Dr. Sanam Hafiz

Yeah, so we do both. We do follow up with them. We do an evaluation in another year and a half, but we're not a treatment facility. So we connect them to a lot of treatment providers, psychiatrists, therapists, like I said, charities, institutions, agencies. Then they then provide the services we recommend in our reports.

Yeah, so we do both. We do follow up with them. We do an evaluation in another year and a half, but we're not a treatment facility. So we connect them to a lot of treatment providers, psychiatrists, therapists, like I said, charities, institutions, agencies. Then they then provide the services we recommend in our reports.

Yeah, so we do both. We do follow up with them. We do an evaluation in another year and a half, but we're not a treatment facility. So we connect them to a lot of treatment providers, psychiatrists, therapists, like I said, charities, institutions, agencies. Then they then provide the services we recommend in our reports.

So that's a huge debate. You know, when I started working, autism was, it had very clean, clear demarcations. You know, if you were not fully autistic, like textbook autistic, we could look for features of Asperger's or people who are maybe PDD, NOS, we used to call them, pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified.

So that's a huge debate. You know, when I started working, autism was, it had very clean, clear demarcations. You know, if you were not fully autistic, like textbook autistic, we could look for features of Asperger's or people who are maybe PDD, NOS, we used to call them, pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified.

So that's a huge debate. You know, when I started working, autism was, it had very clean, clear demarcations. You know, if you were not fully autistic, like textbook autistic, we could look for features of Asperger's or people who are maybe PDD, NOS, we used to call them, pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified.

There were a couple of other types of autism called Rett syndrome or childhood disintegrative disorder. When the DSM-5 kind of redid autism, we got rid of all of those terminologies. We just made it one big spectrum of autism.

There were a couple of other types of autism called Rett syndrome or childhood disintegrative disorder. When the DSM-5 kind of redid autism, we got rid of all of those terminologies. We just made it one big spectrum of autism.

There were a couple of other types of autism called Rett syndrome or childhood disintegrative disorder. When the DSM-5 kind of redid autism, we got rid of all of those terminologies. We just made it one big spectrum of autism.

Over the pandemic, and I can tell you because I've been in practice in the center doing assessments for almost 18 years now, over the pandemic, people had a lot more time on their hands and a lot of people were taking to social media.

Over the pandemic, and I can tell you because I've been in practice in the center doing assessments for almost 18 years now, over the pandemic, people had a lot more time on their hands and a lot of people were taking to social media.

Over the pandemic, and I can tell you because I've been in practice in the center doing assessments for almost 18 years now, over the pandemic, people had a lot more time on their hands and a lot of people were taking to social media.

And obviously, it's not a bad thing that there's so much awareness of stuff, but there were articles being written that could not quite capture everything about what autism is. And the idea of neurodivergence really gained popularity. We went back to work and we only took maybe about three months off. When we went back to work, you know, the idea of autism sort of exploded.

And obviously, it's not a bad thing that there's so much awareness of stuff, but there were articles being written that could not quite capture everything about what autism is. And the idea of neurodivergence really gained popularity. We went back to work and we only took maybe about three months off. When we went back to work, you know, the idea of autism sort of exploded.

And obviously, it's not a bad thing that there's so much awareness of stuff, but there were articles being written that could not quite capture everything about what autism is. And the idea of neurodivergence really gained popularity. We went back to work and we only took maybe about three months off. When we went back to work, you know, the idea of autism sort of exploded.

Everyone wanted to come in and be evaluated and assessed for autism. Everyone was neurodivergent and there were some people who wouldn't take no for an answer. So it kind of became frustrating because, you know, I have actually said these exact words, but if you knew you were autistic, why did you bother coming to see us?

Everyone wanted to come in and be evaluated and assessed for autism. Everyone was neurodivergent and there were some people who wouldn't take no for an answer. So it kind of became frustrating because, you know, I have actually said these exact words, but if you knew you were autistic, why did you bother coming to see us?

Everyone wanted to come in and be evaluated and assessed for autism. Everyone was neurodivergent and there were some people who wouldn't take no for an answer. So it kind of became frustrating because, you know, I have actually said these exact words, but if you knew you were autistic, why did you bother coming to see us?

You know, we're people with licenses and doctorates and two or three decades of experiences. I've got other people in my team who've been practicing for longer than me. So I would tell them, look, we are not just giving you expert opinion with clinical discretion. We're also using standardized tests to tell you whether you're autistic.

You know, we're people with licenses and doctorates and two or three decades of experiences. I've got other people in my team who've been practicing for longer than me. So I would tell them, look, we are not just giving you expert opinion with clinical discretion. We're also using standardized tests to tell you whether you're autistic.