Occupational Therapy
Autism Assessments
Our OT Emma at Kalos Therapy is trained in providing assessments to help a diagnostician (paediatrician, clinical psychologist or psychiatrist) formalise a diagnosis of an autistic neurotype. Emma uses a variety of standardised assessments, including but not limited to:
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- Monteiro Interview Guidelines for Diagnosing the Autism Spectrum, Second Edition (MIGDAS-2)
- Social Responsiveness Scale, 2nd Edition (SRS-2)
- Sensory Profile 2 (SP-2) or Sensory Processing Measure, 2nd Edition (SPM-2)
- Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, 3rd Edition (Vineland-3) or Adaptive Behaviour Assessment System, 3rd Edition (ABAS-3)
- Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q)
Figuring out what is needed for an autism assessment can be confusing! Here is a summary of what you need to know:
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- Total Cost: $1,163.94 (Medicare rebate may reduce cost to $814.94)
- We can provide assessments for individuals aged 3 into adulthood
- An OT autism assessment doesn’t provide a diagnosis but offers evidence to support a diagnostician’s decision
- Assessments include a combination of online questionnaires and direct assessments (in person in our Caloundra clinic or over telehealth) – please note there are multiple online questionnaires as this helps us to keep our costs down
- To get started, complete our referral form
See below for a visual decision tree to help you figure out the next steps, and see the bottom of this page for a FAQ.
Cost
We charge a total of $1,163.94 for our entire assessment process (including intake assessments, the diagnostic interview, report, and feedback session). Medicare rebates may be available (see below), which can reduce the out-of-pocket cost to $814.94.
To help reduce costs, we provide a range of online questionnaires for the client and/or their caregivers to complete prior to the assessment.
Medicare Rebate
You may be able to receive a rebate through the following Medicare Item:
Item 82010: Complex neurodevelopmental disorder and disability services
- Must be referred to Kalos Therapy by a paediatrician or a psychiatrist (a GP cannot refer this)
- Available for individuals under 25
- Benefit: $87.25 per session (we use 4 sessions)
- This item is for in-person sessions
- 8 sessions available per lifetime
- With this paediatrician or psychiatrist referral, we can also use Item 93033 for a video call or Item 93041 for a phone consult
Please note that a Chronic Disease Management (CDM) referral from a GP is only available for ongoing therapy and not assessments, and is therefore unable to be used for autism assessments.
Private Health Rebate
Rebates for occupational therapy services, including autism assessments, may be available through your private health insurance depending on your level of extras cover. We recommend checking directly with your health fund to confirm whether occupational therapy assessments are included, and what rebate amount may apply.
The Referral and Assessment Process
See the above decision tree for a visual of this process.
1. Decide whether you want to claim / are eligible for a Medicare or Private Health Rebate.
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- Medicare: Get your paediatrician or psychiatrist to send us a referral (to Emma McLean from Kalos Therapy, hello@kalostherapy.com.au).
- Private Health: Confirm you are eligible for a rebate through your private health fund.
2. Complete our referral form.
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- If claiming a Medicare rebate, ensure that we are able to get a copy of the referral (either by uploading it to our referral form or getting your psychiatrist/paeditrician to email it through).
3. We will reach out to confirm we have accepted your request for services and send our onboarding documents (including a consent form, risk screener, and service agreement).
4. Once these forms (and any Medicare referral forms) are received, we will book a direct assessment in our Caloundra clinic (strongly recommended) or via video chat, and will send online questionnaires to be completed prior to the appointment.
5. You will receive invoice/s for our assessment services, of which you must pay the full amount. You must manually claim any rebates (Medicare or your Private Health Fund).
6. Once invoice/s have been paid and the report is completed, we will complete a feedback session and send the completed report.
7. You will then take the report to your paediatrician, psychiatrist, or clinical psychologist to review, who may choose to formalise a diagnosis based on our findings.
What's in the Report?
The finalised report will include the following sections:
- Background, including reason for referral, relevant medical and developmental history
- Assessment Summary, including whether the findings suggest criteria for an autistic neurotype is met/not met
- Functional Overview, including Cognition, Communication, Social and Play, Emotions and Behaviours, Sensory Processing, Motor, and Activities of Daily Living
- Assessment Interpretation, including explanations of the findings/scores from the various assessment tools
- DSM-5 Criteria, including explanation of how the individual may/may not meet the various criteria within the DSM-5, with a focus on Criterion A and Criterion B
- Summary and Next Steps, including a summary of the assessment and recommended next steps
- Assessment Scores, including a table of scores from each assessment completed