Evaluations
Autism evaluations that give you a real understanding, not just a yes or no
For children, teens, and young adults across north Atlanta.
Maybe a teacher raised the question. Maybe your pediatrician suggested an evaluation. Maybe you've been reading and wondering for a while. However you got here, an autism evaluation should give you more than a yes or no. It should give you a real understanding of how your child experiences the world, and a roadmap for helping your child thrive.
Signs that bring families in
- Differences in social communication: trouble with back-and-forth conversation, reading social cues, or making and keeping friends
- Intense, rigid, and focused interests
- Strong need for routine, and distress when it changes
- Sensory sensitivities to sound, texture, taste, or touch
- A teen or young adult who has always felt "different" and wants to understand why
- A previous evaluation that felt rushed or didn't fit
What the evaluation includes
Dr. Marshall's autism evaluations are comprehensive and developmentally informed. They include gold-standard autism-specific measures, cognitive and language assessment, adaptive functioning measures, and a detailed developmental history, along with assessment of the conditions that commonly co-occur or masquerade as autism, including ADHD and anxiety. Because autism looks different at different ages and often presents more subtly in girls, the evaluation is tailored to your child's age and presentation rather than run from a script.
What you get
A clear diagnostic answer, a rich description of your child's profile of strengths and challenges, and recommendations you can act on: therapies and supports matched to your child's needs, school accommodations and documentation for IEP eligibility, and guidance for home. For teens and young adults, the report also addresses self-understanding, independence, and planning for college or work.
Questions & Answers
At what age can autism be evaluated?
Autism can be reliably identified in toddlers, and it can also be diagnosed for the first time in adolescence or adulthood. It's never too early to ask the question, and it's never too late to get an answer.
My child makes eye contact and has friends. Could it still be autism?
Possibly. Autism is a spectrum, and many autistic children and teens, particularly girls, learn to camouflage their differences at real cost to their energy and mental health. A thorough evaluation looks well beyond surface behaviors.
What's the difference between autism and ADHD? My child seems to have traits of both.
They share features like inattention, impulsivity, and social difficulty, and they frequently occur together. Distinguishing them, or identifying both, is exactly what a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation is built to do, and it matters because the supports differ.
Will this evaluation qualify my child for services at school?
The report provides the clinical diagnosis and documentation that school teams use when considering eligibility for an IEP under the autism category. Dr. Marshall's recommendations are written specifically to translate into the school setting.
We had an evaluation years ago that didn't find autism. Should we test again?
If the question keeps coming back, it's worth revisiting. Presentations change with age and demands, earlier evaluations vary in depth, and understanding of autism, especially in girls and in academically strong kids, has improved substantially.
Do you take insurance?
Pedia IQ is private pay. You'll receive a superbill with diagnostic and billing codes for submission to your insurance company for possible out-of-network reimbursement.
For more than 20 years, Dr. Rebecca Marshall has helped families answer the question underneath every referral: what's really going on with my child, and what do we do about it?