Autism Diagnosis in Charleston, West Virginia

In Charleston, a common first step is your child's pediatrician or Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC) children's services, which can screen and refer for a full developmental evaluation. Because the number of specialty evaluators in West Virginia is limited, referrals for comprehensive developmental assessment sometimes route to larger centers, and families may face a wait.

For specialty developmental evaluation and to find evaluators, many WV families connect with the WVU Center for Excellence in Disabilities (CED, cedwvu.org) in Morgantown, which maintains a statewide provider directory. The WVU CED also runs Mind the Gap, a free parent education and support group specifically for families on wait lists for autism evaluations or services (first Wednesday of each month), which can be a lifeline while you wait. CARES (wvcaresforautism.org) in the Kanawha/Putnam/Cabell area offers advocacy and navigation help as well.

Two things worth doing immediately: if your child is under three, contact WV Birth to Three, which provides early-intervention services regardless of diagnosis or ability to pay; and if your child is school-aged, Kanawha County Schools (the largest district in West Virginia) can evaluate for educational eligibility, which is a separate process from a medical diagnosis but can start support in parallel.