Autism Diagnosis & Pediatric Assessments
An Important First Step in Care
Bancroft provides autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnostic assessments and pediatric neuropsychological evaluations for children ages 2 to 17. Located in Cherry Hill, NJ, in-person diagnostic assessments are offered to ensure the best possible care and connection between your child and the clinical team. For your child, getting an early autism diagnosis or ADHD diagnosis can help facilitate the best care and a lifetime of appropriate services.
Get the Answers You Need With a Diagnosis Assessment
An early autism diagnosis is a critical first step in ensuring your child receives the supportive services they need to live their best lives. Bancroft’s pediatric neuropsychologist offers expert neuropsychological evaluations, leading to a formal diagnosis, and gives you the answers you need to make decisions for your child’s future.
Experience Matters
Diagnostic assessments for autism, ADHD, and intellectual and developmental disorders are part of a new suite of autism treatment services. Bancroft has been designed to meet the growing demand brought on by the increase in autism diagnoses, long wait times for pediatric neuropsychological evaluations, and access to appropriate services.
Bancroft’s experience in treating those with autism and intellectual and developmental disorders runs deep. We have over 100 years of experience in treating those with autism and employ a team of clinical experts in ABA, physical, occupational, and speech therapies who all work in concert to provide the best treatment.
When to Seek an Autism Assessment
Appointments Now Available for Autism Diagnostic Assessments
Speak with an experienced scheduling coordinator to make your appointment today.
Types of Testing Offered in New Jersey:
- Autism Assessment
- ADHD Assessment
- Full Pediatric Neuropsychological Evaluations
- Psycho-Educational/Learning Evaluations
Signs of Autism in Children
- Echolalia, or repeating words or phrases at random out of context
- Incorrect use of pronouns (e.g., saying “he” instead of “me”)
- Parallel play, or playing next to other children on their own, but not engaging in joint play
- Minimal to no interest in engaging with other children
- Unusual eye gaze (e.g., looking at someone out of the corner of their eye) or no eye contact
- Inflexible adherence to routines and distress at small changes (e.g., wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants in warm weather)
- Rigid thinking patterns and insistence on following rules
- Pica or mouthing inedible objects
- Visual inspection of objects (e.g., inspecting the wheels of a toy car as they roll)
- Unusual speech (e.g., speaking in a flat tone or a sing-sing tone)
- Use of non-speech vocalizations (e.g., making vowel sounds repeatedly)
- Unawareness of the presence of other people
- Repetitive motor movements such as spinning in circles or hand flapping
- Repetitive actions (e.g., watching the same video over and over; preferring to line up or sort toys as opposed to using their imagination or acting out stories)
- Sensory abnormalities (e.g., covering their ears or attempting to run away in response to loud sounds; high pain tolerance)
- Sensory-seeking behavior (e.g., rubbing their face on certain textures)
- Self-injurious behavior (e.g., head-banging)
Danielle Ager, Psy.D.
Neuropsychologist
Dr. Ager is a licensed clinical neuropsychologist who completed Master’s and Doctoral degrees at Widener University, with concentrations in school psychology and neuropsychology. She completed an APA-accredited internship through Widener University with rotations at Lankenau Hospital within the private practices of Drs. Bergman, Caplan, and Shechter. Dr. Ager completed a postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric neuropsychology at Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, where she provided inpatient and outpatient neuropsychological evaluations in a subacute rehabilitation hospital setting.
Before to joining Bancroft, Dr. Ager worked as a lifespan neuropsychologist for 7 years at Clinical Neuropsychology Associates (CNA), providing neuropsychological and psychoeducational evaluations, cognitive rehabilitation, and psychotherapy. During her tenure at CNA, Dr. Ager focused on developing pediatric services within the practice, including working with children and adolescents with autism, acute concussions, learning disabilities, ADHD, and other neurodevelopmental conditions.
At Bancroft, Dr. Ager provides neuropsychological evaluations and diagnostic assessments to individuals across the lifespan. She has been involved in the expansion of outpatient pediatric services, including leading the neurodevelopment clinic, where she performs autism diagnostic assessments in addition to pediatric neuropsychological evaluations for children ages 2 to 17 with various neurodevelopmental conditions. Dr. Ager also acts as co-director of the Bancroft site for the Widener University Institute of Graduate Clinical Psychology’s APA-accredited clinical psychology internship program.
Bancroft Lebensfeld Center
201 Kings Highway South, Cherry Hill, NJ.
Follow signs for Pediatric Diagnostics located around the left side of the building when you are facing the main entrance. Visitors can park in the side parking lot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Autism is a developmental disability – a condition that affects the way a person thinks, learns, behaves and communicates. It’s also a spectrum disorder – which means people with autism can experience life very differently from one person to the next. Learn more about Autism.
No single test can diagnose autism, the diagnosis is based on an individual’s behavior, as the features of autism can be observed by others.
The most comprehensive way to obtain a diagnosis of autism utilizes multiple sources of information. In an autism diagnostic assessment for a child, a thorough history taking, with emphasis on early child development, is conducted with the child’s parents or guardian. Medical and/or school records may be reviewed. Structured, play-based and/or sensory-based activities are presented to the child, and the child is rated on their interactions, as well as any restricted and repetitive behaviors that are noted during the assessment. Additional cognitive, behavioral, and emotional tests may be administered to rule out other conditions that have similar presentations to autism. Parents, caregivers, and/or teachers also complete questionnaires and rating scales, to assess the presence of autism features compared to normative groups. Then, a diagnostician reviews all relevant sources of information and test data, including determining whether the full diagnostic criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) for autism have been met.
Various types of professionals can make a diagnosis of autism. These include developmental pediatricians, child psychologists, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, or other specialists with expertise in identifying autism spectrum disorders.
A neuropsychologist specializes in brain and behavior relationships, or the connections between your behavior and the structural and functional integrity of your brain. They are clinical psychologists who have completed specialized training in neuropsychology. They have expertise in neurologic conditions, as well as mental health conditions.
Yes! Getting a diagnosis is the first step when an individual needs autism-related treatment. Many insurances will not cover treatment services without a proper diagnosis. Additionally, the earlier a child is diagnosed and the earlier they receive treatment, the better the outcome – including a better quality of life for them, and for their caregivers.
No, autism and ADHD are different conditions, though they share some similar features. For instance, both children with autism and ADHD can have difficulties with focus and attention. Children with autism tend to hyperfocus, and they may appear to have trouble paying attention to other things as a result. Children with ADHD have trouble maintaining their attention. In addition, both children with autism and ADHD have trouble in social situations. Both conditions can also involve sensory processing difficulties.
We accept a variety of insurances and private pay. Contact an admissions coordinator for more information.
Assessments are provided at 201 Kings Highway South, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034.
Follow signs for Pediatric Diagnostics located around the left side of the building when you are facing the main entrance. Visitors can park in the side parking lot.
Call 800-774-5516 to talk to an experienced admissions coordinator who can help you with this important first step.
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