Appendix 5.1: Examples of assessments that can contribute information to decisions regarding differential diagnosis
Assessment focus |
Types of assessment |
---|---|
Social interaction and/or communication domain(s) |
Receptive language (e.g., comprehension of the verbal and non-verbal communication of others) |
Expressive language (e.g., sound and word production, and the frequency and function of verbal and non-verbal communication) |
|
Social communication (e.g., initiation of communication, social reciprocity and conversational skills) |
|
Repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests, or activities domain |
Sensory motor assessment (e.g., presence of hyper or hypo-reactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment) |
Behavioural assessment (e.g., challenging behaviour which falls outside the range of expected age-appropriate behaviour) |
|
Mental health assessment (e.g., rituals, obsessive compulsive behaviours, tics, anxiety) |
|
Neurological assessment (e.g., epilepsy, tics) |
|
Possible differential or co-occurring diagnosis |
Cognitive and/or neurodevelopmental assessment (e.g., intelligence, learning capability, visual perception, memory, executive functioning) |
Developmental assessment (e.g., ability to meet expected developmental milestones related to motor and social-emotional domains) |
|
Hearing assessment (e.g., screening test or full auditory evaluation) |
|
Mental health assessment (e.g., psychiatric and/or psychological screening or diagnostic tool to identify the presence of a range of mental health signs, symptoms or conditions) |
|
Selective metabolic and/or genetic screen (e.g., chromosomal microarray, amino acid chromatography, thyroid function) |
|
Neurological testing (e.g., electroencephalogram, computed tomography scan, magnetic resonance imaging) |
|
Vision assessment (e.g., screening test, sight test or full ophthalmologist evaluation) |