advice and info needed

[hedders]

Been reading a book by Lorna Wing called The Austistic Specturm.

Its says there are 4 types of impairments.

the aloof group, the passive group, active but odd group, and the over-formal, silted group.

 

When getting a diagnosis and assessment do professionals go by these headings, putting people into these sub-groups or is there another checklist they go by.

 

Ive learnt so much about my dd from gaining info and can understand things better, however i keep getting confused about the impairments of social interaction with

 

Spoke to gp today and said that she will talk to peers in her class, most of them she has been with for a yr but at lunchtimes she has alot of diffculty, out of school she doesnt have as much interest, prefers aldults attention, 1-1play, or plays fine by her self all depends if she is anxious, or acting out one of her rituals

I know that when she gets to see paed this will be brought up, and iam going to find it diffcult to discuss.

If anyone has questions to ask me about this it may help me to undrstand this better.

[Eva]

Hi Hedders,

 

when my son was diagnosed, the psychologist used three of those sub-groups to help explain things to me - he didn't mention the formal one though. He said that my son is in the passive group and also a bit in the active but odd group.

 

The psyche also said that only about 30 to 40% of the criteria applied to my son so a fair bit of the final diagnosis was done with just me answering questions about J.

 

My son is socially challenged too but he's getting a bit better - just a bit. He's finally interacting more with the other kinder kids and it's taken all year. He likes to play with them but only if they'll play HIS game. Or else he'll play by himself, acting out various stories and stuff.

 

Cheers,

Eva

[curra]

In my son's case, I'd personally place him in all 4 groups depending on the situation. He's aloof when he's in the support group (to the point of not talking to anyone), he's passive when he's with me in a group and he's trying to behave, he's active but odd with his peers at school because he says that he has to interact to avoid being bullied (but he doesn't socialise like his peers do) and he's over formal when he's interacting with one or 2 adults. When he was diagnosed I was not told of any of these groups but his behaviour was first described as "stereotyped " and "odd" by the Ed. Psy. The pead who gave the dx didn't use a checklist, he read the note from the Ed pshycologist and talked a bit with my DS. He also took into account what I had to say, how I saw my son in different situations. He asked him then a lot of questions while another consultant was taking down notes.In his report he said that M has over formal language.

 

Curra

[hedders]

thanks for your replies, some more weight has been lifted of my shoulders.

When reading the book i too thought my dd displays abit of all of it and like you correctly said it all depends on the type of environment.

When getting a diagnosis do the medical proffessionals do there own team assessment or do they also consult the school for information on social interaction.

I asked this because her class teacher went on a course for autism and said my dd doesnt display the impairments of social interaction as she joins in class and talks to the teacher.

But in the playground the dinnerladies report that she doesnt interact there seems to be alot of confusion and i dont want them misleading the proffessionals

[Eva]

Hi Hedders,

 

I think with social interaction it all depends on how your dd is interacting. With the active but odd group, children engage the teacher in class and often are the only ones putting their hands up and answering questions. And also you'd have to find out how your dd is talking to her peers - you know, talking at them and all that side of things or having a 'proper' conversation.

 

The active but odd group can be very social in the playground too. They organise games and interact with other kids but if the others don't want to play the game the 'right' way, then problems can start.

 

I don't know if the team of professionals will consult the school; often the other people who work with the child who's getting assessed write a report about their observations and the parent gives it to the psyche/paed. (The psychologist who diagnosed my son didn't have any doubts after his appointment and we only had one report from his EI teacher.) (I'm in Australia so things could be done differenty here).

 

I would try and find out how much your dd's teacher learnt about AS, just to make sure she and you are talking about the same thing.

 

I'm sure others will have more of an idea than me!

 

Cheers,

Eva

[Karen A]

Hi I also wanted to say that the class teacher may not have the experience to recognise more subtle Social Communication Difficulties if she has just been on one course.Also some children do cope better in class where they can manage in a structured environment-but find playtime difficult.

The Camhs registrar observed Ben in the playground as part of the assessment.Karen