Skip to main content

Appendix 5.1: Examples of assessments that can contribute information to decisions regarding differential diagnosis

Assessment focus

Types of assessment

Social interaction and/or communication domain(s)

Receptive language (e.g., comprehension of the verbal and non-verbal communication of others)

Expressive language (e.g., sound and word production, and the frequency and function of verbal and non-verbal communication)

Social communication (e.g., initiation of communication, social reciprocity and conversational skills)

Repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests, or activities domain

Sensory motor assessment (e.g., presence of hyper or hypo-reactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment)

Behavioural assessment (e.g., challenging behaviour which falls outside the range of expected age-appropriate behaviour)

Mental health assessment (e.g., rituals, obsessive compulsive behaviours, tics, anxiety)

Neurological assessment (e.g., epilepsy, tics)

Possible differential or co-occurring diagnosis

Cognitive and/or neurodevelopmental assessment (e.g., intelligence, learning capability, visual perception, memory, executive functioning)

Developmental assessment (e.g., ability to meet expected developmental milestones related to motor and social-emotional domains)

Hearing assessment (e.g., screening test or full auditory evaluation)

Mental health assessment (e.g., psychiatric and/or psychological screening or diagnostic tool to identify the presence of a range of mental health signs, symptoms or conditions)

Selective metabolic and/or genetic screen (e.g., chromosomal microarray, amino acid chromatography, thyroid function)

Neurological testing (e.g., electroencephalogram, computed tomography scan, magnetic resonance imaging)

Vision assessment (e.g., screening test, sight test or full ophthalmologist evaluation)