Illinois Allows Trained Speech-Language Pathologists To Diagnose Autism In Children Under Age Three

Illinois will permit specially trained speech-language pathologists to diagnose autism spectrum disorder in certain children under age three who are enrolled in the state's Early Intervention (EI) Program under House Bill (HB) 5225. The law creates a new diagnostic pathway for young children already receiving EI services and also amends the Illinois Public Aid Code to recognize qualifying diagnoses made by speech-language pathologists for access to Medicaid-covered applied behavior analysis (ABA). The law takes effect January 1, 2028.

Previously, an autism diagnosis generally had to be made by a physician or licensed clinical psychologist with expertise . . .