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Questions on dx

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Hi again,

 

We are going for our private dx next week. Hopefully we will get some answers and advice. Needless to say I am stressing out.

 

Just a few questions if anyone can help….

 

Do you know which “Criteria” they are most likely to use for the dx? It seems that some are harder to pass than others.

 

I think that my son may not reach the full criteria for a dx for aspergers but I think he will score more highly than your average kid. Could he therefore be diagnosed with something else like “on the autistic spectrum” or some other term?

 

Even if he does tick many boxes, he may not qualify for “the disturbance causes clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning” part. How do they judge that??? Tony Attwood in his book mentioned children who are in a grey area that don’t quite fit the full dx - this may well be my son.

 

I was also wondering how exactly they might decide on whether or not he has “failed to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level”. What if he had a really good friend who other kids kept away from because of his behavior problems? Is this a good friendship or is my child not getting the plot?

 

Thanks.

 

I will let you know how it goes next week.

 

Nora

 

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How old is your child?

I'm not sure which criteria they'd use. I tend to look at DSM IV myself.

Remember that alot of the skills are on a sliding scale. So it is often a case of a child does have some ability, but not to the level of their peers.

My son also has friends. But you also have to consider the other aspects of autism that impact on socialisation and friendships etc eg

receptive and expressive language

literal interpretation of language

difficulties with imagination and spontaneous play

need for routine or rigid way of thinking

sensory difficulties impacting on play ie. unable to ride a bike, play football or team games etc

Lack of social chit chat causing very short social interaction

Unable to take turns or share

Problems with transitions in play

 

I've listed just a few above, but just one or two of those difficulties is going to impact on social interaction.

 

Although my sons has 'friends', he does not really understand how you cultivate or sustain friendship. For him someone either is or isn't a friend and he does not understand the need for regular contact and sharing of conversation play etc to keep that friendship going. He might see someone once every five years and consider them friends and whilst that is true when you are older as an adult due to other commitments on your time - for children being with their friends or group of friends is how they spend alot of their time.

 

And you will probably be surprised at how professionals can identify and see areas of difficulty. I remember my son being assessed by the SALT for his play skills and I thought he did really well and was worried she would say there was nothing wrong, or that he was borderline. But she said he had been typically autistic and told me to expect a diagnosis of an ASD. :tearful::tearful: Then you'll find yourself in an emotional conflict of feeling both success and devastation as your fears are finally being recognised and it begins to dawn on you what that actually will mean for all of the family.

 

When we were seen by professionals alot of it was taking history and asking me questions.

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We are in a similar situation to you. Dd3 is doing well academically at school and does have a "friend" although this is a strange relationship IMO most of the times I have seen her with this other child it is more of a power struggle than a friendship. At Brownies she hasn't been able to make any friends and at swimming or in the park she is completly unable to communicate with other children. We have alot of problems with sensory stuff too. The school are great at routines and stuff but they seem to miss so much of what upsets my daughter and she often comes home upset. The salt assessment did pick up gaps in her language but she is very bright and seems to hide this at school .

All in all I think the school think I am being fussy and they seem to be passing this feeling on to the pead. We have another meeting on Wed. I don't know if my daughter will ever be Dx'ed but I am keeping an open mind. Her differences seem to be getting more noticable as she is getting older.

I think you have to go with your gut feeling make some notes to take with you . I have to do this cos I get so worked up in these meetings.

Good luck, dont give up like I did with Dd1 and I hope you get the support you need. B)

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Thanks,

 

I can now see how subtle and complex it all is now. My son is very outgoing, happy and friendly which I think has masked some of the issues. We have moved him away from the naughty kid to another school but I have seen his other best friends go up to him and hit him and he's just stood there and taken it. There was a catalogue of horror stories about the naughty kid (swearing at teachers, spitting, violence, flashing) and yet my son was always very loyal towards him. This kid was very dominating.

 

I think my son can have normal conversations but these will probably be on his favourite subjects. He is so awkward when meeting others in the street - I am so conscious of it. Only yesterday we had an encounter with an old acquaintance and the daughter just stared at him, raised her eye brows, pulled a face, looked at him as if he were crazy and may have even said "what's he on about?" This happens all the time.

