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doubletrouble

confused by ed pysch.

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:wacko: Would you all mind giving me some honest advice? As some of you might know I took my youngest to a community paeditrician appt. a couple of weeks ago, and she confirmed that my youngest is also on the spectrum due to the traits she displayed. Initially this was a great shock (although we knew) but we have know accepted and moved on from initial gut reactions. We have to go back for full assessment in 6 months.

 

During the course of that meeting she commentated on the fact that the ed.pych. would soon be visiting her at pre-school. Three times she mentioned that she did not expect the school to notice any difference as she was in a familiar environment at the nursery, but was adamant that when I next meet with her we would need to discuss schools properly. :)

 

The ed. psch. came and visited us after watching my daughter on wednesday, she said that her needs were "subtle" but that she had smiled and played games with her "appropriatley and she had not noticed any social communication and interaction problems. She said that she noticed she was very reluctant to join in games and would pace backwards and forwards before joining in, assessing the situation. She reckons her speech is about 6 months delayed, although in other social situations, she remains mute. She agreed that she had poor imaginative play and needed lots of nurturing and encouragemnet and sensory issues.

 

At the meeting she said she thought it would be for the best for my daughter to stay at her current pre-school so she has access to proper stimulating social interaction, but she was adamant and kept emphasisng that she works and sees numerous ASD children and that are daughters needs were subtle and she did not notice any problems with communication and that she had very good eye contact and laughed and smiled appropriatley with her in a 1:1 situation. She said thet in her opinion she is a desperatly "shy, reticient" girl. :blink:

 

In the next breath she then offerred her to attend a "special" hursery four afternoons, agreed to give her transport, as long as I took her to her present pre-school 2 mornings a week. :wacko:

 

I am very confused. The paedtrician was adamant that she would display no unusual signs within nursery, but was still adamant that she displays traits of ASD and wants her diagnoised along those lines. Yet now the ed. pysch. seems to be contradicting what the paeditrician said, while still offerring her a placement at a special nursery to meet her needs :o

 

I know I am tired and have been under so much stress latley.... who hasn't, but can anybody understand this and explain this to me??? I had just got my head round my daughter also being on the spectrum, alongside her brothers, should I now start believing that this might not be the case? Or do I accept the paedtricians and health visitors opinions, as well as family members and other people who have encountered her in unfamiliar environments. All she does in unfamiliar situations is cover her eyes, refuse to talk and refuses to communicate with anyone. If she does eventually play she "parrallel " plays.

 

Any feedback on this post would be wonderfull. :D

 

Thanks in advance, I have just spoken with my husband, who has benn convinved since our daughter was six months old that she is on the spectrum. He is completly amazed at what she has said. The trouble is this is the same ed. psych. who was involved in my first sons report. She agreed he appeared to be "fine and coping" at school and reckoned he would cope in mainstream. 4 months later, he lost the plot, ended up excluded from school for a year, and now attends a special school for autistic kids and is now thriving :)

 

The Ed. pych concerned is a lovley person, I am just very confused by what she is saying and how she is acting....... HELP!!!!!! :D

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HIya,

 

Perhaps the Ed Physc is playing it safe because of the experiences with your first son, in that they said he was coping and then it turned out he wasn't. Also perhaps she thinks your daughter needs to stay in pre-school for the social interaction she needs, but attend specialist nursery for more specialised help with the more complex sensory and imaginative play needs. In my area that is quite common.

 

Hopefully you will get a clearer picture when you go back for a full assessment, will it be done by a multi-disciplinary team? Thats what happened with Max over a 3 month period.

 

In my experience with Max, 4, and the professionals, there is alot of conflict between the health profs like paied and SALTS, and the Education people, like Ed Physc. I know our paeid and education have many battles and disagree alot, mainly to do with support levels and budgets, and our paied has to be very careful how she words her reports, she tends to tell us the 'real' situation, but then write reports to LEA with what will work to get Max his support.

 

Its all so confusing isn't it, and does your head in, having to play all these politics.

 

Hopefully you will be able to find out whats what and if she needs it, your little girl will get the support to help her and you.

 

Good luck

 

Jo

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Not sure if this helps, but describing our 5 year olds behaviour might clear things up a little.

 

In the opinion of ourselves, his consultant, an asessment unit, his portage worker and several other people our son is almost certainly on the spectrum. His formal diagnosis is due on Monday.

 

In pre-school the staff there thought he had no issues and was doing fine.

 

How can this be? The answer lies in what the children are being asked to do.

 

Our son was non-verbal until 3 and still will not talk to anyne he doesn't know or like, he will simply ignore them. In pre-school the environment was very unstructured, nobody forced him to inetract so he didn't. He was somewhat overrawed by the situation and his behavious outside of pre-school deteriorated alarmingly. But he did not disrupt the class, he was not overtly upset and didn't do anything to make the staff take notice. So the staff though he was fine.

 

He wasn't 'normal' either though. He showed no interest in other children, spoke to nobody, didn't 'join in', didn't really learn anything.

 

I think what your EP was saying is that yur daughter is not doing things in such a way as to bring herself to the attention of the staff. As your daughter is not unhappy at the nursery there are things that can be learend from proactive observation of what she does, and the interaction will help her development, just don't expect staff with no training in ASD's to notice much.

