school think son shows no signs of asd

[rainbow queen]

just had a meeting with the school teacher -year 1 [this is a different school from one my son was at before]

 

the school says theres no signs of asd

 

do the school need to see signs of asd before my son will get dx

 

at last meeting at camhs they were positive he could be on autistic spectrum -mild

they have had full dealings with him and know all history and seen cam corder footage of my son at home having meltdowns and showing sensory problems ect

 

at camhs they said that i should attend a local support group for asd

 

tryed to explain to school but its always the same stuff i get back

 

at camhs they said my son was doing a real good job of coping at school and hiding it

 

was all positive before that at last they were taking me serious

 

but will what the school says go agaisnt this???

and impede a dx at a later date?

my boy is 5 and a half.

[Clare63]

Rainbow Queen,

This is exactly what my son's primary school said, but like you camhs told us it was a fascade he managed to build to cope at school, he has no learning difficults in fact was seen as the perfect pupil, however as you well know the meltdowns happen at home and the behaviour is so different than that at school. This did not effect his DX. He is now at secondary school and again they say he fine and coping when I know full well he's not. My son is dx with Aspergers.

Clare x <'>

[Karen A]

Hi.We got a referal to Camhs from GP for assessment.Assessment is down to a Paediatrician/Child Psychiatrist or Child Development Team so what the school think should not be a big issue.The teacher may know very little about ASD and so may not be qualified to give an opinion.Camhs are far more qualified to Dx.A lot of children with AS are able to hide it in school but then are more themselves at home.Karen.

[rainbow queen]

thanks for the replys

 

my son has been under cdc ect since age 2

he had to attend the nursery at the cdc

as hes got older its now gone under camhs,plus salt,data team,peaditriction

 

the school hes at are more aware of asds as there is a unit at the school for asd

in fact a lady from the asd unit was at the meeting and was giving some suggestions of help at home.....but you sort of come away feeling that as your son isnt showing at school what goes on at home that it looks a over reaction from yourself.

 

 

i now have come to conclusion that no it isnt me

and yes he deffo has these problems

i should know ive had to deal with them for coming on nearly 6 years

its just a case of waiting i guess

 

can i ask clare at what age did u get the dx of aspergers?

[Clare63]

Rainbow Queen,

It took a year and he was dx in January this year.

You are more than welcome to ask me as many questions as you want, if you think it would help.

Clare x

[David Matthew Baker]

Try taking the video in and showing it to the school. That will show them what he can be like at home. I know my school says the student I support is doing fine at school (he is a year 9) but I am not so sure. Just don't want to upset him more by pressing him about whether he is okay. Have offered him a get out on a couple of occasions but he has never taken it. Main problem is he doesn't want to stand out. Also makes supporting him in the best ways almost impossible. At the moment I just go around the whole group but try and do it in a way that won't cause problems for him. That way when I go to him it doesn't look like I am doing anything unusual. I do wish our SEN students in general were a bit happier to use us when they need us. The other main student I support goes through times when she will let me sit next to her and help to times when she gets rid of me a quickly as possible. SENCO did mention that he does show signs of challenging behaviour at home. That at least proved my instincts correct but still not worked out a way to help. After all he has stated he doesn't want to stand out.

[av16]

My son coped well at school and appeared to be fine until he got into year 3, it did not affect his dx either. good luck.

BW

AV

[hedders]

In a simular situation school are completly against my concerns of ASD for dd whos 6, been battling them for a yr now, the funny thing is none of the teachers, head and senco have any experience of ASD esp a girl that might have it and try to make me feel that because she is not agressive in school and she has problems at home then its my parenting skills .

I havent got any further with a diagnoses but she is now under an ot for suspected SID and Dypraxia which the school are not comfortable with knowing as they told proffess dd didnt have any diffculties so previous pead and SLT discharged her.

I have a new pead now i dont know if she will referr dd for an autism assessment so its a slow battle, and i managed to get a review with a new SLT, i think the school have just slowed down the process, they know i wont never give up on dd.

[Clare63]

Rainbow Queen,

It took a year and he was dx in January this year.

