Help through school or the medical route?

[peaches]

Our 5 year old is on school action plus and has seen an Early Years Inclusion Officer from the LEA. I have asked her to visit him again as I think we need more support.

 

ATM I dont know whether he is on the autistic spectrum, or has ADHD or some sort of developmental disorder. He is bright enough, but his social skills, emotion regulation etc are poor. He is also a bit on the clumsy side and very impulsive.

 

I dont know whether to continue letting the person who visits school decide whether he needs an assessment or go some other route.

 

I have been thinking of going to our GP, the one who referred our daughter. I thought our health visitor was going to refer him but tbh she has made a bit of a u turn and I feel messed about.

 

Should I go to the GP and ask for a referral for assessment at the place in our city where children with special needs are assessed? Or should I just let school carry on?

 

I really feel we need help at home to deal with him, my husband is constantly losing his temper with him and his behaviour is very challenging. When I am ill there is only my husband to take over and he doesnt have the patience or skills needed.

 

Whats best?

[Karen A]

Hi Peaches.To be honest I think the quickest route is probably to ask the GP to do a referal to either the Child Development Team or Camhs [Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service].The GP should know which professionals do assessments for 5 year olds.If you are concerned about ADHD or AS then it would be worth being clear with your GP.Take along a list of the reasons you have for wondering about AS /ADHD.

If the GP suggests a referal to Camhs ask if your DS can be seen by a professional with knowledge/experience in AS rather than the general Camhs assessment team.

Schools vary an awful lot regarding knowledge of AS and willingness to refer on or request EP invovement so if you could be a long time in getting anything done if you depend on the school.Karen.

[JsMum]

I would think that maybe the school are little reserved at the moment, many dont even know what ADHD is and many teachers are still trying to understand the higher end of the Autistic Spectrum so I personally would request a meeting with your senco, teacher, headteacher and try and have a meeting together and ask what every one feels first, you really need the teachers to be aware of ADHD/HFA/AS and they would be the ones helping with the assessments, you do need a really good school on board, if you feel this person who has been observing your child has done a u turn you need to get an explanation to why he feels this way and some form of IEP needs to be drawn up, what are his main difficulties in school?

 

Then get them to compair them to the symptoms and signs of ADHD/ASDs and there is lots of information on NAS on ways to help your grandchild at school and there is defo a lot the school can do to support him if they are aware of specail needs.

 

I think writing a letter to your GP is essentail as it also stays in his medical notes and if down the line in years to come someone says mmm I wonder if he has AS/ASD/ADHD then your letter is there and at least you have raised it with your Gsons GP.

 

Remember also School action is not garenteed support in school and sometimes the extra support can be like 30 mins a week, what about the rest of the time he is in class or at playtimes or dinner times and especially unstructured times.

 

Loosing your temper with children with special needs will just feed into their anxiety and make it a hundred times worse I know I really had of wished I knew that J had ADHD/Autism at Five but he wasnt diagnosed until 7yrs even though I kept on saying to the school do you think he could have ADHD just to be told nar we have worse than your son, but he was still really struggling until he ended up in a cahms unit and on the verge of school expulsion.

 

Remember also that exclusions dont have to be where your kid is expelled, exclusions can happen in disguise like loss of playtimes, sent out of class, banned from PE because of no kit, but the reasons that kid has lost a playtime or been sent out of class or missed PE could be all related to his SENs and this is discrimination.

 

Keep a diary and get some stratagies from the internet and look at books that help HFA even if he hasnt got it its not going to hurt to try other ways to help him manage, especially other adults around him, because these kids know what buttons to press because for kids with ADHD its about a reaction, to stimulate the brain, they know there going to get told off, they know there going to get punished but they like the reaction, it really is hard work but with the right management methods you can get there, he is five years old and young enough still to get help, at 15, 16 it might be a different story.

 

Have you visited any ADHD/AS/Autism parent support groups in your area, these are great for further advice, many of the children especailly with AS many had recieved private diagnosis, because quite simply the local NHS services dont know enough of AS/ASDs and this was the same for some in the ADHD parent support group.

 

Remember also many kids go undiagnosed for years, and some are adults until the AS/ADHD is confirmed.

 

The beginning for you has started, you suspect and you are finding out more information, for many parents who have children with possible ASD you are miles ahead already.

 

 

JsMum

[peaches]

Thanks again!

 

I typed out a microsoft word document listing my concerns but didnt specifically mention a disorder. I also took in a report from the person who saw him at school. The doctor said it sounded a bit like Asperger's, more Asperger's than ADHD and referred him to the Consultant Psychiatrist at CAMHS. I hope we got this one in time ... I think I need to learn the strategies for dealing with him and then educate my husband!

 

I am looking into social stories and PECS for difficult things.

 

I must admit Im not into support groups face to face but I quite like using forums, emailing people etc. Funnily enough, I can write things down a lot easier than I can say them. I found that out when I was a student