Rohini Knudson
SPED Professional Portfolio
How is Autism Diagnosed?
Clinical Diagnosis
A clinical diagnosis of autism can be made by a psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, or a developmental pediatrician. The professional conducting the assessment typically uses several instruments to determine whether the individual being examined meets the criteria for diagnosis as defined in either the 'Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders' (DSM) published by the American Psychological Association (APA) or the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) published by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Click on the image on the right to view the criteria for diagnosis of ASD as specified in DSM 5th edition.
Administrative Diagnosis
An administrative diagnosis refers to the determination by a school team as to whether a child is eligible for special education as required by IDEA under the category of autism. The request for evaluating a child may come from a parent or from a school professional but requires a parent's consent before it can be conducted. The administrative diagnostic process might use the same tools that a clinician uses for diagnosis but the data from the tools may be interpreted differently in this context. IDEA specifically requires that a child's disability adversely affect their educational performance in order to make the child eligible for special education and related services.
As shown below there are some differences in the criteria required for a diagnosis of autism under IDEA and DSM-5.
What happens after an administrative diagnosis?
If it is determined by the administrative diagnosis that a child is autistic and is eligible for special education and related services, then the school team and the parents of the child work together to produce an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for the child to meet their educational needs.
The video to the right (from University of Kansas, 2024) features special education advocate and author, Julie Swanson and attorney and author, Jennifer Laviano discussing the components of an IEP.