How many traits does my DD have to have for a formal dx?

[col]

DD9 had her review over a week ago. It was chaired by the debuty head. During the meeting he said let look at the special needs registar. Started to list the dx/problems like signifacant expressive difficulties, the sequencing, the dyspraxia. Dressing they said wasn't an issue any more. Then the bombshell ASD!!!!

 

DD9 has as far as i know hasn't been giving that dx as her school don't want her to have that "label". Her old teacher just stayed quiet. The salt, i have never seen her backtrack so fast in her life. Oh it's traits or flavouring you may say. Then go and list them.

 

This has made me suspicious, they could of just said that it a typo.

 

Had the support officer from the school round. And i mention it. Then she went on about how everyone has got autistic traits, for instance she doesn't like to leave the house until she' s done everything that needs doing.

 

That if DD9 get's the dx it may hinder her chances getting in to a specialist residential school i want her to go to for y7+. That, that school doesn't take children with ASD dx's. When i have been told by someone on line that surposedly works there that they do take HFA.

 

So how many "traits or flavours" does a child have to have???

[JsMum]

If it is she does have a diagnisis of ASD and havent told you you could always check it out with her GP who will have all her diagnosed conditions on his compter file.

 

also teachers dont diagnose, its medical qualified Autistic Specialists, J was referred to the local consultant but he isnt a specialist in ASD so no point in an assessment if they dont know what to look for.

 

Has she actually had any assessments to rate her ASD diagnosis?

 

NAS have more information on assessments and can also give you the diagostic forms to go throw, they are also on this website as well.

 

Dressing isnt as simple as been able to dress oneself, J can dress himself, but struggles with putting it on the right way round, inside out, doing and undoing buttons, and if he is distressed about certain materials and fitting it distracts him and makes him feel uncomfortable.

 

so they need to be more open to the difficulties dressing can actual have on a ASD child and along side dyspraxia she certainly is going to have continued difficulties dressing.

 

J needs supervision, assistance, and support in dressing but given that yes he can dress himself, but with out the supervision, assistance and support he would probably be arrested for what he would choose to wear to school because it would be either just boxer shorts or a range of misfits!

 

Saturdays is murder because he wears a range of clothing that doesnt go with each other and he has quite obvously dressed himself, Its so embarrassing because as he chooses to wear the clothes that feel right to him, thats half mass trousers, and colours that would match the film josheps technocolour coat with a range of buttons and zips that are done up wrong or not even done at all and we havent got to the socks and shoes description yet.

 

I would ask for a full diagnosis and there should be a letter with it on, so you can give it to other proffessionals and so it can be updated, you the parent shouldnt be the last to even know that she has ASD.

 

 

JsMum

[summertime]

as jsmum has said educational personnel can not dx asd, even and ed psych cant dx although they may report to seeing asd traits and recommend a proper assessment but this would need to be done by a clinical psych and this wouldnt have been done without your knowledge.

 

Working in a mainstream school I often meet children who have asd traits and this needs to be addressed very cautiously with parents, although I have a lot of experience and knowledge of asd I would never presume to know enough to dx a child and if the school is telling you they have dx'd then they are treading on very thin ice in my opinion. as to not persueing a dx then this really isnt their decision to make and I do wonder if they are trying to disuade you from doing this because of any financial implications it may have in the future for the school.

[col]

They had their specialist paed observe DD last year.

 

This is off her annual review last year

She can be distracted at times by other children, if she feels they are doing the wrong thing. She likes everyone to adhere to the rules. She needs reminder, at times, that it is the adult job to tell the children what to do.

 

DD8 has a rigid understanding of both language and situations. She likes to follow the rules and becomes distressed if other children do not do the same as her. She can become very upset if she gets an answer wrong and has needed a lot of reasurance that it is okay to make mistakes.

 

SOCIAL INTERACTION

 

Difficulty making eye contact. Relates better to adults then peers. Understanding of social situations is very rule based and she has significant difficulties coping when things go wrong. She has difficulty seeing shades of grey- in her understanding things are either wrong or right.

 

Would like to have friends and is keen to take new people or visitors under her wing but she has difficulty knowing how to play and interact successfully. She tends to "mother" other children and tells them what to do. The interaction is usually short as the other child gets fed up with being ordered around.

 

At playtimes DD8 has recently started to play skipping games with some of the other children. She is more able to play with others when there is a structed activity and this works well as long as all the children stick to the rules. If they don't DD8 can get upset and cross with them. At other times she plays on her own. She will talk to herself and often is engaged in imaginary scenarios. At these times she does not seem bothered or even aware that she is on her own.

 

Within the class DD8 is frequently distressed by other children's behaviour as they are not, in her view, strictly conforming to the rules. For example a child might be quietly humming or tapping a pencil. She tends to try and police the other children herself and has needed reminders that it is the adult's job to do this.

 

dd8 has a very high anxiety level. She finds it very hard to make mistakes and initally would cry if she got an anwer wrong or didn't know it. She has made progress towards understanding that it is ok to make mistakes.

 

In summary this is a major area of difficulty for DD8. Her rigid understanding of situations compounded by her high anxiety level and language difficulties mean she has difficulty making and maintaining friendships.

 

In another report says that she is sensitive to touch will say someone has pushed her when all they have done is brush by her.

