EmmaB

I was told once dd could not have ASD because she pointed to a picture of a train!

Dd (age 6) is scared of the "quiet", she does not seem to be able to hand being in a room without some sort of noise in the background. Last night dh put her to bed and asked if she wanted her music on and she said no. 5 minutes later I had a totally distraught child hiding under the bed covers sobbing her heart out as she was scared of the "quiet". Dd also will not go upstairs/downstairs on her own, or even get out of bed in the mornings without one of us going to get her. I think this is also "linked" to the quiet problems. Anyone else got a child like this?

Dd is really bad at doing anything herself and will also take an age to do it and generally I end up "helping". I have however discovered that she loves being rewarded with a sticker if she gets dressed on her own. I gave her a sticker one day just because she managed to get dressed on her own with little "drama" and I wanted to reward her and since then she's got dressed and asked for a sticker most days. Only a small thing, but might help? I also find switching the TV off helps!

We must be around 3 years + now, although dd is only 6. Up till now they have not been happy to dx, as it could be an immaturity probably. But I know my dd....

I dont really have the answer, but my dd has expressive language problems and also at 6 still struggles with first, next, last before, I can dig out her latest SL report and see what the SALT says. She also struggles to follow anything more than one clear instruction at a time and I have discovered that if I give her choices of things, she always chooses the last thing I say lol.

Well..................................... big sigh... The psy is not at the moment willing to do a formal dx. He's says that dd certainly has Austric traits, BUT whether they are bad enough for a formal dx he doesnt know. Problem is the school say she copes ok and generally I think she does, but the school also said they are aware she is "slightly different" from the other children and does have some difficulties. This is also backed up by the report from the SALT who highlights possible pragmatics and social difficulties which may become more of a problem in the future. I guess the question is whether this become more of an issue as the social demands on her increase? The psy also said (which I thought very interesting) was that children who display autistic traits from a young age, do tend to have more difficulties as they get older. Which is dd to a tee. I think the school are worried about dx'ing cos then they might have to statement. But as I said to the psy I rather she wasnt statemented unless she really needs it and I think that is unlikely. What I want is recognition that she does have "issues and difficulties" that other children don't have so that the school/teacher can/will cut her some slack rather than think she is just attention seeking when it takes us 6 weeks to get her through the door of a new classroom with a new teacher without a complete melt down..... phew! Anyway we see him again in June when we are going to discuss her anxieties, which will be fun! In the meantime he is going to write to us to confirm she has autistic traits, which I guess is better than nothing???

We have the follow up appointment with the psychologist after his conversation with the teacher - for those who remember the teacher thought watchful waiting was the way to go, which basically means she only has one term left with dd and doesnt want the responsibility of being the "one" to dx dd - I am so cynical!!! Anyway I have made notes and printed them and will take them to the appt tomorrow and see what he has to say about it all..... Will be interesting.... I am preparing for battle lol

When dd (sge 6) had psychometric testing done, one of the things they asked her to do was to draw a picture of a person. She had to do one at both appointments and at the second appointment they asked her to draw the best, best, best person she could! Anyway we got the standard stick person as normal and when they pushed her and kept asking her if she wanted to add anything to the person to make them extra special she added things like a sun, flower and grass instead. But nothing to the person. They have said this shows a lack of creative imagination, as expected with ASD children. Quite interesting...

Thanks again. Dh and I have decided (lol) that the teachers input will not be allowed to influence CAMH's decision. The psych said as long at the teacher didnt have any objections, well she didnt!!!! And really its little to do with her as she only has dd for one more term and then we move onto the next teacher, so yes you are all right, any diagnosis should not be up to the school. I did say to the psych that I really didnt think the teacher would have much to say as school is such a controlled environment where dd is comfortable. Its taking her out of that environment which causes the problems. We such see what they say on Thursday, I shall go prepared for battle once again **sigh**

Thank you for your replies, alot of what you say makes good sense and I think I need good sense at the moment lol. Jsmum - I think they just wanted to hear what the teacher thinks of it all and what if anything she has problems with. I did say to the psych that I was unsure of the response he would get from the teacher as school is such a confined environment with routines etc, somewhere dd will do well. I guess I Have to wait and see what the pysch "says" about it all, perhaps I have been harsh in automatically presuming he will take "sides" with the teacher? So far dd has had quite in depth psychometric testing down all of which indicate ASD, we have had numerous meetings and assessments and there is a strong line of ASD in my family and funny enough the latest speeech and language report states "social difficulties" and a lack of creative imagination (which of course I faxed a copy to the psych) lol. Thank you again for your replies, its made me realise I have been alittle to transfixed on the teacher side of things and perhaps this is not necessary sometime I need worry about? I guess we will see a week on Thursday! xx

We were referred by the paediatrician who was treating dd for constipation. DD has alot of anxiety issues and we talked about this alot also. The paed wanted to refer us and we said no, then at the next session she said come on, you have nothing to lose and asked me for a list of "concerns" about dd. I gave her one, she sent it to CAHMS with a letter requested assessment for Asperger's (which was a shock at the time, although probably not if you saw the list of concerns). Anyway she told me to "lay it on thick" too.