You are more than welcome to ask me as many questions as you want, if you think it would help.

Clare x

 

Sorry you asked how old he was when dx - 11years old

[cmuir]

Hi

 

Whilst it doesn't help, the reasons why a child can behave differently at school than at home are well documented by psychologists. Basically, structure, routine, trying hard to conform, concentrate, fit in, etc are just some of those reasons. I know with my son that his behaviour is much worse at home - after a hard day's work, he's just had enough and I tend to get the brunt of it.

 

I knew that something wasn't right with my son since he was 15 months old. His GP and HV were adamant nothing was wrong. After a further year and a half, I at least managed to prove his behaviour was odd, however HV was adamant it wasn't AS. The nursery manager agreed something wasn't right, but wasn't convinced it was AS. At the age of 4.5 I finally got a formal diagnosis for my son. I guess what I'm saying is that I proved people wrong. It certainly wasn't easy, but I do think you can do it.

 

One of the things that I think really helped was keeping a diary, daily for 8 months. In advance of appointments, I photocopied the 'best' bits and posted it to specialists. There was no arguing!

 

Best wishes. If you're heart and your head tell you something isn't right and you feel sure it's an ASD, don't give up. She who shouts the loudest and all that ...

 

Caroline.

[Clare63]

Caroline is spot on here and yes I too highly recommend you keep a diary, you could also start making notes of behavours, development etc from birth. My husband and I also had to talk through pregnancy and the actual birth with the specialists, so its alway worth having some notes to jog your memory.

Clare x

 

 

Whoops edited cause I put stop instead of spot !!!!!

Edited March 27, 2007 by Clare63

[chriss]

My son is the "perfect pupil" at school but can be very autistic in his behaviors outside school, eg with meltdowns, obsessions, tics and poor sleeping and eating habits. You are the expert on your son and the people who are telling you he is fine are obviously not experts on asd,as if they were they would recognise that his behavior will be different in different places according to where he feels safest. It won't affect his getting a diagnosis but,speaking from experience, it may affect how much support he will get in school so a diary and video evidence are a wise move.

 

Also autism is cyclical so just because he seems fine at the moment doesn't mean they won't see his difficulties later.

[rainbow queen]

thanks for the positive replys again

 

i have kept notes on in a file since my son was 2-since the health visitor said things werent happening as they should-he was then allocated a social worker at from the on was seen at the cdc .......and on and on the appointments came ......up to now age nearly 6 only now he is seen by camhs...........so they have all the notes ive made on him since birth ect.........im really glad i started to write it all down..........would be lost without that.

 

i moved my son from his first school-for reason that i moved house and also the head teachers bad attitude towards me

 

this other school seems alot better.......and ive even taken my notes into the teacher so they are aware.....but they cant see anything they say...........

 

but i was told at camhs that this can be the case

and that the data team will go out to school again to observe him in the playground

they said they think i should join a local asd support group ect.....

in fact they was bending over backwards asking how they can help-which total suprised me as for a good few years now ive had to keep repeating myself and well im sure u all know ........keeping on at them

then out of the blue it seems they are now on my side -i was so pleased with this

but after having a meeting with the school -it sort of makes u feel your back at square one again-and u kinda give up explaining it all again.

 

your right its not up to the school

my sons been under care of hospital since 2 -he was dx with global developmentally delay

but hes catching up now but still has poor motor skills-lang problems

but yeah if the phychtrist and asd lady at the hospital are thinking it is asd....who are the school to go agaisnt that.

ive spent hours and hours at hospital appointments with my son and gone through all the lot of what goes on....the school are not aware of this at all .

Edited March 27, 2007 by rainbow queen

[Clare63]

Rainbow Queen,

 

I would not get too hung up on what the school say, camhs did not even do an observation at school the psyc said she could dx without seeing his behavour in school, she didn't think it would be much help as she was well aware how AS child often "mask" their behavour/anxieties etc in school.

 

Clare x

[puffin]

Perhaps you should print out this article from the Telegraph for the school about the dangers of unqualified school staff attempting to "diagnose" children without the skills or training to do this.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/main....7/eautism17.xml