What We Assess/Treat
Autism
You know your child better than anyone. If something feels off at school, and autism is the question you’re sitting with, you’re in the right place. Trust your instincts.
Crescent can help you get answers and a next step you can act on.
In a crisis? Call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), or call 911. This website is not monitored and is not for emergencies.
Is this you?
The school picture doesn’t match home.
You may not have a name for what you’re seeing. You just know the picture at school doesn’t match the child you know at home.
No single pattern settles whether your child has autism. Only a careful evaluation can sort that out. If some of this sounds familiar, that’s reason enough to ask.
Friendships and group work feel harder than they should, and you can’t quite explain why.
Unspoken rules at school seem to land on your child last, or not at all.
Change, noise, or transitions set off a much bigger reaction than the moment seems to call for.
Teachers mention communication, flexibility, or “not picking up on” what’s expected.
Your child is plainly capable, and still comes home spent, shut down, or in tears.
Meetings keep happening, and you still don’t have a picture you trust.
If you’re reading this after another hard week of school emails, take a breath.
What this is
Understanding the whole child.
Autism can shape how a child communicates, connects with others, responds to sensory experiences, and moves through the world. These differences may be visible in the classroom or on the playground, but they may also appear more subtly—in the effort it takes to manage the school day or in the exhaustion and overwhelm that surface afterward.
No single behavior or observation can determine whether a child is autistic. A thoughtful evaluation brings together developmental history, experiences at home and school, direct observation, and assessment data to understand the patterns across a child’s life.
At Crescent, the goal is not simply to identify whether autism is present. It is to help families understand their child more fully—their strengths, their needs, and the kinds of support that can help them thrive.
How Crescent helps
Evaluation, and support that follows.
The work here starts with evaluation. From there it can include counseling, including social skills, for your child; parent coaching when behavior or regulation at home is the hardest part of the day; and special education consultation when the school side needs attention. Placement decisions are made with the school team.
If you want a careful look at whether autism is part of the picture, start with Crescent’s autism evaluation. That page explains the evaluation itself.
When the school’s picture of your child doesn’t match the child you know, an independent educational evaluation (IEE) can give you a second look. An IEE is an evaluation done outside the district, so you have information you can actually use in the next conversation.
Every evaluation starts with your child. Crescent looks at how they are actually functioning, tests for what the questions call for, and turns the results into a plan.
Eligibility for an Individualized Education Program (IEP), a written school plan for special education services, or a Section 504 plan, a written school plan for accommodations, is decided with the school, using information from a real evaluation. Crescent stays independent of the district so the picture can stay honest.
If you’re not sure which path fits, say so. You do not have to arrive with the right label.
Who you’ll work with
Who you’ll work with.
The work is led by Marcia Lynn Miller, a Licensed Educational Psychologist. She brings more than twenty years in special education and experience on both sides of the table, leading district programs and working with individual kids.
You’ll work directly with the person handling your child’s evaluation.
About Crescent
What to expect
No diagnosis in hand needed.
You do not need a diagnosis in hand to reach out. You do not need the perfect words. Fees are discussed at consultation. Bring the questions that are keeping you up. Crescent will share the load from there.
- 1
Tell us what’s happening.
Use the contact page. A few sentences in your own words is enough. “School is a fight every morning and I keep hearing autism” is plenty. Please don’t send records, reports, or detailed health information through a public form.
- 2
Crescent listens, then maps the next step.
That might be an autism evaluation. It might be an IEE. It might be a conversation that names a better question.
- 3
If you move forward, the evaluation page is your map.
Process details live there, not here. You should leave knowing what is being asked, and what you will walk away with.
Common questions
Questions parents ask.
Does noticing these things mean my child has autism?
Not on its own. Trust what you are seeing. A diagnosis comes from a careful look at your child rather than from a list, and that is what an evaluation is for.
What’s the difference between this page and an autism evaluation?
This page is for the concern: is this me, and can you help? The autism evaluation page is for the method: what an evaluation actually involves. Start here if you’re still naming the question. Go there when you’re ready to see the process.
The school already evaluated. Why would we look again?
Sometimes the school’s picture is incomplete, or it doesn’t match what you see at home. An independent educational evaluation (IEE) is a second look from outside the district. That is not an attack on the school. It is a way to get answers you can use.
Do we need an IEP or a 504 plan first?
No. An IEP is a written school plan for special education services. A 504 plan is a written school plan for accommodations. Families come to Crescent before, during, or after those conversations. The evaluation is meant to inform the next meeting, not to replace it.
Will Crescent tell the school what to do?
Not from a distance, and not by taking sides against a district. Crescent does not direct a specific child’s placement. What you get is a full profile and a strategy. The school conversation stays a school conversation.
Alongside
What autism often occurs alongside
Many autistic children also experience ADHD, anxiety, learning differences such as dyslexia, sensory-processing differences, and executive-functioning challenges. Understanding the full profile is what makes recommendations meaningful. Some children mask their difficulty at school, particularly girls and students who are keeping up academically.
At school
How autism affects school
An autism evaluation looks at how autism affects access to the curriculum and social, behavioral, and adaptive functioning at school, and whether special education services are needed. Support can include Section 504 accommodations, special education services through an IEP, social-skills support, and behavioral or emotional-regulation support.
Myth and reality
Myth and reality
Myth
Autism is caused by parenting, trauma, or a lack of discipline.
Reality
It reflects differences in brain development and neurological processing.
Where we work
By appointment, serving California’s Central Valley and Central Coast.
In person in Fresno, Madera, Merced, Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito Counties. Virtual throughout California.
Reviewed by Marcia Lynn Miller, Licensed Educational Psychologist, Crescent Psychological Services.
Last reviewed August 28, 2026.
This page is general information. It is not a diagnosis, not a substitute for a professional evaluation, and not advice about a specific child. If you are concerned about your child, please reach out.
988: If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988, or call 911. This site is not monitored and is not for emergencies.
Start with a conversation
Restore your peace.
You do not have to carry this by yourself. Tell us what’s happening, and let’s figure it out together.
Marcia Lynn Miller, LEP #3015 · Independent practice
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