DD is 6 and we are under CAMH's being assessed for ASD/Aspergers atm. The last time we saw the psychologist he said next step was to speak to the school and as long as the teacher didnt have any objections to dd being diagnosed then we would be in a position to proceed. So I had a quick word with the teacher and explained the psychologist would call and why. Wednesday she told me he had called and last night I popped into the school to discuss the call with her. She told me that they hadnt really agreed anything and that even though she is aware of dd's "issues" she feels these could be a general immaturity rather than something particular (dont people hate using the word ASD loL), anyway she went on to say that they are doing everything they can at the moment to help dd and so in her opinion it was better to wait and see how she progressed and review her again at a later date. Now this slightly irritates me. Shes a very good teacher and although I can't really argue with anything she said from "her point of view", she has only known dd since September and only see's her within the rigid environment that is school, where routines are set and boundaries known. All things which make dd comfortable. Now the social inappropriateness, silly voices, hand flapping, jerky and hyperness is something we experience pretty much every time we go out. And we believe it is a reaction to an environment she is not happy/comfortable to be in. And although this may diminish over time (as she gets old), I think there will always be an element of it. Not to mention that there are other issues which are more deep seated than a general appearance of ?immaturity?. And yes they are doing all they can for her at the moment, but if dd is diagnosed we are not looking for a magic wand to be waved to cure her. We are just looking for recognition that she has ?issues and difficulties? because we feel this is an important thing for her future and will allow her some lee-way which she perhaps wouldn?t otherwise get. In our view and looking back over the last 6 years we know that dd is not going to get "better", her condition is only going to change shape and size. It's how she copes with it all that counts and having no formal diagnosis, might in the future leave her labelled as a difficult child. Now I know the teacher said about reviewing her at a later date, but she's only got dd for another term, then there will be a new teacher involved, who also perhaps will want to wait and see (cos in my experience no one wants to commit to anything). Its taken us 3 years to get this far and surely someone has to make a decision at some point? When will they finally agree she "wont grow out of it?", surely they have to do it at some point? We see the psychologist the week after next, so I will be interested to hear his point of view on the discussion with the teacher, but the "lets watch and wait" thing is really beginning to annoy me now , hopefully he will take the teachers comments into consideration, but not allow it to effect the final judgement **big sigh** Ignore me, Im just emptying my head again

We have the opposite problem, dd is on her second wobbly tooth and I really do not know what is holding it in, its been like it for weeks now and dd completely freaks the minute anyone goes near it. I almost wish she would pull it out..

My dd had severe silent reflux as a baby and was on medication until around 18 months old. This (we believe) has had a knock on effect with food and she still regularly gags at age 6 on certain foods. She also tends to over chew food until she is unable to swallow it and needs a drink to get it down. She cant tolerate things like mash potato, yogurt with bits in, jelly with pieces of fruit. She seems think of food as the enemy and will inspect anything we put infront of her. Off the top of my head she wont each ham, cheese, mash, beef, most sausages, eggs, potatoes, anything in breadcrumbs and virtually all fruit. She loves rice though and I have discovered if I chop up really, really finely salmon or chicken and mix this in with peas, corn and carrots and cover it with gravy she will eat it. Makes me want to throw up, but if it works for her!! She would live on Pizza given the chance and often takes this instead of sandwiches to school. Apparently the cheese on a pizza is not the same..... We saw an occupational therapist as dd is also very sensitive to noise and tactile defensive, she believes most of dd's texture problems are now "learnt" and will be difficult to shift. I have been told also by our psychologist that "sensory issues" are very common within the Spectrum too!

Thanks for the links, off to have a read!

Waves back Is HFA the same as ASD? And saying he has Autism is the same as saying he has ASD? Again I always thought actual Autism was quite severe, whereas ASD not so. Sorry Im asking quite difficult questions I think! Dd did have a speech delay and still struggles with Expressive speech and has word finding difficulties. I must admit I have described her as having ASD in the past to people as then people seem to immediately accept that it's perfectly normal for a 5 year old to be jumping up and down, up and down, up and down or running round and round on the spot! Perhaps they would not understand so much if I said Aspergers - does make you think. I'm wondering if dd does fit into AS more than ASD, her main struggle is with the social side of things, educationally she is average which was shown when they tested her IQ, although they suspect her speech problems are holding her back. She also scored superior on one visual test, which really shocked them!! Thanks for all you help, this is all making me really think.....

