What is a care pathway?
The care pathway presents a real, anonymized story showing how support needs were identified and how support measures have progressed from that point to the present day. A realistic timeline records, step by step, the actions and processes that have actually taken place along this path. An ideal timeline, in contrast, serves as a comparison – showing what the care pathway could look like if diagnosis were made more quickly and support started earlier.
Costs
The actual care pathway has required the involvement of many different professionals and countless work hours – not to mention the time spent by parents, which is inevitably taken from their own work hours and therefore also comes at a cost. The realistic timeline below shows the number of professional meetings that actually took place, while the ideal chart shows the potential number of professional meetings in an optimized care pathway. The professionals included in the charts are psychologists, psychiatrists, teachers, special education teachers, school counselors, classroom assistants, social workers, nurses, occupational and music therapists, and principals.
The average cost of a single professional meeting is estimated at around €150 per hour.
The chart indicates the number of visits per year. A typical meeting lasts approximately 90 minutes.
Professional meetings in the realistic care pathway per year. Average cost per meeting: €150/hour. Typical duration: 90 minutes.
Realistic Timeline
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2012
Challenges are identified as Asperger’s.
Referral from the child health clinic to a family counseling center.
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2013-2014
Family counseling center:
Several visits, but no assessments conducted.
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2014
Enhanced support begins.
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2017
Starting from preschool:
Multiple meetings take place.
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2018
A new round begins:
Several meetings and baseline assessments with a psychologist before the anticipated autism evaluation.
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2019
Asperger’s (F84.5):
Multiple assessments and Asperger diagnosis, but still no desired support. Numerous school meetings; treatment providers leave the family on their own. Referral for adjustment training.
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Additional diagnoses (F90.0 + F95.8 + F38.8):
More so-called comorbid diagnoses. Now treatment at the central hospital, child welfare notification due to symptoms, anxious child. No support provided.
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2020
Occupational therapy begins? Hospital inpatient stay.
Treatment begins? The chart calculations do not include the upcoming 5-week hospital inpatient stay or newly starting rehabilitations.
Professional meetings in the ideal care pathway per year. Average cost per meeting: €150/hour. Typical duration: 90 minutes.
Ideal Timeline
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2012
Challenges are identified as Asperger’s
Referral from the 4-year child health check-up for further assessments.
-
2013
Child psychiatry
Autism evaluations and occupational therapy begin immediately. Attention is also given to parents’ well-being.
-
Support for the whole family
• Adjustment training and rehabilitation for the entire family
• Caregiver support and respite care (respite = a professional comes home to help, including siblings)
• Support for siblings
• Regular home assistance from family services -
2015
Asperger’s Syndrome (F84.5) and school start
• Learning support from the national Learning and Guidance Center Valteri, which has strong expertise in autism
• Strong support from the classroom assistant, also during unstructured times
• Small 10-child class in the local school -
2020
Happy child, happy family
Over the years, the support provided at home, school, and during leisure time has benefited the child and the entire family, including siblings. Everything is going well!