 

Summary of the same report as the social interaction report

 

dd8 has significant receptive and expressive language difficulties, speech sound production difficulties and specific social communication difficulties that do not appear to be just as a result of her speech and language difficulties

 

http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.ph...ic=7853&hl=

 

this year reports

 

continues to be distracted by other children, particularly if she feels that they are doing the wrong thing and not adhering to the rules. At times she can become quite distressed by the other children if they are making too much noise, and will often sit with her hands over her ears or say that it is too noisey fo her to think. If there is something that she is worried about then she finds it very difficult to focus on other things. Continues to chatter to her self and she needs reminders to do her work quietly. At times her chattering to herself appears to be linked to her level of anxiety.

 

Has a rather rigid approach to learning new vocabulary and as a result often learns words in isolation to each other.

 

Continues to have a rigid understanding of both language and situations. Can interpret language literally and so it is important that she is exposed to language that is as clear and unambiguous as possible.

 

Still tends to tell children what to do and gets upset with them if theyt are, in her view, doing the wrong thing. Be quite intolerant of the other children and will often comment on their difficulties or make remarks about them that are inappropriate.

 

Needs firm reminders that it is not her job to police the other children.

 

Eye contact when prompted, but it is fleeting.

 

very anxious child. Has responded to the prompt of finding a different way to solve her problems.

 

"these social communication difficulties appear to be not just as a result of her speech and language difficulties"

 

Her rigid learning style, means that she needs to frequent opportunities to use her knowledge in a range of different situations, and also needs the links between new and existing knowledge to be made explict.

 

that there are more ways to complete a task than the one she percieves as correct. Others are not 'wrong' merely 'different'.

 

When she happy she hands flaps, she pings her fingers. Went through a phase of making werid noises.

She still lines things up. Get's upset if her sister sings or make noises in the car. She does like cuddles, but it 's slightly offish.

 

She nibbles her treats, routine way of doing it. Gets worried if new teacher.

 

High non verbal skills, in fact one test she scored 99% "matrice"

 

Is that enough??

[JsMum]

These reports are very good contributions to a wider assessment for example when the specialist in ASD comes to collect other reports from other settings, so do keep all these corispondence, and dont loose these and photocopy them rather than hand in the real macoy, if its about a financial cutting cost then they could loose these in coincedence responces if you get what I mean, but its clear that she does need to be seen by a consultant who can give the official diagnosis, its also very clear that her classroom is causing her most of her anxieties and you need to maybe look into a specific school that could provide her an envirioment that could lessen these, and exra adults as it could be that there isnt enough adults to control the children in her class.

 

a lot is so similair to J with oral noises, blocking out sounds, but with children his own age he isnt really a policeman, just seems to wind up or gets the children to copy his antics and gets the whole class laughing as he is a joker, but a lot did match with J and J had speech and language delay too which the speech and language therapist has said its a result of attentional and processing difficutles related to his ADHD and Dyslexia, she also suspects AS or the ASD.

 

J hates getting things wrong too, and worrys too about getting it wrong because in the past he was punished especially by the supply teachers, which is why he hates supply teachers and he is the most worse when its a supply teacher.

 

He does get a lot of help and support now and as he has a LSA with him in all writing lessons he is supported and the LSA can step in if the supply teacher isnt been understanding to J.

 

Thankfully if the school know its going to be a supply teacher then they make sure J has LSA in with him.

 

Has your daughter got an LSA as this has improved Js anxieties a lot and she should be able to access this with her conditions she already has,

 

be careful they dont make too much of an issue of the Anxieties or they could suggest she has a anxiety disorder rather than ASD and the treatment wouldnt be successful for a child who is actually ASD.

 

I really do recommend you ring the National Autistic Society and see if there is any chance of a full investigation in a autistic centre, as I can also see here that there could be other disorders here in with the autism, like Pathalogical Avoidance Demand Disorder, I understand you may not of heard this before I only know of a few children who have this condition and it needs very careful managing and if the classroom dont understand it then it could do more damage.

 

so I recommend the NAS and see if you can access an assessment centre.

 

JsMum

[col]

she goes to a specialist school and is in a class size of 10.

[JsMum]

she goes to a specialist school and is in a class size of 10.

 

Well I am gobsmacked sorry, I hadnt realised she was already recieving support in a specail school, is it a speech and lanuage specialist special school?

 

what is the ratio per adult to child?

 

sorry if I sound surprised but with what you described I really did think she was an enviroment that had a larger amount of children and no LSA for her.

 

JsMum

[col]

no probs.

 

teacher, salt, and 2 lsa's to a class of 10.

 

It is a speech school. But see what i mean when the school lays it on in the report and at her review when they were discussing her "traits" but are very unwilling to have her assessed. I have been told that the LEA could pull her out. Which doesn't make sense when 2 children with ASD go there from my borough. They say it may hinder her next school. Saying that the school that i want her to go to doesn't take ASD. When i have heard from 2 different sources that they do have HFA. About 10-15 % of the school is HFA. They take the child as long as they are not disruptive to the class.

 

Personally i think her school, although it is the right place for her are anti "label". I just want to know and am happy to settle with being told verbally by a professional. Incase having it down in black and white will hinder her getting in to this other school.

[JsMum]

I think if at the end of the day your daughter has ASD and the proffessionals say she has then it should be in black and white as she will always need understanding, even in her next school, then high school, and college and her adult life, you have to think of this as a life long condition, and if the school really do refuse to take her on the fact in black and white she has ASD then this would be disability discrimination and this would be very unlawful to do, there has to be other reasons why they dont want to LABEL a child who has ASD?

 

I would be writing complaints as they are neglecting her medically.

 

JsMum

Edited February 13, 2007 by JsMum