Autism diagnosis plays a big part in the life of an affected person. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can be difficult to diagnose due to the reason that there is no biological test like blood test for it. Experts tend to observe and assess the child’s behaviour and development when they reach 18 months old (or sometimes younger) in order to determine whether a person has it or not. Moreover, states and territories in Australia have different assessment criteria resulting to a wide variation in diagnosis methods. Recently for the first time, a team of experts in Australia drafted a national guidelines to help diagnose people with autism.

The Purpose of Having Guidelines

This new guidelines aim to provide an effective and flexible way in autism diagnosis. It is designed to have a consistent assessment criteria that can be used across Australia. Additionally, Professor Andrew Whitehouse is one of the team that developed the guidelines and he said that the need for consistency is highly significant. He also mentioned that appraisal for functional support needs are provided with the help of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). He affirmed that the implementation of the national guidelines can be very challenging and it may take some time for other states to practice it but they hope that this new assessment criteria could help hundreds and thousands of people on the autism spectrum.   

Impacts of the National Guidelines for Autism Diagnosis towards Women

Diagnosis is considered to be the starting point to give the necessary support for the well-being of the people on the autism spectrum. However, many women with so-called “high-functioning autism” or Asperger syndrome are more likely being left undiagnosed compared to men. It is because, in general, women are very good at masking their symptoms and difficulties. They present differently compared to men in terms of social skills, social imagination and interests.

In junction, Katrina Trist and Bernadette Beasley are autism educators who both have children diagnosed with autism. They said that this new guidelines were a critical step towards helping more women with autism.They believed that this tool will be able to reach out to the girls on the autism spectrum who are struggling with anxiety, depression, and self-harm. According to Ms Beasley, having the guidelines in reaching an appropriate early diagnosis would also be very helpful on parents to ease the pressure and stress. 

People also read: Understanding Autism and Our Children