 I'm currently studying the Graduate Certificate in Autism Diagnosis. I'm about halfway through that course and basically I'm really interested in autism spectrum conditions and at the moment I'm really interested in psychology which is encompassing behaviour, learning and mental health and my role is focused in schools so that's working with staff and students. I think autism is quite a complex condition and a lot of health professionals might be scared to make a diagnosis or don't have much understanding about the condition so I think this course has really increased my confidence in the ability to make those decisions and to recognise what is and isn't presenting similarly to autism and I think that applies not just to psychologists but to speech pathologists, to pediatricians, psychiatrists but also those not involved in the diagnostic process so generally passing that knowledge onto teachers and parents and the students who may have autism themselves. As a school psychologist I'm not actually accredited to diagnose autism as part of that collaborative team but in doing this course I'll receive the accreditation to be able to take part in this process so one of those components is the training in the ADOS which is the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule and this is basically the gold standard for autism diagnosis so in doing this training I'll receive that accreditation which will enable me to take part in this diagnostic process. The course is very linked in with some of the key diagnostic services in autism and so we have that opportunity to participate in some of the best diagnostic practices and working with very experienced clinicians as well.