As an attentive parent, you may have noticed subtle signs that your child’s development seems atypical and off track. Perhaps you’ve spotted differences in their speech, behavior, coordination, or reaction to sensations. With around 1 in 36 children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), these subtle signs are nothing to ignore.
Fortunately, there’s help for parents who want to know how to get an autism diagnosis. In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know, including the telltale early signs of autism, how new insights revolutionize assessment, and what truly supportive care looks like after a diagnosis.
Afterward, you’ll be confident to navigate the autism evaluation process and get the customized support your child needs. Read on to learn what solutions progressive pediatric chiropractors now offer—helping concerned parents turn challenges into victories.
What is Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a complex developmental condition due to neurological differences that affect communication, social interaction, behavior, attention, learning, and sensory processing.
Yet, this diagnosis doesn’t necessarily mean academic impairment. While some children and adults with autism exhibit more significant disabilities, new research shows that as much as 59% of people with ASD have average to above-average intelligence.
Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder experience difficulty with social communication challenges and repetitive behaviors, resulting in struggles with making eye contact, maintaining conversations, transitioning between tasks, demonstrating intense interests, and adapting to changes.
Diving deeper into its more neurobiological roots, most children struggling with autism also have chronic health issues related to their digestive system, immune system, and endocrine system, and often struggle with emotional dysregulation as well.
Early Signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder
While recognizing this condition may be difficult at first, Autism Speaks lists the early signs of autism that parents can keep watch for. These typically include:
- Delayed speech and language development: Children with ASD may experience a delay in developing language skills, including not responding to their name, not using gestures like pointing or waving, and not engaging in back-and-forth babbling.
- Lack of social interaction: Children with ASD may have difficulty engaging in social interactions, such as making eye contact, responding to facial expressions or emotions, and initiating or responding to social interactions with others.
- Restricted interests and repetitive behaviors: Children with ASD may demonstrate intense interest in specific topics or objects and engage in repetitive behaviors like hand flapping, rocking, or lining up toys.
- Sensory sensitivities: Children with ASD may exhibit unusual responses to certain sounds, textures, tastes, or smells, being either oversensitive or undersensitive to them.
- Difficulty with transitions or changes in routine: Children with ASD may become distressed or upset when transitioning from one activity to another or when their routine is disrupted.
- Lack of imaginative play: Children with ASD may have difficulty engaging in pretend play or imaginative activities.
- Unusual body movements or postures: Some children with ASD may exhibit unusual body movements or postures, such as walking on their toes, flapping their hands, or holding their hands or body in awkward positions.
While these are some common signs of autism, it’s important to note that children may exhibit some of these behaviors without necessarily having a diagnosis of autism and that the signs can vary in severity and presentation from child to child.
“The Perfect Storm” of Autism Stressors
What exactly causes autism? Contrary to conventional opinion, the increase in ASD cases cannot be explained by genetics alone. Instead, forward-thinking doctors now recognize autism’s origins lie in the disruption of a child’s delicate neurological development early on during what is called “critical” or “sensitive” periods of development.
Essentially, when external stressors—such as prenatal stress, birth trauma, and the overuse of toxic products or antibiotics—impact delicate and vulnerable neurological communication, interference (or subluxation) can occur, causing nervous system dysregulation.
This dysregulation in the nervous system results in dysautonomia, impacting the vagus nerve and, consequently, the body’s natural ability to regulate. This, in turn, causes surface-level problems associated with ASD, such as social interaction, speech, and immunity.
This is what we call “The Perfect Storm” —the complete down-regulation of healthy nervous system processes caused by various external stressors leading to surface-level problems.
How to Get an Autism Diagnosis
If your pediatrician suspects Autism Spectrum Disorder during routine visits, the typical next step is referring your child to a specialist for further assessment. This evaluation is critical for confirming an autism diagnosis.
Typical providers involved in diagnosing autism include:
- Developmental pediatricians
- Child psychologists/psychiatrists
- Neuropsychologists
- Multidisciplinary diagnostic teams
These specialists will interview parents about social skills, communication, behavior, and other developmental milestones. They may directly observe your child playing or interacting. Standardized autism tests like the ADOS-2, ADI-R, CARS-2, or STAT are often used.
By comparing your child’s challenges and test responses to the diagnostic criteria for ASD in the DSM-5, the specialist determines if your child meets the thresholds for an official autism diagnosis.