 

I have also seen him ignore his friends when they have tried to talk to him.

 

You can see that the other kids don't know what to make of him. He's 10 now so I am concerned about what the future will bring for him.

 

I spoke to the EP and she is going to come back and observe him and then we get to have a meeting. She was going to mention the Social Stories stuff to the Head. The Head told me that when chosen to make a suggestion in assembly, he had gone on and on without stopping. This is something the EP had commented on during her last visit.

 

I am however still really hoping that the doc at the dx will tell us that he's just a bit creative and eccentric with a few mild autistic traits and that we have nothing to worry about.

 

Nora X

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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hi not sure whether system is different up here( north scotland) i recently filled in an ADI-R

to get a diagnosis for my dd who is 13 this was a very long 3 hours form to fill in with the paediatrician,that went back to when she was a baby,(we didnt realise there where any problems til about 3 years ago.)but the transition to secondary school just didnt happen,she has been off school since july 2008!!

i filled in this form at end of nov and must admit although we had been told by clinical psycologist that she thought it was aspergers last may,and have been doing lots of research,when i got letter a couple of weesk ago saying dd was above the cut off score for the test and even if they gave her the benifit of the doubt over times when she was much younger and i couldnt remember the answers( ie did she lift her arms to be picked up out of her cot)she nearly 14 i couldnt remember that far back!! they have said she would still be above cut off score.we now have to try and get her to have an assessment called Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule ADOS modlue 4,the biggest problem being she doesnt go out anywhere and definatly doesnt like seeing people!!!!!!!!! but going back getting the letter was devastating ,in some ways we wanted the diagnosis and then when get letter saying it in black and white its very difficult to cope with,i just wanted to cry( well i did) but that was a cupole of weeks ago now im clearer and at the end of the day it doesnt change dd she is still the same as she was before i got letter and i can look forwards to dealing with it.

sorry been going on to long,just wanted to say what methods are used up here.

hope all goes well,

regards julia

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when my son got hsi diagnosis, i was told that the school had originally thought he had AS but then discounted it as he is able to show affection etc. i think they judge it as a whole and literally every other person we saw since has said AS - one even thought autism but he doesnt really meet the criteria

 

L's friendships are more like 'playing near' other kids then 'playing with'. he counted a boy as his friend but upon questioning this boy makes L do things to make a set of other boys laugh at him, and L thought this made him a 'friend'. he does not understnad how people can do painful things by accident - liek once he was in goal and another kid kicked the ball at the goal and it hit him in the face, he really felt this other kid had deliberately hurt him and wanted to ask him why, it took a long time to persuade him that this wasnt the case, it was an accident. according to his teachers he doesnt ever drop subjects that interest him and will draw the conversation back to them regardless of other childrens interest. this previously hadnt been so much of a problem but as he is getting older (he is 8 now) other children can see he is different in some way, last year he got relentlessly bullied at school, requiring lots of me going in and insisting that something was done about it. I also worry for his future. We are lucky this year that there is a kid in his class who has a strong sense of social justice and doesnt like seeing other kids bulied so has made a point to stick up for L, they are not exactly friends but this child has influence over the other children. has your son a teaching assistant in class allocated to help him? L has and often I ask her about his friendships and things, as she seems to know more than his teacher or the SENCO teacher. L also has art therapy in school once a week which seems to help a little, is that available where you are?

 

L was diagnosed using the australia scale, you can download it from this page http://www.aspergerfoundation.org.uk/info_adults.htm

 

hope this helps, good luck.

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Hi

 

My son didn't tick every box or indeed isn't what you'd call a classic Aspie. Sadly some specialists seem to be reluctance to provide a diagnosis unless a child ticks every or near every box purely because they don't want to take responsibility for providing an incorrect diagnosis (a diagnosis also costs money - in terms of provision of support, etc). However, in my view it is far more damaging for a child not to have a diagnosis when there'es little or no doubt. A number of doors opened for us once my son was dx. There's a whole host of things that can help paint the picture, for example, school reports, keeping a diary of 'odd' behaviours (for example, at Xmas my son wouldn't open wrapped presents, he stacked them up behind the dining room table). Hindsight is often a wonderful thing. At the time I noticed very little about my son when he was very young, but he had 3 hearing tests despite the fact that I knew he could hear - HV noticed he didn't respond to noise, etc. My son has never slept very well. My son likes routine and when attending eg family get-togethers, often he'd behave abominably.

