Where it started for us
In most ways, our daughter was an ordinary toddler. What we noticed, around age two, were two small things: she often didn’t turn when we called her name, and she rarely held eye contact or engaged with the people around her. Her hearing was clearly fine — she’d light up the moment one of her favourite songs came on. So we went to that first appointment half-expecting a minor hearing issue, or to be told this was just her pace. Autism wasn’t on our minds.
Who can diagnose autism in Singapore?
A diagnosis of autism in Singapore comes from a doctor or clinical team trained in child development — not from a single test. There are three main places to get one.
- KKH — Department of Child Development (DCD). The child-development team at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital assesses children for neurodevelopmental conditions, autism among them.
- NUH — Child Development Unit (CDU). National University Hospital’s equivalent team, on the west side of the island.
- Private developmental paediatricians and registered psychologists. Specialists in private practice who assess and diagnose autism. You can approach them directly, without a referral; access is usually faster and you pay the full fee.
Both public teams are multidisciplinary — you will typically meet more than one professional. For school-age children there is also a separate route through the Ministry of Education, which we cover below.
The steps, in order
1. Start with your GP or polyclinic
Your family doctor or a polyclinic doctor is the front door. They will not diagnose autism themselves, but they can write the referral that gets your child seen at a public hospital’s child-development clinic — and you need that referral for the subsidised specialist appointment. Singapore Citizens and permanent residents receive government subsidies at the public hospitals. (One point that trips people up: CHAS subsidises the GP visit itself; it isn’t what subsidises the hospital assessment.)
2. Choose your route: public or private
This is the real fork in the road, and there’s no wrong answer — only trade-offs.
Quick cue. Choose public if cost matters most and you can wait a few months. Choose private if you want to be seen sooner and can absorb the higher fee. Some families do both — start the public referral to hold a place, and book a private assessment in the meantime.
We compare the two side by side below. (A fuller KKH-vs-NUH-vs-private comparison lives in its own guide — linked at the end.)
3. The wait — and what you can do meanwhile
The subsidised route comes with a wait. Families commonly describe it as three to six months, sometimes longer — the hospitals don’t publish an official figure, and it shifts with demand and how urgent the referral is. We won’t pretend that part is easy; it wasn’t for us. But the wait doesn’t have to be an empty one. Here’s what you can start doing while you’re in the queue — none of it needs the diagnosis letter first:
- Write things down. Keep a simple log of what you notice — words, eye contact, play, reactions to sound. It helps the assessment team and it helps you.
- Learn the system now. Read up on early intervention (EIPIC) and the support your child may qualify for, so you’re ready to move the day the report arrives. (You don’t even need a diagnosis to start — see step 5.)
- Look after the two of you. This is a long road; you’ll walk it better rested.
4. Assessment day (or days): what actually happens
The assessment is mostly observation and structured play, not a single pass-or-fail test. Expect to meet a paediatrician and, often, a psychologist and a speech or occupational therapist. They watch how your child communicates, plays, and responds, and they ask you about development and daily life. It may take more than one session. Bring: any health or developmental records, a written list of your own observations, and something familiar that helps your child settle. (A step-by-step “what happens in the assessment” guide is linked at the end.)
5. Getting the diagnosis and the report
After the assessment, the team gives you their findings and a written report. Here’s something worth knowing early: you do not need a formal autism diagnosis to start early intervention. For EIPIC, the requirement is that a paediatrician assesses your child as at risk of a developmental, intellectual, sensory or physical disability. If your child is assessed as suitable, the paediatrician — public or private — recommends EIPIC and, with your consent, submits the application to SG Enable, who then get in touch to arrange a place. Keep several copies of the report; you’ll be asked for it more than once.
6. Your next step
A diagnosis is a beginning, not a verdict. The clearest first move is to start early intervention while your child is young, and to give yourself a simple plan for the first weeks. (Our free “First 90 Days” checklist walks you through it, day by day — the newsletter sends it to you.)
Public vs private: how to choose
| Public (KKH DCD / NUH CDU) | Private developmental paediatrician | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical wait | Commonly ~3–6 months (not officially published) | Often within weeks |
| Cost (assessment) | Heavily subsidised for Citizens/PRs — usually a few hundred dollars | Low thousands — e.g. S$2,000–S$2,600 at one published clinic |
| Referral | Needed for the subsidised specialist appointment | Not needed — approach directly |
| Continuity of care | Ties into public early-intervention pathways | Varies by clinic; the report is portable either way |
Cost and speed usually decide it. If the wait feels unbearable, a private assessment gets you answers sooner, and the report is recognised for accessing support. If the fee is the bigger worry, the public route gets you there for far less — you trade time for money. Either way, the diagnosis itself is the same diagnosis. (Figures as of July 2026; see the cost section below.)
How much does it cost?
The honest answer: it depends heavily on public versus private, and we only publish figures we’ve checked.
- Public (subsidised). For Singapore Citizens and PRs, the public assessment is heavily subsidised — usually a few hundred dollars. The hospitals don’t publish one fixed price for an autism assessment (it depends on your subsidy tier and the tests done), so treat “a few hundred dollars” as the ballpark and confirm the exact figure with the hospital when you’re referred.
- Private. A full diagnostic assessment runs in the low thousands. As a concrete example, Spectrum Psychology publishes S$2,000 (standard) to S$2,600 (comprehensive) for an autism diagnostic assessment, plus S$300 for an initial autism screen (as of July 2026). Across clinics the quoted range varies — depth of testing and the professional’s experience move it either way.
- A note on Medisave. Medisave generally can’t be used for the diagnostic assessment itself — it covers selected outpatient items like health screenings, scans, vaccinations and chronic-disease care, and autism assessment isn’t on that list. Don’t count on it for this step; ask the provider if your situation is unusual.
- After diagnosis — EIPIC fees. If your child goes on to EIPIC, out-of-pocket fees for Singapore-Citizen children run from S$5 to S$430 a month, based on your household’s per-capita income.
(All figures “as of July 2026.” We’ll update this section when rates change.)
What if my child is already school-age?
If your child is already in school, the route can run through the Ministry of Education (MOE) instead of, or alongside, the hospital. MOE has a professional-assessment process for students suspected of having special educational needs, and school-based staff — including the Special Educational Needs Officer (SEN Officer) — support that process.
The assessment itself was thorough and professional. What it didn’t come with, for us, was much on what to do next, or what to expect — that part we had to piece together ourselves. This guide is the version we wish we’d been handed that day.