Frequently Asked Questions

No, although some volunteers may choose to check in on things from time to time, expect us to be closed from December 23rd, returning January 6th, 2025.

Please be patient and considerate during this time as all our staff and volunteers have earned this break.

Applications will still be open and payments will still be processed during this time.

Disclaimer:

Receiving an autism diagnosis through our service does not guarantee access to government-funded support, including but not limited to services provided by NASC (Needs Assessment and Service Coordination) agencies. Access to government funding and services is subject to eligibility criteria and assessment processes managed by the relevant agencies. We encourage you to consult with your local NASC agency or other government bodies for more information on funding options and eligibility requirements.

Our diagnostic process is valid and supported by research evidence. If you receive a diagnosis through our service this is a valid diagnosis.  We cannot however, guarantee that applications for services and/or funding with an autism diagnosis is accepted by all professionals, including NASCs. 

Other Avenues of Support that recognise telehealth as a valid diagnostic option for Autistic Individuals in New Zealand (Non-Government Funded):

1. Autism New Zealand:
   • Provides training, advocacy, and support services to individuals with autism and their families. They offer educational programs, community support groups, and autism awareness workshops.
   • Website: www.autismnz.org.nz
2. Altogether Autism:
   • Offers evidence-based information and advice. They provide a free advisory service, webinars, and resources for families, educators, and professionals.
   • Website: www.altogetherautism.org.nz
3. IHC New Zealand:
   • A nationwide network supporting people with intellectual disabilities, including autism. They offer advocacy, residential support, and community participation programs.
   • Website: www.ihc.org.nz
4. Parent to Parent New Zealand:
   • Provides support, information, and training to families of children with disabilities, including autism. They offer a free matching service, connecting parents with others who have shared experiences.
   • Website: www.parent2parent.org.nz
5. Community and Online Support Groups:
   • Various local and online support groups are available for individuals with autism and their families, providing shared experiences, advice, and emotional support. Access these through social media platforms or local organisations.
6. Private Therapists and Specialists:
   • Many professionals offer private services such as behavioural therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy for individuals with autism. These services are typically accessed privately and are not covered by government funding.
7. Workbridge:
   • Offers employment support for individuals with disabilities, including autism. They assist with job placement, career coaching, and employer support.
   • Website: www.workbridge.co.nz
8. The Cube – Autism Resource Centre:
   • Provides resources, workshops, and programs for people on the autism spectrum, focusing on independence, community engagement, and self-advocacy.
   • Website: www.thecube.org.nz

Employment-Specific Supports and Accommodations:

Individuals who receive a diagnosis of autism are encouraged to liaise with their employers to explore potential workplace accommodations and support. However, access to these accommodations is not guaranteed and depends on employer policies and willingness. Reasonable accommodations may include flexible working hours, quiet workspaces, or assistive technologies. Employers are required to consider reasonable accommodations under New Zealand law, including the Human Rights Act 1993 and the Employment Relations Act 2000.

Additional Employment Support:

1. Workbridge:
   • Provides job placement, career coaching, and workplace support to individuals with disabilities, including autism. They work with employees and employers to promote an inclusive work environment.
   • Website: www.workbridge.co.nz
2. Ministry of Social Development (MSD) – Job Support Fund:
   • Helps cover the cost of workplace accommodations for employees with disabilities. Employers can apply for financial assistance to implement necessary supports, such as specialised equipment or job coaching.
   • Website: www.workandincome.govt.nz

Potential Supports Provided by the Ministry of Education (for those attending school):

The Ministry of Education offers various forms of support for students with autism in New Zealand’s education system. These supports are designed to foster inclusion and academic success, although they are not directly tied to an autism diagnosis.

1. Learning Support:
   • Learning Support provides assistance to children and young people with additional learning needs to help them participate, learn, and achieve in education settings. This support covers various areas, including those with disabilities, developmental delays, behavioural challenges, and communication or learning difficulties.
   • Website: https://parents.education.govt.nz/learning-support/
2. Funding supports:
   • Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS):

ORS funding supports students with high needs, including those with autism. This can include access to teacher aides, specialised equipment, and therapy services.