 

The following link may help:

 

http://www.aspergers.com/aspcrit.htm

 

Best of luck.

 

Caroline.

Edited by cmuir

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Thanks for all your replies.

 

I have filled in several of the on-line questionnaires and I would say that he is at the high end of normal/bottom end of as. Some of the questions are very hard to answer and could be either yes or no, depending on the situation. I did a systemizing quotient questionnaire and he was way over on the other side of the chart to the cluster of asd dots but he wasn't alone over there, there were just a few of the asd yellow dots around him. DH filled in a questionnaire so that I could compare it to mine and amazingly we came out with almost exactly the same score even though we had answered some questions quite differently. Again, this score was on the borderline of the where "normal" ends and asd starts.

 

Does he prefer to do things on his own? Answer = Yes and No.

 

I guess the chances of him being given a dx of asp is highly unlikely unless he really does have it right?

 

My son is helped by a TA in class and she mentioned asp to the class teacher. This was the 4th time it's been mentioned by schools (3 teachers and EP, ). 2 SENCOs, 1 EP and one Head have said that he does not have it.

 

He's also had the hearing test! Only once though.

 

The recent bullying at school (being called weird and being told to shut up) has stopped. It's a "nice" small school. Dread the thought of it happening at secondary school where the bullies will be less likely to stop when asked.

 

I am struggling to remember things like whether or not he lifted his arms up to be picked up. He was always so happy and smiley that I would not have picked up on issues like him playing alone although I think he did quite a bit. We would go to the park after school and yes, he definitely would hang out with his mates and chat but he would also go and make dust whilst all the other kids played a big game together.

 

Thanks again for your helpful and interesting replies. I will let you know how the dx goes next week.

 

Nora X

 

 

 

 

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I guess the chances of him being given a dx of asp is highly unlikely unless he really does have it right?

 

 

Nora X

 

A decade or so ago I would have agreed. Now 'mild' ASD and 'ASD traits' and 'Somewhere on the spectrum' seem to be common terminology for just about any behaviours parents are concerned about, especially if those old stalwarts ADHD and Dyslexia don't seem to fit or are not satisfactory to parents.

As always, not speaking about your child (or anyone elses) specifically, just my own opinions about a growing trend to 'label' any/all behaviours rather than acknowledge quite natural elements of biodiversity that do not fit what is for many a very unrealistic and narrow medical model of 'normality'.

 

L&P

 

BD :D

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Thanks Badad,

 

I think you are right and my DH would definitely agree. I rue the day that anyone first mentioned aspergers to me (5 years ago). I am now totally paranoid (fueled by the internet). Maybe I am right to be paranoid? Son's last teacher told me that we are all somewhere on the spectrum. I hope this doc is going to say that my son does not have it - he's just a bit quirky, creative and eccentric and the world needs people like that or we'd all be boring! Fingers crossed.

 

Nora X

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Thanks Badad,

 

I think you are right and my DH would definitely agree. I rue the day that anyone first mentioned aspergers to me (5 years ago). I am now totally paranoid (fueled by the internet). Maybe I am right to be paranoid? Son's last teacher told me that we are all somewhere on the spectrum. I hope this doc is going to say that my son does not have it - he's just a bit quirky, creative and eccentric and the world needs people like that or we'd all be boring! Fingers crossed.

 

Nora X

 

Totally second that last bit, whether quirky creative eccentric with autism or quirky creative eccentric without! That 'all somewhere on the spectrum' is very confusing, because the people who say that seem to be looking at it from only one direction - i'e. NT people recognising that they have elements of autistic traits. It does work the other way though - we are all on the 'human' spectrum, and it may well be that what's being identified as an autistic trait that NT's 'share' to some degree is actually just perfectly normal human behaviour, and that if it's just accepted rather than labelled as either/or we can all just get on with being ourselves! :lol:

The ultimate factor is whether your son is happy and coping (and I don't mean 'happy' in an unrealistic, ideal world sense which is what it often seems to have come to mean - I just mean it in the 'not unhappy' sense, or the 'most of the time it's not too cr*ppy sense that most of us have most of the time) and whether if he isn't the specific reasons for that are directly related to autistic 'elements'.

