ASD Assessment
Dr. Cédric Leclercq and Dr. Aurore Boulard bring extensive expertise in assessing and supporting children with autism, offering a comprehensive, family-centred approach. Their care extends beyond diagnosis, providing tailored guidance, therapeutic support, and ongoing follow-up to meet the evolving needs of both the child and their family. Their collaborative work ensures that families feel supported, informed, and empowered throughout their journey.
A Structured, Multistep Evaluation
Our ASD assessment includes several key steps:
ADI-R interview with parents with Dr Boulard
ADOS session with the child with Dr Boulard
A consultation with Dr. Leclercq
This structured approach ensures a thorough and accurate understanding of your child’s profile.
Collaborative, Expert-Led Process
Dr. Boulard and Dr. Leclercq work closely together throughout the assessment.
After meeting with your family, they hold a dedicated clinical discussion to review findings and observations, ensuring a well-rounded, multidisciplinary perspective.
Comprehensive Insights
In addition to clinical interviews and observations, we include sensory profiling and targeted questionnaires.
A detailed diagnostic report is provided within three weeks of the final appointment, offering clear guidance for next steps.
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder marked by deficits in reciprocal social communication and the presence of restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviour.
Children or adults with autism are all different but some signs could be highlighted as:
Finding it difficult to talk to and be with other people
Having unusual or intense interests
Finding some situations and experiences difficult to cope with
Sometimes finding noise, touch, taste, texture, lights or smells difficult to deal with
Strongly preferring your usual routine
Developing more easily in some areas than others.
Finding it difficult to understand others’ emotions and feelings.
Lacking eye contact and body language deficit
Lacking facial expressions (it does not mean that emotions are not present)
Difficulties in understanding body gestures or non-verbal communication
Finding difficult to share imaginative play
Having an assessment means you can talk about these things and find out possible reasons for them.
Adi-R
(Autism Diagnostic Interview, Revised) is used to diagnose Autism, plan treatment and distinguish Autism from other developmental disorders.
It is a comprehensive semi-structured interview conducted with parents or caretakers who have knowledge about the individual’s current behaviour and developmental history.
During this 3-hour interview (usually on Zoom), Dr Boulard will ask you questions about your child’s developmental history.
Interview questions cover eight content areas:
¤ The child's background, including family, education, previous diagnoses and medications
¤ Overview of the child's behaviour
¤ Early development and developmental milestones
¤ Language acquisition and loss of language or other skills
¤ Current functioning in regard to language and communication
¤ Social development and play
¤ Interests and behaviours
¤Clinically relevant behaviours, such as aggression, self-injury and possible epileptic features,…
ADOS
The is viewed as "the gold standard" for observational assessment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It can be used to evaluate almost anyone suspected of having ASD, from one-year-olds with no speech, to adults who are verbally fluent.
During the assessment, Dr Boulard will play some games with younger children or carry out activities including questions about school, friendships and feelings with older children or young people. By watching the way your child communicates, interacts, plays and behaves during the games and activities, it helps us to understand if there are signs of autism. During an assessment with an adult, she guides the individual through a series of structured activities and conversational tasks designed to evaluate communication and social interaction.
Sensory Profile
Processing everyday sensory information can be difficult for autistic people. Any of their senses may be over- or under-sensitive, or both, at different times. These sensory differences can affect how they feel and act, and can have a profound effect on a person's life (National Autistic Society)
It is the reason why we have chosen to include the SensoryProfile Test in our assessment. In order to provide help/tools for the child and their family in different contexts (home, school and activities).
The Sensory Profile™ 2 family of assessments provides standardised tools to help evaluate a child's sensory processing patterns in the context of home, school, and community-based activities.
Appointment
During Dr LeClercq’s appointment, he will assess whether there are medical causes or associations with the child’s behavioural presentation.
Only if clinically indicated, laboratory testing or further investigations may include:
Electroencephalogram (EEG) (e.g., for seizures)
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (e.g., for microcephaly, seizures, abnormal neurological exam)
Metabolic testing (e.g., for cyclic vomiting, lethargy with minor illness, developmental regression, and seizures)
Chromosomal microarray genetic testing should be offered for any children with a developmental disability, dysmorphic features, or congenital anomaly (
Blood lead levels, when the child exhibits developmental delay or pica, or lives in a high-risk environment