The Kanata Psychology and Counselling Centre is very pleased to announce the expansion of our Autism Services. Under the direction of Dr. Laura Hanson, KPCC will offer diagnostic, treatment and individual psychotherapy services to individuals in need. For more information on this program, click here: Autism Services
Along with this new service, Kanata Psychology is also pleased to announce that Dr. Laura Hanson has joined the centre. Dr. Hanson previously worked as a Psychologist at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in the Autism program. Through a warm and understanding approach, Dr. Hanson has served variety of client populations, including children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder, serious mental health concerns, learning and developmental disabilities, as well as typically-developing children and adolescents learning to cope with a variety of circumstances and looking enhance their own abilities and maximize their strengths.
If you are interested in learning more about this new service, please please call (613) 435-2729 or e-mail KPCC at office@kanatapsychology.com to book an appointment. Alternatively, you can click the “Book an Appointment” button above and select Dr. Hanson as the person with whom you would like to meet.
Please read our latest blog entry below from Dr. Hanson describing the importance of acting early if you have concerns about your child’s development and if it may be connected to autism.
Why Act Early If You Are Concerned About Development?
Many parents have concerns from time to time about their child’s development. Often the first place they turn to is their family doctor. Sometimes, the response is something akin to “don’t worry, they’ll grow out of it”. Although this bit of conventional wisdom is often true, it is not always true.
Parents are the number one experts when it comes to their children, and when your instincts are telling you that something is a concern, there is a good possibility you are right. Sometimes, an early language delay or other delay in social or developmental milestones can be attributed to Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism is a lifelong condition that affects 1 in 66 Canadian children.
Individuals with Autism form a wide and varied group of individuals, who bring unique and important interests, strengths, and abilities to our community, but who also often require additional support to reach their own highest potential. When a child with Autism is diagnosed early (ideally, before the age of 2 years old), they can have increased opportunity to access early intervention in a timely manner. Unfortunately, many diagnostic and intervention services have extensive waitlists. Thus, early identification of children at risk is of utmost importance.
Autism Canada has a screening questionnaire you can complete to begin looking at your child’s risk for an Autism Diagnosis. It can be found at: https://autismcanada.org/about-autism/diagnosis/screening-tools/toddler/
Some things parents often tell us they noticed early on include: their child not responding to their name (maybe they suspect a hearing difficulty), their child is slow to acquire language, or even “loses” (or stops using) words they used before, or their child is easily upset by changes in their environment, or loud unexpected noises.
Here at Kanata Psychology and Counselling Centre, we offer diagnostic assessments (including measures such as the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) for children as young as 15 months of age, as well as intervention services for children, adolescents, and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Don’t wait – act early!
-Written by Dr. Laura Hanson
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/index.html
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https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/autism-spectrum-disorder-children-youth-canada-2018.html