• Website: https://www.education.govt.nz/school/student-support/special-education/ors/
• School High Health Needs Fund (SHHNF): Supports students with significant health conditions that impact their learning, providing funding for teacher aides or other resources.
• Website: https://www.education.govt.nz/school/student-support/special-education/school-high-health-needs-fund/

1. Specialist Teacher Outreach Service:
   • Provides direct teaching assistance and strategies for students with significant learning needs, including autism.
   • Website: https://www.education.govt.nz/school/student-support/special-education/getting-help-for-students-with-special-needs-from-the-specialist-teacher-outreach-service/

1. Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB):
   • RTLBs offer support to schools in creating inclusive environments for students with autism, providing strategies for both learning and behaviour challenges.
   • Website: https://rtlb.tki.org.nz/The-RTLB-service/What-RTLB-do

1. In-Class Support (ICS):
   • ICS funding offers additional in-class support for students with moderate learning needs, including autism, and is managed in collaboration with schools.
   • Students with a diagnosis of autism or ADHD may be eligible for special exam conditions (SEC), such as separate accommodation and extra completion time.
   • Website: https://www.education.govt.nz/school/student-support/special-education/in-class-support-funding/

1. Assistive Technology (AT) Funding:
   • Provides funding for specialised technology that supports students with autism in accessing the curriculum. This may include communication devices or learning software.
   • Website: https://www.education.govt.nz/school/student-support/special-education/assistive-technology/

While government-funded services and workplace accommodations can provide valuable support, access to these is not guaranteed and depends on individual circumstances, eligibility criteria, and employer policies. We encourage individuals to explore all available options, including liaising with employers, schools, and support organisations, to ensure they receive the appropriate support for their needs.

Consider exploring alternative non-government-funded resources to complement government assistance, ensuring a holistic support system tailored to your specific situation.

We typically conduct one intake appointment to gather a thorough history and conduct behavioural observations and mental status examination. That, along with the extensive testing measures you complete prior to your appointment, provides us with the information we need to determine whether or not you meet criteria for a diagnosis.

If you are seeking a diagnosis for the purposes of gaining disability funding via the government, you will need to complete an additional in-person assessment at one of our local clinics.

Once you have paid in full for your assessment, your appointment will be scheduled for within 8-12 weeks. Currently, we expect reports to be out after the Christmas/ New Years break.

Urgent or emergency appointments are available for those choosing to pay an additional fee. This ensures a video appointment with a Psychologist and completed reports back to you within 2 weeks .

Fees need to be paid in full before we confirm any appointments. You will need to complete your questionnaires prior to your scheduled appointment to allow the process to keep moving quickly.

We want you to get your results as soon as possible, and our psychologists cannot get your report written until those questionnaires are completed. In order to streamline this, we ask that you do the questionnaires prior to the intake interview so that your psychologist can start on your assessment right away. Of course, things might come up during that intake that lead your psychologist to send you some additional forms to complete to get a fuller picture of your unique presentation.  Having completed the majority of the assessments prior to the intake, this will be less work on your end afterwards.

All our psychologists are qualified to conduct these assessments and assign or rule out a diagnosis. Since there are no set standards for these reports, each provider has the right to review and determine whether or not to accept the report. 

As such, we cannot guarantee that a given provider accepts our report. However, we hold ourselves to a high clinical standard and have a high rate of success. We have also partnered with the Nelson Clinic, who has agreed to accept our reports due to their high quality. We are also willing to consult directly with a provider to answer questions about our process and ensure that our report meets their standards. 

We highly recommend you consult with your psychiatrist before applying for funding with us to determine if they have any specific requirements for your evaluation or report.

Our clinical director, Dr. Amy Marschall, fully understands how women and girls are often underdiagnosed and missed when displaying ADHD and/or autistic traits. She knows this both from her extensive clinical training and her first-hand experience as an AuDHD woman who was initially misdiagnosed.

Following her own misdiagnosis, Dr. Marschall built templates and assessment protocols specifically designed to catch those missed by providers who do not have this understanding.

Our psychologists are trained on cultural competency, understanding masking, varying ways that symptoms can present, and assessing complex cases. We also have multiple members in the team with lived experience of autism and ADHD.

No, we do not require a referral from elsewhere, but as mentioned before we highly recommend you consult with your psychiatrist or other specialists before applying for funding with us to determine if they have any specific requirements for your evaluation or report.

