AUTISM EVALUATIONS & ASSESSMENTS
AUTISM EVALUATIONS
Understanding Autism Evaluations: Unlocking Insights for Your Child’s Unique Needs
Understanding Autism Evaluations
An autism evaluation is a comprehensive assessment that helps identify whether your child may be on the autism spectrum. This evaluation looks at your child’s communication, social interactions, and behavior patterns to provide a clear understanding of their strengths and challenges. The goal is to gather valuable insights that can guide support and intervention strategies tailored to your child’s unique needs.
Signs to Look For in Your Child:
- Social Interaction Difficulties: You might notice that your child has difficulty making eye contact or engaging in conversations, often seeming uninterested in social interactions or not responding when you call their name.
- Repetitive Behaviors: You may see them engaging in repetitive movements, like hand-flapping or rocking back and forth, or insisting on following the same routines every day without exception.
- Limited Interests: Your child could show a strong focus on specific topics or objects, talking about them extensively while ignoring other activities or interests.
- Difficulty with Change: If routines change or new situations arise, you may observe signs of distress, such as crying, tantrums, or refusal to engage.
- Delayed Speech or Language Skills: You might find that your child is slow to develop speech and language skills, struggling to hold conversations or express themselves clearly.
Assess if Your Child Has Autism for Targeted Support
- Clarity about your child's learning
- A clinical diagnosis for support
- A manageable path forward
Evaluation Outcomes for Parents
An autism evaluation provides valuable insights into your child’s strengths and challenges, helping you understand their unique needs better. By receiving a clear assessment, you can work with professionals to create a tailored plan that supports your child’s development and learning.
CLEAR DIAGNOSIS
Understanding whether your child is on the autism spectrum, which can help guide future support.
STRENGTHS & CHALLENGES PROFILE
A comprehensive look at what your child excels at and where they may need extra support.
SUPPORT RESOURCES
Information on therapies, interventions, and community resources available to help your child thrive.
PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATIONS
Tailored strategies for addressing your child’s specific challenges in communication, social skills, and behavior.
COLLABORATION GUIDANCE
Tips for working effectively with teachers and school staff to ensure your child receives appropriate accommodations and support.
Why a diagnosis matters:
An autism diagnosis is important because it helps you understand your child’s unique needs and challenges, allowing you to get the right support for their development. With a formal diagnosis, your child may qualify for essential services like Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), which can be covered by insurance. This means you can access effective therapies that help improve communication, social skills, and behavior, giving your child the tools they need to thrive both at home and in school.
AUTISM EVALUATION
What to expect during the evaluation
Connect with Cornerstone
COMPLETE THE ASSESSMENT
REVIEW THE RESULTS
CREATE a concrete PLAN
What Our Clients Are Saying
"Cornerstone was such a blessing to our family. She gave us the information we needed and a plan to follow to help our son. We are eternally grateful."
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"After many years of having IEPs and never understanding why my daughter struggled, I now understand! With Cornerstone, I finally have answers and truly understand what is going on with my daughter."
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"This evaluation was thorough and gave us the information we needed to advocate for our child."
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Meet Dr. Christy Bock, Psy.D, LEP
Christy brings a wealth of experience as a Licensed Educational Psychologist (LEP #3063) and a seasoned school psychologist for over 25 years. Growing up with dyslexia, Christy knows firsthand how tough learning difficulties can be. As a mother of six with special needs children, she truly understands the struggles parents face in supporting their kids’ unique needs.
Since founding Cornerstone in 2008, Christy and her team have performed countless Independent Educational Evaluations (IEEs) across the state. She has served as an expert witness in court and co-created an Educational Custody Evaluation to aid special needs students in custody cases.
Under her leadership, Cornerstone has expanded nationwide, providing essential support to schools and families across the country.
Schedule a free clarity call to speak with a licensed educational psychologist about what is going on with your child.
We are here for you and your family.
Frequently Asked Questions
Our incredible team is distributed throughout California and are available to meet with you and your child in-person or virtually to complete our educational assessment(s).
When your child is struggling and despite their effort, they are still struggling academically, a psychoeducational evaluation might be the answer. The psychoeducational evaluation answers the “WHY” to why your child is struggling. By taking a comprehensive dive into your child’s
cognitive abilities, academic achievement, and processing skills, we are able to understand and address all learning difficulties and specifically look at areas of concern like dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, ADHD, to name a few. A psychoeducational evaluation helps pinpoint the exact areas your child struggles and gives you a roadmap towards intervention.
Does your child struggle academically, have difficulty focusing, show signs of learning challenges despite effort and support or exhibit social-emotional and behavioral issues, an educational assessment can provide the “WHY” behind these concerns and can help lay out a roadmap to intervention.
Our process begins with scheduling a clarity call where you can discuss your frustrations and concerns. Based on this discussion, we match you with the most suitable team member to start the evaluation.
We understand the urgency and are ready to begin testing right away, moving at a pace that suits your needs. Throughout the process, we keep you informed and updated. Once the evaluation is complete, we present the results in a clear and understandable meeting, providing you with actionable recommendations.
An evaluation with Cornerstone can move at the pace you want. Most of our families want to move quickly, and we love to jump in and complete the evaluation as quickly as you need. The typical timeframe is 3 to 4 weeks, but it can be quicker if needed.
Our evaluations are conducted by licensed evaluators and can help support the need for accommodations, a 504 Accommodation Plan, or even an IEP. Often, schools prefer to conduct their own evaluations for an IEP, but the evaluation through Cornerstone can lay the framework for displaying the need.
An educational assessment provides a thorough understanding of your child’s strengths and challenges. It offers actionable recommendations for tailored interventions, which can improve academic performance, enhance emotional well-being, and address behavioral issues. Without an evaluation, most parents are guessing as to what area to focus intervention but with a full evaluation, you know EXACTLY where to focus so time and money are saved.
The cost of an educational assessment varies depending on the type and scope of the evaluation. Please contact us for specific pricing and to discuss your needs.
Typically NO, but we are able to provide a Superbill that you can submit to your insurance for reimbursement, and some parents are able to have the evaluations covered by insurance, but typically they are not covered. If you have a Health Savings Account (HSA) you are able to pay for the evaluation through HSA funds.
Scheduling an assessment is easy. Simply contact us via phone or email to set up a free clarity call. During this call, we’ll discuss your concerns and determine the best evaluation plan for your child.
Our evaluators are licensed with extensive experience conducting educational assessments and providing expert recommendations in and out of the schools. They are trained to work with children of all ages and learning profiles as well as adults.
Yes, we have bilingual psychologists, speech pathologists as well as occupational therapists. We have assessors who are bilingual in multiple languages. Please reach out with your language needs.
YES! Assessments can be completed virtually, as all Cornerstone evaluators are trained in virtual administration, which has become an increasingly popular and in-demand assessment method.