance and inclusion is a lifelong journey which starts with autism assessment and diagnosis. Early diagnosis can help identify a child’s profile early on and enable the correct support and understanding throughout life.
If you have concerns about your child’s development or are facing long NHS waiting times and would like to understand how you can access an early autism assessment, contact one of our team members today. We offer private autism assessments for children from the age of 2, which can be accessed within a few weeks.
