Tucson Alliance For Autism

• What is Autism
• Services
• News
• Request Information
• About TAFA
• You CAN Help!
• Listserv
• Home

Inter-Disciplinary Evaluations

The process of determining whether a child, adolescent or adult has autism is complicated and requires expertise from the professionals who conduct the evaluation. The Tucson Alliance for Autism Center provides the latest in diagnostic services to individuals in Tucson and the surrounding communities. We offer specialists across disciplines who work together to make an accurate diagnosis. Our interdisciplinary evaluation team is comprised of community and university professionals working alongside one another to conduct weekly diagnostic sessions. This type of service is the gold standard in diagnosis and allows families to travel to one site to participate in all components of the evaluation process. Current components are:

• Autism
• speech/language/communication
• motor/sensory
• cognitive
• academic
• nutritional
• behavioral

Interdisciplinary Diagnostic Team:

• Jaswinder Ghuman, M.D.
  Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry- University of Arizona
  
  
• Kacey Chandler, Ph.D.
  Licensed Psychologist
  
  
• Pamela Crooke, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
  Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences - University of Arizona
  
  
• Danielle Poulin, OTR/L
  Mariposa Therapies
  
  
• Carmen Palacio-Smith, R.D.
  Pediatric Nutritionist
  
  
• Irene Zappia, Ph.D.
  Licensed Psychologist - Bilingual Evaluations

Graduate students in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Child/Adolescent Psychiatry Fellows, and Doctoral Candidates in Psychology are also a part of the diagnostic team.