DHS Autism Diagnosis Criteria

According to the Title V Administrator:

"I understand that that's been a problem for some families. It's not necessarily that all 3 entities are making the autism diagnosis, but that they are acknowledging it. It also doesn't matter how long ago any of the 3 saw the child and stated that they were diagnosed with autism, just that they did. The requirement for this documentation is described in DDS Policy 1035."

Please see the Policy 1035 document here for further details.

Comments

[Terri]

Is the above referring to the Policy 1035 document statement on p.2 that refers to the diagnosis of autism "as established by the results of a team evaluation including at least a licensed physician and a licensed psychologist and a licensed Speech Pathologist"?

I think that could easily be interpreted that all 3 must be involved in evaluating and testing the child to make the diagnosis and not that they just all 3 just have to "acknowledge" it.

Interesting, too, that all the other diagnoses listed only require one professional person to establish the diagnosis, where autism requires 3.

[Eye Contact Arkansas]

Terri,

Good points about the autism diagnosis criteria in Policy 1035. Looks like DHS has loosened up some from the written criteria of a three person team diagnosis. However, I had not realized that other disabilities only require one evaluator.

[Amy Jamison]

Hey guys... just a quick note in defense of a multi-disciplinary diagnostic TEAM.... I am mom to Steven...age 16...severe autism... so been at this a long time. Like most of you, I can pick 'em out in a crowd. I get the frustration when you are trying to get your child diagnosed and you can't get people to agree. But it's so important down the road to have this protective measure. First of all, one of the primary defenses by some sources trying to fight us on getting services for our kids is that there are too many children wrongfully diagnosed with autism...that we aren't dealing with an epidemic, but zealots diagnosing with autism too much. Well, with multidisciplinary teams, we are going to avoid that. Also, I work as an autism specialist, and let me tell you...I can't tell you how many kids I see who ARE misdiagnosed. Some lone psychologist or slp slapped the label on them and the parents are getting SSI, but it's not autism at all. It's a parenting issue, or dyslexia, or sensory processing disorder, etc (all things that need to be addressed, but aren't an ASD)... and don't think for a second that every family out there falsely collecting Medicaid or SSI isn't going to affect all the kids and families truly in need. I just wish I could convey to you how many kids are labeled so incorrectly. I see it every day and I'm discouraged. So, I personally wish that ANY behavioral, mental or autism spectrum disorder had to have the same three confirmations prior to diagnosis. We have to think ten and twenty years down the road...not just today... to truly be effective as advocates, you know? Just wanted to share my thought. Thanks for this wonderful forum! What a great job you are doing for our state!
-Amy Jamison, M.S., CCC-SLP, bilingual therapist, autism consultant, MOM

[Eye Contact Arkansas]

Amy,

Thank you for pointing out the problems with misdiagnosis. I've certainly seen some cases where an autism diagnosis delayed treatment for another illness. A lot of the mental illnesses blend into one another making it really hard to get a correct diagnosis. Or it seems to change with time.

The problem right now is that parents had a month to get a required 3 person diagnosis to get the $5,000 autism grant. No one's going to get into Dennis Developmental Center in a month, so the parents were trying to create the 3 person diagnosis from individual experts. There's been very little guidance on how to fill in the diagnostic gap.