Thank you, I did wonder if it has been discussed before! I would imagine it is a subject which is not really so black and white. Off to read....

Is there actually a difference? After our meeting last week and my brain seeming to catch up with everything I recall the Psychologist kept referring to Aspergers instead of ASD. Now we have discussed ASD in the past, but I get the impression he doesn't like the "term" and prefers Aspergers, which is what dd was original referred for. But one of the characteristics I seem to recall about Asperger's children is they tend to speak early, which is something dd did not do! Infact she still has speech problems today. And so I have sort of written Aspergers off in my mind. So is there a bit difference? And if so what is it? thanks

Thanks everyone, you are all saying what I know to be true and in my heart of hearts I know this is the direction to go to get the best for my dd. Funny enough in the past I have happily told people dd has ASD as a way of explaining her behaviour (it was just easier), but now it actually might be official, it just seems more scary!

Ive not posted here for a while and I apologise in advance because I have sort of emptied my head here. We are going through the process of having dd assessed for ASD under CAMH's. From the tests and discussions so far (another meeting yesterday), they are pretty certain (as are we) that dd has ASD. The only place she really seems to struggle though is with the social side of things, knowing what is appropriate or not! Educationally she is average (which is great), although struggles more with the verbal side of things as she has expressive speech problems, her "visual" scoring was better and even superior in one test . The only other place which could be a problem in future is her limited social imagination and creativity, which she also scored badly on. I spoke to her teacher who doesnt have any real concerns, other than struggling to get dd's attention at times and dd already gets phonics help daily in a small group. I believe the psychologist is also going to speak to the teacher to see how she feels about it The Psychologist has said that based on that conversation (and if the school are agreeing) he can see no reason why dd should not be diagnosed with ASD. However the final decision to "label" dd is up to us. Which is actually quite scary.... Now being dd "copes" very well on a day to day basis and its only really her slightly odd behaviour at times which gives it away, its made me wonder IF getting her "labelled" is a good thing and how it may effect her in years to come. The psychologist did point out to me that a child who "copes" is not necessary a good thing as children should generally do better than cope. And what may be endearing in a 6 year old, might not be so endearing in a 16 year old - which made me laugh. Anyway I have gone on abit and thank you if you read this far. It all seems so strange, I have known dd was "different" from about 18 months old and suddenly (after years of what seems like fighting) we might actually be close to a diagnoses and its terrifying me! And there I was thinking I was ok with all this. Which has made me wonder what effect having a diagnoses of ASD at 6 year's old will effect her when she's say 13 ?? Although I guess no one can answer that cos it depends on the individual child and we have no way of knowing what she will be like and what problems she may have at 13. See Im emptying my head again....

Dd has always loved doors, shutting things in boxes, anything which opens and closes. Although her main obsession is animals and being one. She spents her entire life crawling around being a cat or dog and aspires to be one when she grows up.

Now you come to mention it, dd also doesn't "get", who, what, why,when questions. IN class the other day they had to attempt to write a "What" question about castles (it was the project they were doing). And the teacher wrote on the board something like "Write a "What" question about Castles. Dd just copied it down, she just didnt get it! DD's comunication is still quite poor, her expressive language is very disjointed and shes rarely able to tell you what it is she's trying to tell you, whether something which happened during the day or something she is looking for, or wants to do. She will often describe an item by colour rather than ask for it by name. But she is improving and she has come along way in the last year! Sadly this is not down to the slt as she is useless, it more the work that us and the school have put in.

My dd is 6 and has expressive speech delays and she also has problems with time sequencing... In dd's case I "think" these are things like, before, now and after, yesterday, today and tomorrow. They don't "grasp" time! I can say to dd "next week we are going to so and so" and she will reply "what tomorrow?". Dd also struggles with under, in, on, behind etc and just the correct sequence in which to do things. You have to give her one instruction at a time. I don't know if this is connected though? I have found with the "grasp of time" thing, what helps is a board with everyday on and what we are doing everyday - we use pictures rather than words. That way when we are talking we can go to the board and actually point at the day we are talking about, if this makes sense??

Thanks, funny enough the EP said something about most children with ASD excell at something and this may show what. Will be interesting I think thanks

Well I have just re-found this forum after many years so hello to everyone. We are presently under CAMHs with a view to "hopefully" dd (age 6) being finallly diagnosed with ASD. The Psychologist wants dd to under-go some Psychometric testing and this will happen in February. I just wondered if anyone has experience of this, not only the tests, but the kind of results we will get? The Psychologist says this will show us how dd's brain works!! Well I wish them the best of luck and I can only hope dd behaves.... Thanks