Developmental history
Structured caregiver interview
Pregnancy and birth, milestones, medical and family history, daily routines, and what you have noticed and when. The foundation everything else is read against.
The evaluation
What actually happens, start to finish
A diagnostic evaluation is not a test your child passes or fails. It is a structured way of answering a specific question about how your child is developing, and it should leave you with more clarity than you arrived with.
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Components
What’s included
Not every child needs every piece. Your clinician chooses the measures after the intake call, based on your child’s age and the question we are answering.
- Records review
- Prior evaluations, IEP or IFSP documents, therapy notes, pediatric records, and any school or daycare observations you can share. Often the fastest way to rule things in or out.
- Caregiver interview
- A structured developmental and family history. You know your child better than any instrument does, and this conversation is usually the richest source of information in the whole evaluation.
- Standardized autism measures
- Validated, norm-referenced instruments suited to your child’s age and language level, selected for remote administration and given by a licensed clinician trained in their use.
- Direct observation
- Structured and unstructured play or conversation, depending on age, so your clinician can see how your child communicates, plays, and responds in real time.
- Developmental and adaptive measures
- How your child manages everyday skills such as communication, daily living, socialization, and motor coordination, compared with same-age peers. This is often what determines service eligibility.
- Rating scales
- Brief questionnaires completed by caregivers and, with your permission, by a teacher or therapist who sees your child in another setting.
- Screening for co-occurring concerns
- Attention, anxiety, sleep, sensory differences, and language delay often travel alongside autism or get mistaken for it. We screen so the picture is complete, and refer out when something deserves a closer look.
- Feedback session
- A dedicated appointment where your clinician explains the findings, answers your questions, and talks through what to do next. You hear the results from a person, not from a PDF.
- Written report
- Delivered within 10 business days of the feedback session and released to any provider, school, or agency you name.
The diagnostic battery
The measures we use
A standard battery, selected and interpreted by a licensed psychologist and adjusted to your child’s age, language level, and the referral question. Every measure is standardized and validated, and every one has a format suited to secure video.
DP-4
Developmental Profile, Fourth Edition
A norm-referenced picture of development across physical, adaptive, social-emotional, cognitive, and communication domains, compared with same-age peers.
BASC-3
Behavior Assessment System for Children
Caregiver and, with your permission, teacher rating scales covering attention, activity level, anxiety, mood, social skills, and adaptability. Surfaces co-occurring concerns and strengths.
ABAS-3 or Vineland-3
Adaptive behavior
How your child manages everyday skills: communication, daily living, socialization. Adaptive scores often decide service eligibility, so we match the measure to what your insurer or district requires.
CARS-2
Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Second Edition
A clinician-rated autism measure completed from direct observation and caregiver report. Covers the same domains as structured observational tools such as the ADOS and quantifies autism-related features.
TELE-ASD-PEDS
Telehealth autism observation
A structured observation protocol built for diagnosing autism in toddlers and preschoolers over video. The clinician guides short play activities at home and rates social communication and play in real time.
When screening suggests a language disorder, global developmental delay, or another explanation, we add or substitute measures and refer out where a deeper look is needed.
Time commitment
How long it takes
Most evaluations are completed across two sessions. We keep each one short enough for a young child to stay comfortable and engaged, even if that means adding a session.
Bring snacks and a favorite toy
Really. A comfortable child shows us far more than a hungry, overwhelmed one, and nothing about the day is a performance.
- Intake call. 30 minutes, free, no obligation
- Caregiver interview. 60 to 90 minutes, caregivers only
- Direct assessment with your child. 90 minutes to 2 hours
- Scoring and report writing. Behind the scenes
- Feedback session. 45 to 60 minutes, caregivers and anyone you invite
- Written report. Within 10 business days
How it happens
Entirely by secure video, from home
The interview, the direct assessment with your child, and the feedback session all happen remotely. There is no clinic visit at any stage.
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Why this suits young children
A one- to five-year-old behaves differently in an unfamiliar room with an unfamiliar adult. Seeing your child at home, with their own toys and their own routine, usually gives a truer picture than a clinic could. It also spares everyone the drive, the waiting room, and the difficult morning that often comes with them.
What you’ll need
- A laptop, tablet, or phone with a working camera
- A reasonably steady internet connection
- A room where your child has a little space to play
Before the first session we send a short guide on setting up the room and which toys to have nearby. There is nothing to rehearse and nothing your child needs to prepare.
Is this the right fit?
Who we see, and who we don’t
A good fit
- Children ages 1 to 5
- Families in the St. Louis area
- Questions about autism, developmental delay, or an earlier diagnosis that is unclear
- Commercial insurance, single case agreement, or self-pay
Outside our scope
- Children covered by MO HealthNet managed care plans, as we are not yet contracted
- IQ-only testing, forensic evaluations, and custody evaluations
- Ongoing therapy of any kind. We evaluate, then connect you with the right people
- Medication management or psychiatric prescribing
- Urgent or crisis situations. Please call or text 988, or dial 911
If we are not the right place, we tell you on the intake call and point you somewhere that is. That conversation is still free.
Have a question we haven’t answered?
Bring it to the intake call. It takes thirty minutes, it is free, and there is no obligation to book anything afterward.