Just got an autism or ADHD diagnosis and don't know where to start? This guide gives you five clear steps for your first week — in order, without overwhelm.
You got the diagnosis. Maybe it happened this morning. Maybe it was three days ago and you haven't slept properly since. You've read the report — or tried to — and you have a stack of paper and a head full of questions that don't yet have answers.
Nobody handed you a roadmap on the way out. Nobody called the next day to say "here's what happens next." You found your way here on your own, which means you're already doing more than you think.
This guide is what you needed in that parking lot. Not everything — just the first week. Five things, in order, with nothing extra. You can do this.
This is not in any clinical handout, but it should be: the first 48 hours after diagnosis are not for action. They're for absorbing. Grief, relief, confusion, love, fear — often all at once — are a completely normal response to news this significant. You are not behind. You are not failing your child by taking two days before you make a single phone call.
What does help in the first 48 hours: tell one person you trust. A partner, a parent, a close friend — someone who can sit with you in it. You don't need to explain the diagnosis perfectly. You just need to not carry it alone.
After that, you're ready for the list.
When: Day 1–2
If you left the evaluation appointment without a written copy of the full report, call the evaluating provider today and request it. You are entitled to this document. It belongs to your family.
The report contains the specific diagnosis, the tests administered, your child's scores, and — critically — the evaluator's recommendations for services and next steps. Everything else in this guide flows from that document. You cannot advocate effectively for your child without it.
When you receive it, don't try to read the whole thing in one sitting. Read the Summary and Recommendations sections first — usually the first and last pages. The middle sections contain technical scoring data that you'll understand better over time with context.
Store a digital copy somewhere you won't lose it. This report will be requested by schools, therapists, insurance companies, and new providers for years. Keep it organized from day one in a secure document vault — future you will be grateful.
When: Day 2–3
This is the most important timing insight in this entire guide, and it's the one most families learn the hard way: therapy waitlists run 6 to 8 months in most areas of the United States. If you wait until you feel organized and ready before searching for an occupational therapist, speech therapist, or ABA provider, you will wait that much longer to actually start services.
You don't need to know everything about therapy types yet. You don't need to have made all your decisions. You just need to get your child's name on lists.
Here's the minimum viable action for this week:
Call or email three providers in each therapy category your evaluation report recommends. Say: "I'm calling to add my child to your waitlist. They were just diagnosed and we have a full evaluation report. What information do you need from me?" That's it. That's the whole call.
The therapy waitlist reality is brutal but it is workable if you start early. Starting this week, even before you understand the full landscape, puts you months ahead of families who wait until they feel ready.
Not sure which therapy types to prioritize? Your evaluation report's recommendations section will name them specifically. If you have an autism diagnosis, occupational therapy (OT) and speech-language pathology (SLP) are the most commonly recommended starting points. Our provider directory lets you search by specialty, location, and insurance — use it to build your initial call list.
When: Day 3–4
Your child's school or daycare needs to know about the diagnosis — not because you're required to tell them, but because a diagnosis opens doors to support that weren't available before.
For school-age children, a formal diagnosis triggers eligibility for evaluation under IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). This means the school district is legally required to evaluate your child for special education services and, if eligible, develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP). This process takes time — typically 60 days from your written request — so starting it this week matters.
Send a simple email to your child's teacher and copy the school principal or special education coordinator. You don't need legal language. Something like: "I wanted to let you know that [child's name] was recently diagnosed with [autism/ADHD]. I'd like to schedule a meeting to discuss what supports may be available and to begin the process of requesting a school evaluation."
Keep a copy of that email. It creates a paper trail that will matter later.
For ADHD diagnoses specifically, a 504 Plan is often the starting point rather than a full IEP — your school counselor can explain the difference and which path makes sense for your child's situation.
When: Day 4–5
Insurance is not the most urgent thing this week, but one phone call now saves significant frustration later. Call the member services number on the back of your insurance card and ask three specific questions:
"Does my plan cover ABA therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy for a child with an autism or ADHD diagnosis?"
"Do I need a referral from our pediatrician before starting services?"
"Is there a limit on the number of visits covered per year?"
Write down the answers, the date you called, and the name of the representative. This record matters if you ever need to dispute a claim.
If you have an autism diagnosis, most states now have autism insurance mandates requiring coverage for ABA therapy — but the details vary significantly by state and plan. Getting clarity this week means you'll be searching for providers who are in-network rather than learning they're out-of-network after your child has already formed a relationship with them.
When: End of Week 1
By now you may have joined three Facebook groups, bookmarked fourteen websites, downloaded two PDFs, and started following seven Instagram accounts. This is what every newly diagnosed family does, and it leads directly to the drowning-in-information feeling that makes the first weeks so exhausting.
Here is your permission to stop.
Choose one community, one information source, and one organizational system. Use those. Ignore everything else for now. The information will still be there in three months when you have the capacity to absorb more of it.
What's Next Health is designed to be that one system — a personalized roadmap that gives you the right information at the right stage, an AI assistant for the 2am questions, and a place to keep your documents and track your providers. You don't need to figure out how to use all of it this week. Just create your free account, set up your child's profile, and let the roadmap show you what comes next.
One step at a time. You've already done more than you think.
Week one is about starting, not finishing. You will not have providers lined up by Friday. You will not fully understand the evaluation report by the weekend. That's completely normal.
What you will have is momentum — your child's name on waitlists, a school conversation started, insurance clarity in hand, and a document stored safely. That's a week one success.
For what comes next — understanding therapy types, navigating the waitlist process in depth, and building your full care team — your personalized roadmap inside What's Next Health walks you through each stage in order. For autism-specific next steps, see our full autism action plan for the first 30 days. For ADHD families, the ADHD first 30 days guide covers your specific path.
You don't have to figure all of this out today. You just have to do the next thing.
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