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Box-Of-Frogs

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My eight year old daughter Maisie has a diagnosis of ADHD and there has always been a feeling on the part of the health experts that there is an element of Aspergers there too. The last appointment we attended at the CDC saw Maisie prescribed Atomoxetine. We are not comfortable with giving her these tablets due to the scary list of side effects.

 

It was whilst doing some research on what Dyspraxia Week was all about that I noticed from the list of symptoms that Maisie suffers from literally all the symptoms! I know this might sound really silly but because we've spent the last 8 and a half years wondering what it was about Maisie that was different and not actually getting a diagnosis that fitted well with how she is I feel almost excited that I finally may have a name to put to her behaviour. I have made an appointment with our GP and have printed out the three pages of symptoms, highlighting the ones relevent to Maisie. But what do I do now? I can present the list to my GP but can I be sure they will take me seriously seeing as she already has a diagnosis for something? Am I silly if I expect more assistance to be offered to Maisie if I can convince them to reconsider their diagnosis or will nothing change?

 

I expect none of the above makes any sense but what I'm saying I suppose is I feel as though I've finally discovered who my daughter is and I'm scared someone is going to send me away telling me I'm wrong leaving us exactly where we are now.

Edited by Box-Of-Frogs

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My eight year old daughter Maisie has a diagnosis of ADHD and there has always been a feeling on the part of the health experts that there is an element of Aspergers there too. The last appointment we attended at the CDC saw Maisie prescribed Atomoxetine. We are not comfortable with giving her these tablets due to the scary list of side effects.

 

It was whilst doing some research on what Dyspraxia Week was all about that I noticed from the list of symptoms that Maisie suffers from literally all the symptoms! I know this might sound really silly but because we've spent the last 8 and a half years wondering what it was about Maisie that was different and not actually getting a diagnosis that fitted well with how she is I feel almost excited that I finally may have a name to put to her behaviour. I have made an appointment with our GP and have printed out the three pages of symptoms, highlighting the ones relevent to Maisie. But what do I do now? I can present the list to my GP but can I be sure they will take me seriously seeing as she already has a diagnosis for something? Am I silly if I expect more assistance to be offered to Maisie if I can convince them to reconsider their diagnosis or will nothing change?

 

I expect none of the above makes any sense but what I'm saying I suppose is I feel as though I've finally discovered who my daughter is and I'm scared someone is going to send me away telling me I'm wrong leaving us exactly where we are now.

Amoxetine is a ###### drug,we give it to help if it doesnt why give it your in control.I feel strongly at the moment that asbergets a autishic secptrum disorder(excuse spelling dyslexic) comes with a price tag ,I suspect if you have read up and feel you are right then you probably right than you are.Dont expect people to say way hay you now cost money so they will undermine you and treat you like a fool.If you feel foolish enough you will go away.If you do that you give up the fight ..you give up .I believe that your judgements as a parent are spot on. Take a leap in faith,I dont have one but I do like syings Support your child You good goood goood goood mum

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I think that you know your child better than the professionals who have met her for a short space of time. Why not go back to your GP and ask to be referred for a second opinion? I did that, but what I also did was research the places that had a really good rep for child assessments, and asked for a specific referral to there. But from my experience, and the experiences of others who post here, it is all a lottery in terms of getting someone that understands both the autism spectrum, and the other conditions that can run alongside (co-morbids?) such as dyspraxia, ADHD, etc

Edited by zaman

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My son has Adhd, Dyspraxia and Aspergers as his dxs. In our area it is quite hard apparently to get a dx these days of dyspraxia as it often means depending on what percentile for gross motor difficulties that the child may need OT- and that costs money. We were lucky as he aws sen by a specailist OT who had experience of ASD and ADHd- and thankfully he gets an hour of ot a week 1-1 which has made uschj a difference- he can [play some sports, catch a ball- feel like a "normal " kid. I have friends whose children are dx Autistic and they also think dyspraxia is involved but the clinic will not refer back to OT. There are lots of books around about dyspraxia - the ones by Madeleine Portwood are excellent. Also the Dyaprxai Foundation website is useful. Ask for an OT assessment byb someone with dyspraxia asd experience. Good luck.

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Hopefully you'll be fortunate and your GP will take things seriously and refer you onto a specialist. You're certainly well-armed!!!

 

GPs are general practitioners and there's a real danger (certainly was in my son's case) that you'll hit a brick wall. Their expertise is general and non-specific, but can make things difficult getting referrals to specialists. Is it possible you could bypass your GP and contact directly your child's specialist?

 

Best wishes with this.

 

Caroline.

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My girl has PDD, ADHD and Dyspraxia. Or I should say her ADHD and Dyspraxia are co-morbids of her PDD. Our consultant said it is incredibly rare for a child to have "classic ADHD" and no other symptoms or comorbids. He said in all his years of practicing he has seen just one case of purely ADHD. It is possible to have both.

 

I will say, when my daughter is unmedicated her coordination, organisation etc is all to pot. She cannot even plan or organise simple movements or follow a single instruction. Its like she is blind drunk! Medicated she is MUCH better, still clumsy etc, but no where near as bad.

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Hi Box of frogs -

 

Obviously can't comment on your daughter, but would agree that there are major similarities between how severe dyspraxia and ASD can present. I was stunned when I actually read a full description of Dyspraxia and realised it was not just the poor coordination/clumsiness issues we tend to hear about...

If there are doubts about the validity of the DX ('an element of aspergers'? what on earth does that mean?? :rolleyes: ) it would seem reasonable to look for more solid answers, and hopefully your GP will see the sense of that too...

 

L&P

 

BD :D

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Thank you all for your replies. Sorry it's taken me so long to get back. I had an encouraging responce from our GP. He is dropping a note to the CDC requesting an appointment for Maisie with a view to them assessing her for Dyspraxia. First hurdle jumped!

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My son has Adhd, Dyspraxia and Aspergers as his dxs. In our area it is quite hard apparently to get a dx these days of dyspraxia as it often means depending on what percentile for gross motor difficulties that the child may need OT- and that costs money. We were lucky as he aws sen by a specailist OT who had experience of ASD and ADHd- and thankfully he gets an hour of ot a week 1-1 which has made uschj a difference- he can [play some sports, catch a ball- feel like a "normal " kid. I have friends whose children are dx Autistic and they also think dyspraxia is involved but the clinic will not refer back to OT. There are lots of books around about dyspraxia - the ones by Madeleine Portwood are excellent. Also the Dyaprxai Foundation website is useful. Ask for an OT assessment byb someone with dyspraxia asd experience. Good luck.

Hi Madme,

Just read your posting. Dyspraxia can stand alone as a diagnosis. ASD's rarely stand alone. I remember reading that NAS were looking into whether a child with a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome should have a seperate diagnosis of Dyspraxia or whether the dyspraxia is present with the Asperger's in varying degrees.

 

I support two year 9 pupils with A/S, one of which has severe dyspraxia which affects her fine and gross motor skills. Her dx is Asperger's syndrome and other learning difficulties.The other pupil is in the top half of the class for Art and Design and is very skilled at computer aided design. My son (18) dx A/S doesn't have any problems with the physical side of Dyspraxia but is affected with the organisation and memory side.

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