If you have received confirmation of an appointment with Dr J Paediatric Assessment, we ask that you complete a number of items prior to your child’s appointment, in order for the assessment to be as thorough and effective as possible.

In order to provide this information, please refer to the email that was sent to you from drjassessment@gmail.com when your booking was confirmed.

Please be aware that this can be time consuming and it may require input from others so we thank you for completing it well in advance of your appointment. It contains information that is important for your child’s assessment.

Additionally, prior to your appointment, please email to drjassessment@gmail.com the following, if you have them:

Reports of any other assessments your child has had conducted by any other health professionals including Doctors, Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Speech Pathologists or Occupational Therapists.

 

Unfortunately, there are no diagnostic blood tests or brain scans to assess for Autism Spectrum Disorder or for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. 

Instead, a targeted developmental assessment is required and this involves the clinician gaining an understanding of the child’s development over time. Hence, developmental assessments are not so much a ‘photograph’ taken at one time-point in the child’s life. Instead, they are more like a documentary film, compiled over time.

This involves gaining an understanding of how the child’s development has progressed from birth through to now and may require us to continue to observe the child’s developmental progress into the future.

Typically, your child’s assessment will consist of two appointments, held approximately one month apart. For most children, at the completion of the two appointments, Dr J will be able to advise you whether your child does or does not meet the diagnostic criteria for ADHD or for ASD. For some children though, he may recommend that the child’s development continue to be monitored over time and/or that additional allied health assessments be obtained. He will discuss this further with you, should this be the case.

If he determines that any diagnostic possibilities other than ADHD or ASD may apply to your child, he will discuss with you how best to proceed.