Advice needed

[posty]

We went to camhs today over our daughter, we were told by the paedatrician that she has elements of various parts of the spectrum, adhd,asd?,asperges & dyspraxia.

No diagnosis was given but we think alongside the school that it is asd.

She has to have a blood test next week to check for unbalanced chromosome. Does this mean if nothing is found that it rules out asd and why is the paedatrician reluctant to make a diagnosis at this stage?

[skye]

Hello,

I am not as knowledgeable as some of the other parents on this site and I am sure you will get some more insightful replies. I am currently going through a diagnosis with my daughter. One of my pet hates is how vague everybody is about the diagnosis. It's like they all must know what it is but I was told by the SENCO that it is not worth their job to say so until the time of diagnosis. The child psychologist at CAMHS often says stuff like "that is very typical of kids on the scale" etc, but never says them directly related to my daughter.

I am not sure about your area but mine has a multidisciplinary agency made up of the SENCO, the educational psychologist, the CAMHS child psych who specializes in ASD's and a Paediatrician who are all involved in making the diagnosis. It was explained to me the the Paed. was only seen as a formality really to make sure that there was no other medical reason for my daughter's behaviour.

I am not sure if that is helpful at all but it is past my bedtime. Anyway, good luck with it all. -Skye

 

[Karen A]

We went to camhs today over our daughter, we were told by the paedatrician that she has elements of various parts of the spectrum, adhd,asd?,asperges & dyspraxia.

No diagnosis was given but we think alongside the school that it is asd.

She has to have a blood test next week to check for unbalanced chromosome. Does this mean if nothing is found that it rules out asd and why is the paedatrician reluctant to make a diagnosis at this stage?

 

Hi.Obtaining a diagnosis can take some time.Usually a group of professionals [paediatrician or child and adoloescent psychiatrist,specialist speech therapist,perhaps a social worker,Occupational Therapist and maybe others ] are trained and identified for an area for specialist assessment for ASD.Sometimes the team is based with CAMHS and sometimes it is based with a Child Development Team.

The first stage of assessment to decide exactly what difficultuies a child has may be done by a general CAMHS professional or paediatrician.The professional may then refer on the team who assess re ASD if they think ASD is likely.CAMHS psychiatrists usually diagnose and manage ADHD.

I think the blood test is probably just one of the early screening tests to help the paediatrician to find out what is going on.It will not rule out ASD or confirm it.

It sounds like it might help if the paeditrician can give you some more information about the local procedure for assessment next time you see them.Don't be afraid to ask. Karen.

Edited February 11, 2009 by Karen A

[Karen A]

Hello,

I am not as knowledgeable as some of the other parents on this site and I am sure you will get some more insightful replies. I am currently going through a diagnosis with my daughter. One of my pet hates is how vague everybody is about the diagnosis. It's like they all must know what it is but I was told by the SENCO that it is not worth their job to say so until the time of diagnosis. The child psychologist at CAMHS often says stuff like "that is very typical of kids on the scale" etc, but never says them directly related to my daughter.

I am not sure about your area but mine has a multidisciplinary agency made up of the SENCO, the educational psychologist, the CAMHS child psych who specializes in ASD's and a Paediatrician who are all involved in making the diagnosis. It was explained to me the the Paed. was only seen as a formality really to make sure that there was no other medical reason for my daughter's behaviour.

I am not sure if that is helpful at all but it is past my bedtime. Anyway, good luck with it all. -Skye

 

Hi.Some professionals including education staff [sENCO],educational psychologists and health visitors are not qualified to diagnose medical conditions including ASD.So the most they might say is that they think a child might have ASD or they think it is worth obtaining a specialist opinion.Even the CAMHS psychologist may not be able to give a clear diagnosis.That would only be given after a full assessment by the person or team who are trained and responsible for assessment.So thsat be why they may be vague.It took the CAMHS team three years to decide re AS dx for Ben and even now they don't all agree. Karen.

 

[Tally]

Hi Posty,

 

It sounds as though they are working towards a diagnosis, but don't have all the evidence they need at this stage.

 

The blood test is probably testing for a condition called Fragile X Syndrome, which is a chromosomal abnormality which causes ASD-like symptoms. It is considered to be part of the autistic spectrum. They need to test for this before they can make a diagnosis because they need to know whether they are diagnosing ASD or Fragile X. A diagnosis of Fragile X would be as useful as a diagnosis of ASD or Asperger's when seeking support for your daughter.

 

It is common for people with ASD to have traits of dyspraxia, but not all meet the criteria to have it diagnosed as a separate condition. I am an adult with AS, I have some dyspraxia-type difficulties, for example I find it very difficult to walk down stairs. I do not have a separate diagnosis of dyspraxia, but my movement difficulties are acknowledged as genuine and serious. It seems like they are acknowledging your daughter's movement difficulties and considering the possibility of diagnosing dyspraxia.

 

Whether they diagnose ADHD or not, it does seem that they are acknowledging that she has some type of ADHD-type difficulties, and hopefully you would be able to use this information to access appropriate support as well.

[skye]

See I told you some people would be much more knowledgeable than me. I have only just started the assessment process. I am still taking on board what everyone says. Sometimes I probably get things a bit jumbled. It is a lot to take in.