Autism Center

Refer a Patient

For our most current wait times by specialty and location, see our Access Dashboard.

View Seattle Children’s Access Dashboard

The 3 Pathways to Care

If your patient is new to Seattle Children’s Autism Center or hasn’t been seen in the last 3 years, there are 3 pathways to care:

  1. If they need an initial evaluation for autism, please indicate this in your referral, and we will schedule them for a diagnostic evaluation. We do not provide re-evaluations or second opinions for autism.
    • The Autism Center has long waitlists for diagnostic evaluations. Your patient may be able to get an evaluation closer to home at another center with shorter wait times. Refer to this list: Center of Excellence Applied Behavior Analysis | Apple Health Fee-for-Service Providers (PDF). These are medical practices authorized by the Washington State Health Care Authority to diagnose autism and prescribe related services.
    • You may also share these resources with your patient:
  2. If they have a diagnosis of autism and want to establish care, refer them to the Autism Center. They will start with our Accessing Treatment, Learning and Support (ATLAS) class (PDF) for an orientation to the classes and services we offer as well as guidance for navigating resources in the community.
  3. If they have a diagnosis of autism and you want to refer them to a specific service or class, indicate this in your referral. For example, patients can be directly referred to the Psychiatric and Medication Consultation Clinic.

If you are unsure about whether to refer your patient, please call our Clinical Intake Nurses at 206-987-2080, option 4.

To view our services by location, see Seattle Children’s Autism Center and Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine Service Locations (PDF).

Services We Don’t Offer

We do not see children for the following (see our list of possible resources in the community for these children):

  • Diagnostic re-evaluation for autism. Due to our long wait for initial evaluations, if the patient has already had an evaluation, we do not provide second opinions. Here is a list of providers in the community that will provide evaluations.
  • Long-term individual therapy
  • Long-term medication management
  • In-home therapy
  • Dyslexia or learning disorder evaluations
  • Parenting evaluations for legal purposes
  • School evaluations after expulsion or suspension. (If schools require this, they should provide a list of approved providers for this.)

On This Page

Appointment Availability

Updated November 2023.

Wait times differ by service and, for some services, by patient age. We recommend that families call 206-987-8080 to verify that we have received the referral. When they call, we will let them know the current wait time for the specific service.

Referral Requirements

Please submit a complete referral. This helps us schedule your patient’s appointment in a timely manner and ensure their first visit is smooth and productive.

Please include:

  • Autism diagnosis status: For example, if the patient needs an autism evaluation, has a provisional diagnosis or has an autism diagnosis and needs care related to their autism.
  • Service/specialty clinic requested (see Autism Center treatments and services): If you refer to the Psychiatric and Medication Consultation Clinic, Behavior Clinic, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Early Intervention Program or Pediatric Feeding Program, there is a required supplemental questionnaire that helps us to triage them into the right program. The forms are available at the bottom of this section, or you can go directly there. They must be sent along with the New Appointment Request Form (NARF).
  • Reason for referral: What is the clinical question for the specialist (specifics help us match your patient with an appropriate service more quickly)?
  • Any other relevant diagnosis
  • Visit type:
    • New patient consult, transfer of care or return visit/ongoing care
  • ALL relevant clinical documents:
    • Clinic notes
    • Previous specialty evaluations (for example, previous autism/developmental, mental health or educational evaluations/individualized education plans [IEPs])
    • Medication history
  • Helpful if available, but not required:
    • Growth charts/curves
    • Lab reports
    • Imaging and diagnostic reports (you can upload images to PowerShare)
  • Patient’s full name, date of birth, sex, address, guardian contact information and insurance
  • Referring provider’s name, phone, fax and the referral coordinator’s email address, so we can contact you if we need more information
  • If an interpreter is needed
  • Any known barriers to performing a successful telehealth (video) visit with the family
  • Supplemental questionnaire — required for the clinics below:

Please note:

  • Inpatient care: Patients can be admitted to the inpatient Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine Unit (PBMU) (ages 3 to 17) only after they visit an emergency room and providers there decide they would benefit from an inpatient stay.
  • Patients not seen by our department in the last 3 years will need a new referral.

Our Classes

Please note:

  • Classes are different than therapy groups.
  • Some classes require a referral. Others do not.
  • Classes are shorter than groups and repeat more often.
  • Waitlists are much shorter, if there is any wait at all.
  • Classes are designed to help families start to access the information, tools and resources they and their child need, often while they are waiting to receive care at Seattle Children’s or elsewhere.
  • Classes are web-based (virtual) at this time.
  • Financial assistance is available for qualifying families for classes with an associated cost.

See our list of classes.

Submit a Referral

Provider-to-Provider Communication

Once we receive your referral, we will contact you if we have questions about the referral or if the patient does not meet the clinical criteria for our programs. Due to the number of referrals we receive, we aren’t able to contact every PCP or family when a referral is received.

  • If you are directing or transporting a patient to Seattle Children’s Emergency Department or Urgent Care, please call Mission Control at 206-987-8899 or 866-987-8899 (toll-free).
  • For non-urgent clinical questions related to a shared patient, please call our clinic at 206-987-8080, option 4 or send an InBasket message via EpicCare Link.
  • The Partnership Access Line offers immediate support to pediatric care providers who have questions about child and adolescent mental healthcare, such as diagnostic clarification, medication adjustment or treatment planning. Contact 866-599-7257 (Washington) or 855-599-7257 (Alaska) during business hours.
  • If you would like to have one of our Autism Center team members provide in-person or virtual education with your clinic, please contact our Physician Relations team to coordinate.

Meet the Autism Center team.

Learn more about managing your patients at Seattle Children’s.

What Your Patients Can Expect

  • Many of our services have a long wait, while our classes do not. If your patient has a diagnosis of autism and their caregivers are able to attend our ATLAS class (PDF), they will be scheduled to attend the class right away.
  • We encourage families to call 206-987-8080 to verify that we have received the referral. They can ask to be added to a cancellation list. The family will remain on the cancellation list until they get an appointment. When the family calls, we will be able to let them know the current wait time for the service or class they’ve been referred for.
  • As openings become available, we call families to schedule in the order the referral was received.
  • Patients can visit our What to Expect page for more information about their appointment.
  • Patients can find resources and support.

Resources and Research for Families

Even if we do not have openings right away, there are many resources through Seattle Children’s and in the community that can help.

Your patient may be able to take part in our research and clinical trials even if they have to wait for an appointment. To learn more about how to get involved, your patients can call 206-987-7917 or email us. 

Resources for Providers

To suggest additional resources from Seattle Children’s that would be useful to primary care providers, please email us.

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