We are a fully telehealth program, so everything is done online. There is a wealth of research that shows that appropriately-trained psychologists can assess ADHD, autism, and many other conditions via telehealth if they have appropriate expertise in telehealth as a method of service delivery, and we require such training for all of our psychologists.

If applying for funding through the government, an additional in-person assessment session needs to be done. There is an additional charge for this service. 

Our clinical team consists of psychologists with various skills and experiences. However, we are psychologists, not medical doctors or psychiatrists. We are unable to prescribe medication for ADHD or any other diagnosis. We can provide information about whether or not you meet the criteria for a diagnosis of ADHD.

Many people with ADHD benefit from medication intervention for their symptoms. However, a psychologist does not determine which medication (if any) is appropriate for an individual. With consent, we can forward your diagnosis to your GP, psychiatrist, our preferred referrer, The Nelson Clinic, or other healthcare provider. However, we cannot and would not tell a prescriber what they should or should not prescribe.

In other words, we cannot guarantee what options your prescriber will or will not offer you based on our diagnosis.

If you have questions about your medication options, I strongly encourage you to talk to your GP about who would prescribe medication if you were diagnosed with ADHD and what their requirements are for a psychological report in order to access medication options.

Current telehealth research shows that diagnostic psychological assessments can be conducted via video with comparable accuracy to in-person appointments.

All of our psychologists are trained in conducting telehealth assessments. In fact, many of our clients have mentioned that they prefer the telehealth option, and how much more accessible our assessments are.

As a reminder, you do not purchase a diagnosis; you pay the fee to complete an assessment to determine if the diagnostic criteria are met. It is unethical for a provider to guarantee a diagnosis prior to conducting the evaluation. We understand it can be anxiety-provoking to seek out an assessment knowing that you might not meet criteria for what you initially suspected.

With that said, we also understand that people request evaluations for a reason! Most people who are 100% neurotypical (have no diagnosable condition) do not request an assessment. Although we do not guarantee a diagnosis, we conduct a thorough assessment of your symptoms to determine why you are struggling.

Because not everyone who suspects they may be autistic or ADHD ends up meeting the criteria, we also screen for other conditions including anxiety and depression so that we can help answer the question of why you are experiencing the symptoms you have.

No, there is significant work and cost that goes into the assessment process. We are not guaranteeing a diagnosis with our service, we are guaranteeing a quality assessment of your mental health.

You’re welcome to book in a debrief session with your Psychologist for them to explain further why they made the diagnostic choices they did.

If you provide us with inaccurate information and get or not get a diagnosis as a result, we are not liable for any resulting misdiagnosis.

There is a level of trust that goes into an assessment. We rely on you and your reporters to be accurate with the information provided. If you do not provide us with accurate information, we cannot provide you with an accurate diagnosis. 

If we suspect dishonesty, it may be noted on your report and discussed in the interview.

It is asked that you give your professional as much notice as possible when needing to change or cancel an appointment. It is expected that you give a minimum of 48 hours notice or the appointment will be considered a no-show.

Should you no-show to a scheduled appointment, you run the risk of having your application and any further funding denied and/or your application cancelled.

For any pre-paid Psychological Service, including the ADHD/ Autism Assessment Program, you will be invoiced $100 for the missed appointment and will be unable to receive any reports until this balance is paid.

You can find our Refund Policy Here: 

Refund and Returns Policy

First and foremost, please remember we are real people receiving these complaints. Profanity, abuse, and attacks on staff members or professionals will NEVER be tolerated. If you engage in this sort of behaviour, you will be removed from the program and will not be allowed to apply again for our support.

If you do need to make a complaint, simply email us at: info@acfbfund.org.nz with as much information as possible to give us a clear picture of what’s going on so we can figure out how best to help. We don’t want unhappy clients or professionals so we will do our best to resolve and/or make amends for any potential wrongdoing. 

We take complaints VERY seriously and often can resolve them within hours to a couple days, depending on the complexity of the situation. Again, the more information you can give us (emails, screenshots, recordings, etc) the better so we can see exactly what has gone wrong and work towards a solution together.

If you complete our additional in-person clinic add on, yes. We provide an additional assessment by a multidisciplinary team in-person that meets all requirements set in the current Autism Guidelines. 

If you choose the online option for diagnosis, you’re only limited by Whaikaha/NASC/MSD. Every other service we have encountered thus far has accepted our online diagnoses.