Autism Assessments
Clear, compassionate evaluations to help you understand strengths and needs.
Navigating life with autism can involve both unique strengths and distinct challenges. Our autism assessments provide a comprehensive understanding of an individual’s abilities, support needs, and areas for growth. By examining patterns in communication, social interaction, behaviour, sensory processing, and daily functioning, we clarify whether an individual meets criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder and identify the supports that will best meet their needs. This process enhances self‑understanding, strengthens relationships, and fosters a more inclusive and supportive environment at home, work, school, and in the community.
At Constellation Psychology, our trained psychologists use gold‑standard, evidence‑based tools, including the ADOS‑2, ADI‑R, SRS‑3, and ASRS, along with additional validated measures and cognitive or executive‑functioning assessments when appropriate. We offer autism assessments for children, teens, and adults in Calgary and surrounding areas for in‑person services, and online for clients in British Columbia, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.
Core Features of ASD
Recognizing Autism Traits and Experiences
According to the DSM‑5, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction, along with restricted or repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests, or activities. These features may be present currently or by history and can vary widely from person to person. Symptoms include:
Social Communication and Interaction
- Difficulty with social or emotional reciprocity, such as challenges with back‑and‑forth conversation, responding to social cues, and initiating or responding to social interactions
- Challenges with nonverbal communication, including eye contact, gestures, body language, or facial expressions
- Difficulty developing, maintaining, or understanding relationships across home, school, work, and community settings. This includes difficulties making friends, sharing imaginative play, or adjusting behaviour to suit different social contexts
Restricted and Repetitive Behaviours
- Repetitive or stereotyped movements, speech, play, or use of objects
- Strong interests or preferences that are intense or may be unusual in topic or depth
- A strong need for sameness or predictability, such as rigid routines or difficulty with transitions
- Sensory differences, including heightened or reduced sensitivity to sounds, textures, lights, movement, or other sensory input
For additional autism‑related resources in Calgary, Autism Calgary and the Society for the Treatment of Autism (STA) offer support for younger children and families. For older teens and adults, visit the Sinneave Family Foundation.
School‑Related Difficulties
Children on the autism spectrum may experience differences that affect learning, behaviour, and peer relationships. Challenges with social communication, flexibility, sensory processing, and understanding social expectations can make it harder to navigate classroom routines, participate in group activities, and manage frustration. These differences may contribute to academic inconsistencies, difficulty with transitions, and social misunderstandings with peers or teachers.
Common School‑Related Challenges
Children with autism may show:
- Difficulty interpreting social cues, group expectations, or unspoken rules
- Challenges with imaginative play, collaborative work, or peer interactions
- Sensory sensitivities that affect focus, comfort, or participation
- Distress with changes in routine, unexpected transitions, or unstructured settings
- Reduced flexibility during problem‑solving or when tasks do not go as expected
- Difficulty generalizing skills across settings or activities
- Strong interests that may interfere with learning, task completion or classroom engagement
Behavioural and Social Impacts
Differences in communication and emotional regulation may appear as withdrawal, rigidity, repetitive behaviours, or strong reactions to sensory or social demands. These behaviours can lead to misunderstandings, peer conflict, or increased stress in the classroom. Many children on the spectrum also experience co‑occurring learning, attention, or emotional differences, which can further affect school functioning. These challenges may make children more vulnerable to exclusion or bullying, especially when social cues, group dynamics, or unstructured settings are difficult to interpret. Experiences of being left out, teased, or misunderstood can impact confidence, emotional well‑being, and overall school engagement.
Autism in Adulthood
Recognizing Lifelong Patterns
Adults tend to seek an autism assessment after years of feeling “different” without having a clear explanation. Because autistic traits often become woven into daily routines and coping strategies, adults may attribute their challenges to personality, stress, or unrelated mental health concerns. It is common for adults to feel confused about lifelong patterns in social communication, sensory experiences, or emotional regulation—especially if these differences were never identified earlier in life.
Many adults also describe long histories of masking or camouflaging—efforts to hide autistic traits, imitate social behaviours, or compensate for social‑communication differences in order to fit in. Masking can involve rehearsing conversations, copying facial expressions, suppressing stimming, forcing eye contact, or closely monitoring one’s behaviour to avoid standing out. While these strategies may help adults navigate social or work environments, they are often mentally and emotionally exhausting and can contribute to burnout, anxiety, or a sense of losing one’s authentic self.
Research using tools such as the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT‑Q) highlights three common forms of masking: compensation (developing learned strategies to navigate social situations), masking (hiding autistic traits), and assimilation (attempting to blend in socially). Adults often seek assessment when they recognize how much effort they have invested in masking over the years, or when these strategies become harder to maintain.
Autism frequently co‑occurs with other conditions, so adults often pursue assessment for concerns such as anxiety, burnout, depression, sensory overload, chronic exhaustion, or difficulties with relationships, work performance, or daily organization. Some adults also seek assessment after their child receives a diagnosis and they begin noticing similar patterns in themselves. In many families, traits associated with the broader autism phenotype—such as social communication differences, sensory sensitivities, or a preference for routine—may be present in milder or more subtle forms. Recognizing these lifelong patterns can be an important part of understanding family history and how autistic traits may appear across generations.
Common Indicators in Adults
- Persistent differences in social communication, small talk, or interpreting social cues
- Difficulty understanding or using nonverbal communication such as facial expressions, gestures, tone, or eye contact
- Spending significant time learning, rehearsing, or studying social skills in order to navigate conversations or social expectations
- Challenges with flexibility, transitions, or unexpected changes
- Sensory sensitivities that affect comfort, focus, or daily functioning
- Difficulty forming or maintaining relationships, or feeling “out of sync” socially
- Exhaustion from masking or compensating in social or work settings
- Strong, focused interests that provide comfort or structure
- Challenges with emotional regulation, especially during stress or sensory overload
- A lifelong sense of being different without understanding why
These indicators do not confirm autism on their own, but they may signal the need for a comprehensive assessment to understand the underlying factors contributing to daily experiences.
Autism Spectrum Disorder Assessment
A typical child and youth autism assessment costs $3,760.00 and begins with an online intake appointment where background information is gathered, the assessment plan is reviewed, and consent is obtained. The assessment may include evaluating cognitive abilities, academic skills, social cognition, adaptive functioning, social-emotional functioning, attention and concentration (if needed), executive functioning, and autism‑specific characteristics.
A typical adult autism assessment costs $3,290.00 and also begins with an online intake appointment to review background information, plan the assessment, and obtain consent. Adult assessments include all components of the child assessment, with academic skills added only when relevant.
For both age groups, testing is followed by the integration of results into a comprehensive written report. This report includes diagnostic impressions, a clear explanation of findings, and individualized recommendations to support daily functioning, learning, and well‑being. Once the report is complete, results are reviewed together during a feedback meeting. From the initial intake appointment to the final feedback session, the typical assessment timeline is four to eight weeks.
