Autism Assessments
There are many state-funded services which do provide diagnoses, but these usually have year long waiting lists. You may need or choose to use private professionals to do an assessment of your son or daughter. There are some funding options that can help.
Starting with your GP
As with most medical services, your GP will need to give you that initial referral to a paediatrician or psychologist/ psychiatrist for diagnosis. There is an amount that can be claimed from medicare for this charge - it won't cover the whole cost but something is better than nothing.
After your initial consultation
After your initial diagnosis appointment with a paediatrician or psychologist, a consultant paediatrician or psychiatrist can refer a child with autism to eligible allied health professionals for treatment services - up to a maximum of 10 services can be recommended.
Service Codes
This enables the referring practitioner to consider a report from the allied health professional(s) about the services provided to the child, and the need for further treatment. These services include:
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82000 Psychologist
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82005 Speech pathologist
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82010 Occupational therapist
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82030 Audiologist, optometrist, orthoptist, physiotherapist
Children 13 years and under
Medicare rebates are available to help cover at least some of the cost. These Medicare items cover:
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Assessment and diagnosis by a paediatrician or child and adolescent psychiatrist
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Up to 10 allied health professional assessments/services to assist with the diagnosis and treatment
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Up to 20 treatment services can be delivered by allied health professional(s), who can provide one or more courses of treatment
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(Eligible allied include psychologists, speech pathologists, occupationaltherapists, audiologists, optometrists or physiotherapists)