Ignoring Red Flags

[Ariana]

It is the same here. The provincially funded autism programs have HUGE waitlists but it is free so parents either have no choice or they don’t want to pay for the service. Healthcare is “free” here so everyone has to wait to see a developmental paediatrician. After a diagnosis though you can pay out of pocket to get therapy or get on the giant waitlist for free services.

It is getting better though!

[Mcphee3]

ASD mom here.

Yes. They are THAT long. To get the eval took us 8 months in 2002, now it's over a year for the eval. Then 6-12 months for services. It's even more serious (and dangerously slow) for adults on the spectrum as there are VERY few providers willing to even see them. It took us over a year of calling PRIMARY CARE DOCTORS to find one who was willing to see our ASD adult for preventative and sick health visits, completely unrelated to ASD.

OP- I have never heard of an autism checklist. There is an ages and stages eval, if you want I can email you a copy of that in 18m-5 years.

The pediatricians here WILL NOT DIAGNOSE. You must see a developmental pediatrician or receive a full evaluation to be diagnosed according to our school district (who handle age 3+). A full evaluation took us 3 full days, including medical testing (fragile X), ST, OT, PT, Neuro & psych. It was also not covered by insurance and ended up costing over 5,000.

Maybe it was the ages and stages, I just know we both have the same pediatrician and with all 4 of my kids, I was given a checklist around 18 to 24 months. It was super simple asking about eye contact, how many words...