Parents’ experiences of the service pathway to an autism diagnosis for their child: What predicts an early diagnosis in Australia?

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Bent, C., Barbaro, J., & Dissanayake, C. (2020). Parents’ experiences of the service pathway to an autism diagnosis for their child: What predicts an early diagnosis in Australia? Research in Developmental Disabilities, 103, 103689. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103689

Publication date: 17 May 2020 Added to AutiHub: 7 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
3
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 3 (33.3%)
  1. Catherine Bent
  2. Josephine Barbaro *
  3. Cheryl Dissanayake

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The early identification and diagnosis of autism is critical to ensure access to appropriate early intervention and support. Few studies have examined the association between potentially modifiable characteristics of the service system and timelier diagnosis. METHODS: An online survey was conducted to examine parental experiences of service pathways to an autism diagnosis for their child, and to identify child, family, and service level characteristics that predict the age and timeliness of diagnosis. Participants included 107 parents of children with autism who were diagnosed by 7 years of age and a smaller subgroup of 29 parents who were diagnosed after 7 years of age. RESULTS: Parents of younger children reported that, on average, it took approximately 12 months and 8 professional consultations to receive a confirmed diagnosis for their child. Parents of older children, as well as those who reported they were a sole caregiver, or were advised by professionals to 'wait and see', reported more time between first raising concerns and diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: The findings reiterate the importance of proactive professional responses to parental concerns. They also highlight the need for standardised screening and assessment and professional development and training to build capacity in the sector to deliver timely and accurate autism diagnoses.

Bibliography cited by this reference

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Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 12 Sep 2026 01:04.

Cited references
37
With a DOI
34
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
3
6 / 37 (16.2%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
0 / 37 (0.0%)
References with detected author names
37 / 37 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
0
Without a stable identifier
3
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
146
From DOI or external metadata
146
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
58 / 146 (39.7%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 88 / 146 (60.3%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
6 / 146 (4.1%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 6 / 58 (10.3%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 1 / 101 (1.0%).
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