A few months ago I met four people in a pub as a meet up on an OU course I'm doing. During the evening's conversation the subject of my son came up and I mentioned he's autistic. Two of those four total strangers felt they were 'undiagnosed Aspergers' and seemed to have convinced themselves of that on the basis of what they'd picked up casually from tv/media etc. A third 'diagnosed' her ex-boyfriend. One of them, a girl, is actively pursuing a diagnosis (though that's on hold for the next few weeks as she has flown out to the States on her own 'cos she fancied a break and doing some travelling around)...

Now I'm no diagnostician, and I know hardly anything of their lives really whatsoever, but what I can say is that with many, many years of interaction with autistic people at all levels of functioning I saw nothing whatsoever that suggested to me in any way that they were autistic, but lots of aspects of their lifestyle that would suggest they weren't. What they seemed to regard as 'evidence' of their Asperger's tended to be their track record with relationships and mild symptoms of social unease in new or unusual situations. Truth be told, I know absolutely no 'NT's' who have never had relationship problems (and I suspect if I did I'd actually regard them as unusual more than I would regard the majority who have had relationship problems as unusual), and I suspect only a very small number of Alpha males and females feel comfortable and in control in every situation they walk into...

Sorry, gone into a bit of a ramble there and of course nothing to do with your son whatsoever :rolleyes::wacko: !

 

In an nutshell, I guess what I'm trying to say is if you have to look really hard to see something you will probably see it. That may mean it's there but very small, it may mean it's there but not a problem, it may mean it's there and the looking was worthwhile or it may mean it isn't there but because you expected to see it you saw it. There's a programme they showed the other night on BBC4 called 'nerdstock', and a Dr was describing some very weird but very well researched factors of 'placebo testing'... Well worth watching if you can, for some quite scary insights on human psychology and 'fulfilled expectations'... :ph34r:

 

And of course none of that is to say that your son is/ins't could be/couldn't be or anything else... Just, I hope, a useful perspective on that sense of paranoia you say you're feeling (which, as Slartibartfast said, is 'perfectly normal - everyone gets that').

 

L&P

 

BD :D

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Hi Sam was dx'd in Dec,the letter states he has ASD most likely Aspergers.He did all kinds of activities at his assesment and was asked a few general questions,who is your friend? where do you live?where did you go on holiday? He was shown picturseof a sequence which he had to create with blocks,he was asked opposites and things that may be similar.

 

Personally the assesment itself was a real eye opener,I had read up on AS after my GP suggested it and I did think "yes" Sam has it but there was still a part of me that felt maybe not prehaps he is just different and thought the paed would say "no its not ASD" as he went through the activities and the questions I really saw him differently its like in my mind all he boxes were being ticked,it was a little odd, almost like a stranger.

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especially if those old stalwarts ADHD and Dyslexia don't seem to fit or are not satisfactory to parents.baddad

 

 

Nora my son has comorbids, he was first dx with ADHD, his Dyslexia didnt get dx until he went to specialist school, when his statement got changed, I was probably the unsatifactory parent here as J was later dx with ASD due to his severe social and communication difficulties, I personally would not say that it is easier now to get a dx than it was 10 years ago either, what ever traits, mild symptoms you show!

 

JsMumxxxx

 

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Thanks for that Badad,

 

I have to confess that I have been looking suspiciously at DH's vast cd collection and my Dad's habit of counting out grapes for his breakfast! Don't ever give me a medical dictionary!

 

I also keep reminding myself of my very oldest best friend. When we were teenagers, he had huge collections of war memorabilia and photographic equipment and could monologue in a very boring way for hours on favourite subject. Now he is in his 40's and he's the most interesting, stimulating, good listening and kind person you could ever meet.

