Neurodiversity and Autism Assessment Frequently Asked Questions

I’m Aslynn Romano (she/they), a board-certified psychiatric nurse practitioner and a Neurodiversity Specialist at Balance Mental Health. I look forward to answering any questions you might have about the services we provide and supporting you in your mental health journey.

“What can I expect about this process?”

My mission as the Neurodiversity Specialist at Balance Mental Health is to help improve access to formal diagnostic evaluations for autism and to reduce out-of-pocket costs for individuals questioning if they may be Neurodivergent. To that end, our diagnostic process is broken down by appointment types, so you only pay for the services you want or need.

The first step is an initial consultation. You can expect this appointment to take 45-60 minutes. To prepare, there are multiple self-administered screenings that you must complete prior to scheduling this appointment. In the appointment, we will review those screenings and briefly discuss your mental health experiences. We will also discuss your reasons for seeking formal evaluation for potential diagnosis and/or participating in Neurodivergence counseling.

Based on our discussion and your goals, we may agree to proceed with formal evaluation or counseling here, or we may feel it is in your best interest to seek specific services elsewhere, such as neuropsychiatric testing. This is because some entities may require neuropsychiatric testing to grant requests for certain accommodations or benefits. If we anticipate that you may require this level of proof, you will be referred to a trusted outside provider for that service.

“Do I need autism evaluation services?”

At Balance Mental Health, we feel strongly that Neurodivergent individuals do not always require formal evaluation and may equally benefit from responsible self-identification and validation of the Autistic experience. If you do not need/want the limited benefits that a formal diagnosis may offer, you may not wish to proceed with formal evaluation. In these cases, we will use the consultation appointment to review the likelihood of autism or neurodivergence based on the research supporting the screenings you already completed and support you in self-identifying as Neurodivergent, when appropriate.

“If we are moving forward with evaluation, what are the next steps after consultation?”

If we determine that you would be best served by formal evaluation here at Balance Mental Health, the next step is an intake appointment to collect more detailed information about your history. Following that is the testing appointment, performed on a separate day due to the amount of time required for these appointments. Our process uses standardized tools including the MIGDAS-2 and SRS-2. Using these gold standard tools, we will assess for a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as defined by the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM V-TR). We will also explore other psychiatric diagnoses to ensure an accurate diagnosis. With these methods, we provide a high-quality, objective, and reliable assessment.

“I’m ready! How do I get started?”

After submitting an initial inquiry, you will be contacted with more detailed information and directions about how to complete self-assessment screenings. Once you have submitted all the required screenings, our coordinator Megan will reach out to you to schedule the initial consultation appointment. The cost for this meeting is $550.

“Why don’t you accept insurance for these services?”

Unfortunately, insurance plans do not often cover these services for adults in the same manner they do for other services that we provide. We understand that the out-of-pocket cost is significant. Our goal is to make this process as accessible as possible, but we realize it is still not within reach for many individuals. Our comprehensive diagnostic process is priced far below the average cost for autism evaluation services through traditional neuropsychiatric testing, which averages $3-5k in our area. This is the reason for offering the consultation and counseling services, to ensure you are only paying for what you need to meet your personal goals.