Dr. David Mushati (Autism Assessment In Children)
Dr. David Mushati, Chief Clinical Officer at Melios, is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with extensive expertise in neurodevelopmental conditions. In this conversation, he guide...
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Who are you?
My name is Dr. David Mutti. I'm the Chief Clinical Officer for LIOs. I've spent the last 24 years working in healthcare, including a significant amount of time working for the NHS. I love what I do. I'm a consultant clinical psychologist. I'm passionate about neuropsychology and neurodevelopmental conditions, and I have dedicated my life to understanding some of the conditions and helping people along the way, which has been an immense privilege.
What is the difference between an autism screening, assessment and a diagnosis?
The difference between an autism screening and assessment and a diagnosis for a child is that in a screening, what we are really trying to find is whether your child exhibits any traits of autism. And what you'd expect from that screening is either to tell you whether or not to pursue a diagnosis. And in an assessment we delve much deeper into asking you questions about what's brought you to seek a diagnosis in the first place. The difficulties that you're, that you are experiencing with your child or some of the inconsistencies in the way that they behave, that you have noticed, that have prompted you seeking an assessment. You should expect to speak to loads of different professionals, but also that your child undergoes an observation with a qualified professional to see whether they are exhibiting some of those autistic traits. We'll also reach out to your school or your child's school or nursery, whichever applies in order to find out whether indeed some of the professionals in that context are also seeing traits of autism. A diagnosis happens when we, and I mean a group of clinicians determine whether those traits that have been reported from an external environment such as school yourself and indeed their own observation, meet the criteria for a diagnosis. And what they're looking for in that criteria are the traits that are being exhibited fulfil criteria that's under strict guidance from DSM five, which is a diagnostic manual as is ICD 11.
What is the process of a child's autism assessment?
The process of a child going through an autism assessment can be very varied. We always recommend that you, as a parent come alongside that child in order to give 'em reassurance and maybe to reduce the stress that they may be experiencing of being in a different environment and typically with clinicians that they have not met before. And in that process, I've mentioned earlier that you might need a screening questionnaire. And that screening questionnaire points out whether your child is showing any traits of autism and whether indeed you should pursue a process or an assessment for diagnosis. And when the assessment starts, you're invited to a team and you speak with a qualified healthcare professional about the development of your child. In that they're asking many varied conversations such as, when were there developmental milestones, for example, when did they start walking, talking, et cetera. They delve a little bit deeper into concerns that might have prompted you to seek a diagnosis and how those m and a, whether those are persistent, and those professionals also ask an external informant to yourself, so nursery or schools, to answer some questions. And what they're trying to determine there is whether these symptoms exist in different environments or are collaborated with what they're noticing in the clinical setting. You should also expect that your child goes through an observation, and typically this is a structured environment whereby a clinician would play, ask the child some questions, and generally observe how they're behaving within that clinic setting. Once this is done, a group of clinicians in an MDT format gather all this information, consider all these traits, and make a decision as to whether they meet a criteria for diagnosis. That decision-making process is guided really well by diagnostic manuals such as the DSM five and the ICD 11, after which you should expect a confirmation of a diagnosis of autism or not.