 

At the moment son is fairly happy but the school move from wild, anarchic local school to snooty posh one has been hard for him. He certainly blended into the background more at the old school but at least now he has the chance to do his best with his schoolwork. He's now one of only 4 kids that need extra help whereas it must have been almost the whole class at the old school. He is still behind in maths and very behind in writing but as the teacher said, you get kids who's writing is perfect, grammar perfect, capital letters and full stops perfect and yet everything they have written is dull and boring - this cannot be said for son's writing - even if there are no full stops, beginnings or endings!!!

 

The worry is that he will be picked on for being "weird" at secondary school. But of course NT kids can be weird too! I've told him to tell them that it's better to be weird than boring!

 

I hope we don't get a dx of aspergers and I hope that those of you who do need and want one do get one.

 

Cheers,

 

Nora X

 

 

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Thanks Justine,

 

What you have written is very interesting. I have asked my son some of these questions. In my amateur opinion, he did immediately get the theory of mind questions and he seems good with abstract questions BUT he had problems with the friend questions I asked him. We had to convince him recently that just because the mayor had given him a mug at Cubs, did not mean that she was a friend. And just because the bullies had apologised, did not make them friends either. I asked him why his friends were his friends and his answers were useless but then the next day, in the car, I asked him again and his answer was good. Days after the event, he also came out with the fact the bullies were only his friend because they'd told to be his friend. And yet he'd come out of the school on the day they apologised saying that it was the best day at school ever because he now had loads of new friends. I think some of the answers can depend on the time it takes to answer them as well.

 

It's going to be an eye opener seeing what answers he gives.

 

Thanks Js Mum,

 

He very recently got tested for dyslexia and the test was ok. I was a bit disappointed as I hoped that might explain some of the issues with his writing. He is now going to get a different dyslexia test from a student at school and we will get back a report and some recommendations.

 

Along with all my other fears and paranoia is that they could say he has aspergers when in fact he does not. From where I am sitting, I like the idea that they do not give them out willy nilly but it's distressing and wrong that there are people out there who are fighting to get one.

 

Nora X

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Hi again,

 

We are going for our private dx next week. Hopefully we will get some answers and advice. Needless to say I am stressing out.

 

Just a few questions if anyone can help….

 

Do you know which “Criteria” they are most likely to use for the dx? It seems that some are harder to pass than others.

 

I think that my son may not reach the full criteria for a dx for aspergers but I think he will score more highly than your average kid. Could he therefore be diagnosed with something else like “on the autistic spectrum” or some other term?

 

Even if he does tick many boxes, he may not qualify for “the disturbance causes clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning” part. How do they judge that??? Tony Attwood in his book mentioned children who are in a grey area that don’t quite fit the full dx - this may well be my son.

 

I was also wondering how exactly they might decide on whether or not he has “failed to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level”. What if he had a really good friend who other kids kept away from because of his behavior problems? Is this a good friendship or is my child not getting the plot?

 

Thanks.

 

I will let you know how it goes next week.

 

Nora

 

Hi Nora.

I can give you lots of information and experiences but no clear answers I am afraid.

I do have to say that to me your statement...

We are going for our private dx next week
does appear to pre-empt the purpose of any assessment.

If you have already decided that you are going for a diagnosis and are asking around for the right answers to the questions you are going to be asked that sort of pre-empts the idea of a Specialist Assessment to establish whether your child has any difficulties in my opinion.

 

We have Ben who is 11.

Ben was assessed by CAMHS three years ago.

Original dx dyxpraxia.

Then dyspraxia with Social Communication Difficulties.[some AS but not enough for dx borderline]

Then dyspraxia with attachment disorder.

Then dyspraxia and AS [last year]

Then last week dyspraxia with maybe AS but by the time he is an adult he may no longer fit the diagnostic criteria for an AS diagnosis.

 

We have always been supported by CAMHS.In our area they are very reluctant to diagnose AS unless there is some degree of certainty.Hence the prolonged debate.

 

 

 

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Then last week dyspraxia with maybe AS but by the time he is an adult he may no longer fit the diagnostic criteria for an AS diagnosis.

