The first 100 days after an autism diagnosis, Quebec edition

The first 100 days are a way to organize the next steps, not a schedule to keep. Read the report, choose one current need, check the relevant financial applications and coordinate support. Do not put off urgent care, appointments already booked or any application with a deadline.

Your child is the same person they were before the assessment. There is no required way to feel after a diagnosis. Give yourself time, and ask for support if you need it. The week-by-week structure is an editorial suggestion inspired by first-steps guides, not an evaluated intervention.

Week 1: understand the report and choose what to share

• ☐ Take time to read the report at your own pace, while keeping existing appointments and checking any urgent needs or deadlines.
• ☐ Note the recommendations and the questions you want to ask. Decoding the assessment report can help.
• ☐ Decide with whom it would be useful to share information, and which information. Check what each service actually requires; do not send the full report automatically.
• ☐ Write down one strength, interest or quality of your child that has nothing to do with the diagnosis.

Weeks 2 to 4: check the financial applications

The Quebec Supplement for Handicapped Children (SEH) and the federal Disability Tax Credit (DTC) are separate applications with different criteria. A diagnosis does not guarantee eligibility, and childcare support has its own routes. See Money and benefits in Quebec.

• ☐ Look at the SEH application from Retraite Québec and ask which professional should complete the relevant part. Check the childcare integration documents separately. ^{2, 3}
• ☐ Look at form T2201 for the DTC. Which professionals can complete Part B depends on the functions being assessed. If you already receive the Canada Child Benefit, the CRA states you do not need to apply separately for the Child Disability Benefit once the DTC is approved; check the conditions for the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP). ^{4, 5, 12}
• ☐ Check your situation for the Quebec Family Allowance and the Canada Child Benefit.
• ☐ Ask your insurer about coverage and annual caps for psychology, speech-language pathology and occupational therapy.
• ☐ Keep your receipts. Whether a fee counts as a medical expense depends on the practitioner, the service and the tax rules, not only on the professional's title. ⁶
• ☐ Ask whether a summary letter would be useful for the daycare and the CLSC.

Weeks 5 to 8: coordinate services and daycare

• ☐ Ask your CLSC for the contact details of the DI-TSA-DP access desk (guichet d'accès) for your territory, the documents required, how the needs assessment works and who will follow your file. ⁷
• ☐ Ask about family support, including respite, childcare and occasional help, which is granted following the assessment of the family's needs. ⁸
• ☐ If your child is under 7, ask whether Agir tôt is relevant. Do not assume a diagnosis is needed. ⁹
• ☐ Meet the daycare director. For the integration allowance (AISG), a report from a recognized professional or SEH eligibility can serve as documentation; ask which route applies. Share a few things that help your child.
• ☐ For the next school year, confirm the registration dates with the school and ask how to prepare the transition and the plan d'intervention. March 1 is often given as the registration date; confirm it locally. ^{3, 10}
• ☐ Before choosing a therapy, ask about its goals, what it involves for your family and how stopping works. Read What helps early and The hours myth.

Overview: Agir tôt, CLSC, CPE and school.

Weeks 9 to 14: family, routines and your own support

The cited systematic review reports small positive results for some sibling programs. This does not guarantee a benefit for every family. ¹³ See Siblings and fathers.

• ☐ Choose one routine to adapt: bedtime, leaving the house or the bath, for example. Visual cues and predictability are suggestions to adjust to your child's needs.
• ☐ Prepare a support plan for hard moments with the people involved. See Meltdown vs tantrum, and a plan.
• ☐ If possible, set aside a recurring time for your own support. See Parent burnout: co-regulation first.
• ☐ Ask about parent groups at organizations listed in the Montreal directory, such as Autisme Montréal, WIAIH and the Montreal Centre for Learning Disabilities. Check what they currently offer.

What the diagnosis does not do

The cited studies describe varied profiles and changes through childhood. ^{14, 15} A diagnosis does not set a single future. Ask each service what the report changes for your file; do not assume a new priority or a lost place on a list.

Printable version

You can use the lists above as a checklist and leave aside the steps that are not relevant today.

This week

Sources

1. Diagnostic et premières démarches (2026)
2. Supplement for Handicapped Children (2024) ↩1
3. Allocation exceptionnelle pour l'intégration (2026) ↩1 ↩2
4. Child disability benefit (2026) ↩1
5. How to apply for the DTC (2026) ↩1
6. Authorized medical practitioners for the medical expense tax credit (2026) ↩1
7. Services for persons with a physical or intellectual disability or an autism spectrum disorder (2026) ↩1
8. Family Support Program (2026) ↩1
9. The Agir tôt program (2026) ↩1
10. Parcours scolaire d'un enfant handicapé, guide pour les parents (PDF) (2025) ↩1
11. Family support service (2026)
12. Registered Disability Savings Plan (2026) ↩1
13. Psychosocial interventions and support groups for siblings of individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions: a mixed methods systematic review (2023) ↩1
14. Mid-childhood developmental and behavioural outcomes in infants with a family history of autism and/or ADHD (2026) ↩1
15. Polygenic and developmental profiles of autism differ by age at diagnosis (2025) ↩1