Useful resources to help coordinate support

Useful Resources

There's lots of great support groups on facebook, including:

How to Initiate an Autism Diagnosis

If you’ve got concerns about your child and wondering how to get them assessed, below is a list of some of the options.
The following information is based on our current understanding and is a basic guide to help you navigate the system.

Please do your own due diligence to ensure the information and prices are still current.

To initiate a ‘diagnosis’ for your child, your child will need to undergo ‘assessment’.
All paediatricians can sign off a diagnosis without a detailed assessment. But many don’t feel comfortable doing so without a written opinion from a speech therapist and/or psychologist, especially not with young children.
You will need a referral from your doctor to see a paediatrician.
It is recommended that you join your local autism facebook groups and ask for recommendations of paediatricians and good (bulk-billing) doctors.
The assessment team will usually include a paediatrician, a psychologist and a speech pathologist. Between them they will carry out a series of different assessments over several appointments.
To be eligible for any school based support in Victoria due to autism, you need a multidisciplinary diagnosis. If you haven’t obtained those reports, the school should arrange for them.
Latrobe University – the Olga Tennison (Autism Research) Centre is often running studies and trials. It’s worth giving them a call, because the diagnosis assessments are free if you can get a place on a study.
Krongold Clinic – it’s a student clinic associated with Monash University. It offers discounted assessments.
ISN Clinic – it’s a free community clinic.
Many CAHMS (Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service) can also offer discounted assessments. Search for your nearest one.
Two other options include: Marged Goode Psychology and Your Community Health Org.
Given the significant waitlists, it is recommended that you call all of the above and put your names on the waiting lists. Once you’ve had your assessment, you can then call them back and remove your name.
You can also hire an assessment team privately. The benefit of this is that its less likely to take 6 to 12 months waiting. To reduce the cost of this, you can ask your GP for a Mental Health Plan (MHP) and a Chronic Disease Plan/Allied Health Plan (CDP). MHP give you up to 10 medicare rebates on psychologist appointments (at $70 each) per calendar year. The CDP can be used for psychologist, speech therapist or occupational therapist rebates.
There are also medicare items specifically for the assessments. To use them, the paediatrician will refer you to speech/psychology/OT for assessment, the paediatrician then completes the diagnosis using these specialist’s reports.
Even with rebates, a private diagnosis can still cost over $1000.
You don’t need a diagnosis to access NDIS for early intervention. It is worth giving them a call to get your name on their waiting list. Note that all early intervention applicants should now be granted a $10k interim plan within 50 days of application.
Amaze can also help you locate an autism assessment team. Contact the Amaze Autism Advisors on 1300 308 699.
Association for Children with A Disability (ACD) also have a wealth of information and support. 98807000.

Further information on the diagnosis process in Australia, can be found on the Royal Children's Hospital website.

Note that only 20% of autistics are female so they are relatively rare. Also, they present differently to males and often “mask” their behaviours to fit in with the people around them, so may outwardly not appear to have autism. It is for these reasons, that it is best to seek out professionals that are experienced and specialise in female autistic diagnoses.

The Facebook group ‘Yellow Ladybugs – VIC’ is a good place to ask for recommendations.
Furthermore, Tony Attwood is an Australian psychologist that is considered a world expert on females with autism.