While this conventional process for getting an autism diagnosis is meant to provide clarity for families, significant gaps exist. Specialists tend to focus narrowly on overt behavioral problems that may not represent your child’s challenges fully. Additionally, a diagnosis does little to inform how to address root causes.
What to Expect During an Autism Evaluation
Typically, an autism evaluation begins with a clinical interview discussing your child’s developmental history. You’ll be asked about milestones, health issues, behaviors, and other emerging patterns.
During your visit, you can expect questions surrounding:
- Pregnancy and birth details
- Early motor coordination
- Speech and language progression
- Social skills and eye contact
- Rigid routines, interests, and play
- Sensory sensitivities
The specialist will also likely interact directly with or observe your child playing. They evaluate social awareness, communication approach, flexibility, attentiveness, and emotional regulation.
Widely used autism screening tools include the STAT, M-CHAT, SRS-2, and parent questionnaires such as the ASSQ. Diagnostic assessments like the ADOS-2, ADI-R, and CARS-2 systematically assess core ASD issues based on expert criteria.
One significant barrier to accurate testing and screening is the environment within which the testing occurs. Many times, the evaluation occurs inside a large hospital building or medical office where even children who do not struggle with social-emotional delays experience heightened anxiety, defensiveness, and so forth when interacting with doctors and professionals whom they’ve never met before.
While not offered by most hospitals or medical conglomerates, in-home assessments may offer more accuracy and support as they help the child become more comfortable in their natural environment.
It is recommended that your child’s assessment should also include the latest nervous system scans from chiropractors like PX Docs. These scans can identify subtle dysfunctions that affect sensory regulation, which is the true origin of maladaptive behaviors. Once these neurological challenges are resolved, your child’s true capabilities will shine through.
INSiGHT Scans: The New Standard for Assessment
PX Docs uses advanced scanning technology, called INSiGHT Scans, to identify core neurological imbalances in children often overlooked by conventional methods. These imbalances can result in various impairments, such as sensory, speech, and social difficulties.
Fortunately, by pinpointing these areas of interference with INSiGHT Scans, we can score dysautonomia severity and detect subluxation patterns that negatively impact the child’s overall function.
Then, based on these precise insights, PX Docs creates customized Neuro-Tonal care plans that specifically target the root issues. These plans are designed to provide the most effective care for the child. As the assessments track the child’s neurological progress, parents can see their child make remarkable advancements week-by-week instead of year-by-year.
This gives parents the confidence that their child is receiving the best possible care and support for their unique needs.
How to Get an Autism Diagnosis with PX Docs
While PX Docs’ nervous system-based methods and INSiGHT Scans provide tremendous value independently, some families still wish to pursue a formal ASD diagnosis to coordinate school services and therapy referrals.
PX Docs will guide parents through the entire diagnosis process, beginning with their specialized case history and asking overlooked questions about birth, recurrent infections, sensory issues, and other everyday neurological stressors.
From there, PX Docs will conduct those essential INSiGHT Scans, revealing core gaps missed by surface-level observations alone. With this foundational understanding of the child’s challenges, referrals can be made to reputable diagnosticians for official medical diagnoses if desired.
Customized Care After an Autism Diagnosis
So, what exactly does PX Docs’ care entail? And how does it differ from other options families may have tried? Their approach begins with the understanding that autism is rooted in nervous system dysfunction. Thus, restoring regulation here must be the primary focus.
Neuro-tonal adjustments expertly target regions of subluxation and dysautonomia detected on scans. This kickstarts optimal nervous system function, balancing overexcited areas and stimulating calming ones. This also restores communication between the gut and brain, improves immunity, and reduces inflammation.
With this solid neurological foundation established, other pieces click. Sensory overload eases, allowing social skills to emerge. Focus enhances supporting learning. Their care unlocks core physiological potential, so children thrive—not just survive.
Take the First Step Toward an Autism Evaluation Today
If your child demonstrates developmental delays that are causing concern, trust those parental instincts. While conventional medicine offers little hope beyond primary special education and psychiatric drugs, far greater solutions are available.
To get started with an autism diagnosis, consider Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care today. This drug-free solution will address the root cause of your child’s ASD. Visit our PX Docs’ Directory to connect with a trained pediatric chiropractor near you.
With the proper care and information, thriving with a diagnosis of autism is completely possible.