 

The specialist nursery provision will recognise your daughters issues, and help her work to overcome them, so there is a role for both types of provision.

 

Does this make sense?

 

Simon

Edited by mossgrove

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My 2yr-old has a preliminary diagnosis of ASD. In a 1:1 situation with an adult he is usually full of smiles and will allow himself to be directed in a game. At first glance he appears to have very good eye contact too. This can give the impression that he's a so-called "normal" little boy. After a short while he loses his focus. The eye contact disappears and the adult might as well give up. If the adult stops trying to engage him in a game or activity he switches off and goes back into his own little world. He seems interested in other children and I get the feeling that he wants to interact but just doesn't know how to go about it. We were lucky that the team who assessed him were able to see past the surface and recognised that things were not all they appeared to be.

 

How do you feel about the idea of attending the SN nursery? If you think this is something your little girl could benefit from then I would take them up on the offer.

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:D Thank you, yes, that does make a great deal of sense :D A great deal of sense actually on all fronts. :D

 

Quite amusing actually because just after I had posted on the forum, I got another phone call from the ed.Psych!!

 

She was very helpfull and patient with me, and explained that during the afternoon she had also met with the paeditrician who had met my daughter couple of weeks ago, and that they had discussed her between themselves, with other info. that had been gathered. What struck me most was that she genuinely seems to care for the future welfare of my daughter, and this time explained that they have already contacted the specialised nursery and penciled her name into a group. They are also providing transport for her, and have agreed to fund her place at her normal pre-school :D She explained in a "nice" manner, that due to the nature of ASD in the house, that they wanted to give her the best possible intervention from the start, while also giving her the opportunity for social stimulation from her present pre-school whilst being complemented from the specialised support from the other nursery :D

 

I finally understand what is going on!!!! Thank you for your help, boy was I getting confused. Like you said, there seems so much poilitcs at times, your head sure starts to spin, and I seem to have had so many appointments, I am wondering what to do when they all finally come to an end..... if they ever do!!! LOL!! :D

 

As for the final assessment

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:D Thank you, yes, that does make a great deal of sense :D A great deal of sense actually on all fronts. :D

 

Quite amusing actually because just after I had posted on the forum, I got another phone call from the ed.Psych!!

 

She was very helpfull and patient with me, and explained that during the afternoon she had also met with the paeditrician who had met my daughter couple of weeks ago, and that they had discussed her between themselves, with other info. that had been gathered. What struck me most was that she genuinely seems to care for the future welfare of my daughter, and this time explained that they have already contacted the specialised nursery and penciled her name into a group. They are also providing transport for her, and have agreed to fund her place at her normal pre-school :D She explained in a "nice" manner, that due to the nature of ASD in the house, that they wanted to give her the best possible intervention from the start, while also giving her the opportunity for social stimulation from her present pre-school whilst being complemented from the specialised support from the other nursery :D

 

I finally understand what is going on!!!! Thank you for your help, boy was I getting confused. Like you said, there seems so much poilitcs at times, your head sure starts to spin, and I seem to have had so many appointments, I am wondering what to do when they all finally come to an end..... if they ever do!!! LOL!! :D

 

As for the final assessment I am unsure how that is going to work :wacko: The Paed. gace the impression that she was going to diagnoise her at the next meeting, but I dont really know if that was what she meant, as both my other boys had to go through a panel team for assessment, so I was quite surprised by what she was implying. I did not think paed. could give formal diagnosis? She maintained that she needed to gather the information from the other specialists involved and then she would give her diagnosis....but perhaps she meant she would then put her before the panel assessment team.

 

At least I know that while all this is going on, my daughter will be receiving the best possible help in the right environment, and that to be honest is fantastic.

 

I also heard to-day that my Aspie son is now coping brilliantly in mainstream with the appropriate help in place, and they want to meet to discuss other methods to put into structure to further assist and encourage his progress.

 

:D:D:D:D Yes, I am feeling a bit more relaxed and happier B)B)

 

Thank you for answering my queries. B)

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B) Thank you Jericho, it was interesting that your little boy appears to also have good eye-contact. You see, my daughter seems to stare, and can hold a gaze for ages, whereas my boys, well I used to think they liked talking to the walls behind me!!!! It was fascinating to hear that your boy could also engage in a game in a 1:1 situation, that is exactly what my daughter can do :D

 

I dont have any problems with her attending the specialised nursery, my main concern is that she gets the appropriate intervention to help her develop, I just want people to recognise her needs, and not put it down as "shyness" and "quiet and reticient". Does that make sense? :wacko:

 

Thanx again for your input that was really helpfull :D

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Hello Double Trouble,

 

When Joe was waiting for his diagnosis we were also confused with the information we were given. Again the problem was between the paed. and the ed psych. The ed psych thought ASD (well probably Asperger's with a language disorder too) the paed thought specific language impairment with quirkiness due to not understanding everything.

 

We eventually got a dx of ASD... good ... as Joe will get loads of help. I suppose it is diifficult for the professionals to work together as they are coming from different angles. A pity we sometimes get caught in the middle .

 

Just for info, Joe has great eye contact , always smiling and giggling and people who meet him for the first time have no idea (except for his language) that he is not NT.

Hope you get the dx which will provide the most help.

 

Love Joe's gran.x >:D<<'>

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