Procedure for all staff (except Paediatricians)

All staff, other than Paediatricians, are advised to refer to the  Autism Spectrum Disorder Assessments: Referral Decision Pathway for RCH Staff (Non Paediatricians) (PDF) for details on how to refer a child for an autism assessment.

Procedure for Paediatricians

Children under 6 years

Please refer to the  Autism Spectrum Disorder Assessments: Referral Decision Pathway for RCH Paediatricians (children under 6 years) (PDF) for details on how to organise an autism assessment for a child under 6 years.

Assessment Options (additional information)

• Speech Pathology
  • If the child already has a speech pathologist in the community you could ask for a language and pragmatics assessment.  The speech pathologist may or may not be willing to give an opinion about autism.
  • If the child has complex medical needs or a history of complex medical needs the child may be eligible to be seen by the Speech Pathology Department at RCH. See  Referral allocation guidelines for autism spectrum disorder (PDF).
  • If the child does not have a Speech Pathologist you could refer to:
    • Private speech pathologist  
    • Public community based speech pathologist at:
    • Community Health Centres / Services - please note that eligibility, access criteria and waiting times vary and some services may charge a fee.  A list of some community health centres / services can be found on the RCH Speech Pathology  web site.
    • Early Childhood Intervention Services
  • Child's school speech pathology service for an assessment (waiting lists likely to apply)
    
    
• Psychology
  • Refer to Clinical Psychology at RCH (waiting list applies) or refer to a  private psychologist (costly but shorter wait time) for this assessment.  If the child is at school or starting school next year, you may be able to refer to the school for management of the psychological assessment process.
    
    
• Developmental / Behavioural Paediatrician
  • Refer to the Developmental and Autism Assessment Intake if you are seeking a second opinion from a Paediatrician experienced in diagnosing autism
    
    
• Multidisciplinary Team
  • Refer to the Developmental and Autism Assessment Intake when you believe the diagnostic process requires a multidisciplinary team (e.g. complex medical history, multiple assessments from other services, conflicting professional views regarding diagnosis, child is less than two years of age, co-morbid mental health disorders) or you are seeking a second opinion.

NB:

1. If an alternative local public service is available for the child please consider referring there e.g. CAMHS, Monash Developmental Disabilities Clinic, Sunshine Hospital, Melton Health (see the links page). Please be aware that ASD assessment services including CAMHS have different referral criteria.  Please check with individual services regarding referral criteria and the referral process.
2. If the family will consider private assessment services, please raise private options (NB: there are specific autism assessment Medicare item numbers).
3. Medical Practitioners / Paediatricians - please indicate if you wish to provide ongoing management after the assessment process is complete
4. Not all public Speech Pathology and Psychology services are prepared to do an autism spectrum disorder assessment.  This will need to be negotiated on an individual basis.

Children aged 6 years and above

Please refer to the  Autism Spectrum Disorder Assessments: Referral Decision Pathway for RCH Paediatricians (children over 6 years) (PDF) for details on how to organise an autism assessment for a child over 6 years.

• Public Autism Spectrum Disorder Assessment Teams in Victoria:
  • See  Autism Victoria.
    
    
• Private Practitioners:
  • Please see Links for details of private speech pathologists and psychologists who conduct autism assessments.
  • When referring a child for private autism assessment please activate the  relevant Medicare items.