Hi Karen (and apologies to Nora for going slightly off topic),

 

I agree with what you have said re. 'going for a dx' - I didn't want to get into an argument though :rolleyes:

 

I'm really interested however in the statement above. As far as I'm aware, if you have an ASD you have an ASD, it's not something that is transient, being a lifelong condition. Developing social skills and coping mechanisms may help the individual to cope better and to appear more 'NT' (for want of a better term), but the individual will still be ASD. To no longer fit the dx criteria says that the individual no longer has an ASD. I'm unsure how this can be (and if it is the case, then bottle your 'cure' quickly, you could make millions!! :lol: :lol:)?

 

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Hi Karen,

 

Thanks for replying. I am not really sure what you mean in your mail. Aspergers has intermittently been mentioned to us over the past few years and I would just like to know one way or the other. Are you saying that we should have gone for an assessment first before going for a dx?

 

I hope this doc is going to give us an assessment of strengths, weaknesses and some strategies to get the best out of son. Perhaps calling it a dx is the wrong word and an assessment is what we'll get? When I wrote to the doc, I just said that we were concerned our son might have asp. He has sent us a few forms to fill in but they are not asp specific.

 

Thanks,

 

Nora X

 

 

 

 

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I would ensure that the assesments concentrates on his social issues and that what ever stratagies are recommended these be followed throw by parents, education and mainstream sectors, such as clubs, leisure centres ect....

 

Good Luck with the Assessments.

 

JsMumxxx

 

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Nora, I wonder if you have misunderstood the terminology, hence your confusion? A dx is shorthand for a diagnosis, so when you say that:

We are going for our private dx next week.

you are effectively saying we are going to get our private diagnosis next week which reads as (whether this is your intention or not) we are going to go and see this doctor, pay him x pounds and he's going to give us the diagnosis (i.e. tell us our son is AS) we want/pay for, in the same way you would pay for and receive any other goods and services.

 

What Karen, I and others have raised is that the process is and indeed should be (and definitely is within the NHS) far longer and probably more rigorous than that which you seem to be going for. Private assessments are going to vary enormously, but if you are just going for a bit of paper that says "this child has ASD" how much help will that be? You need to know strengths, weaknesses, where unevenness arises in his profile etc. in order to know what to put in place in order to help him address his difficulties. This is where a thorough assessment comes into play which you may not get if you are just paying to get what you already think put into writing. I was slightly irked by your original post because you seemed to be asking (again I may be misinterpreting - I am good at that :rolleyes:) what are the 'correct' answers we need to give to the questions in order for the doctor to give us the diagnosis we want. It shouldn't be about giving some set correct answers as if this is an exam you revise for, it should be about giving correct truthful answers as applicable to your son's behaviours and from those answers the doctor should be coming up with his own assessment.

 

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Hi Mumble,

 

Oh dear, definite misunderstandings here...

 

I definitely do not want to pay this guy for a dx. I don't want a positive dx. I am hoping that he is going to say my son does not have asp. He is also the NHS guy for our area and is well known so I would hope that he's not going to be handing out dx's. I have just been consumed with worry about this ever since it was first mentioned so hopefully we can get some answers out of this guy. If he says my son does not have asp then it will be the best £££ I have ever spent. If he does have it then we can take it from there and face the future with more knowledge. Perhaps he will fall at the high end of normal and might benefit from some social skills support. Hopefully the not knowing will be over.

 

I definitely don't want my son to give the "right" answers. I haven't given him any info or prompts on the questions he will be asked even though I have asked him some myself to see what he says. I am not sure how I will fare on my questions as I do know the "right" answers. Of course I will tell the truth but some of the questions are not so easy to answer - they can be either yes or no. Hopefully I will get to have a good chat with the guy.

 

Sorry for misunderstandings,

 

Thanks,

 

Nora X

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Hi Nora,

 

That makes more sense...

 

Perhaps it would be best to say something like you are going to see an expert in social and communication / pervasive developmental disorders for an assessment of your son's needs as indicated as potentially necessary by his behaviours and difficulties. Cor, that's a lot of words, I can see why you went for the simpler option! :lol:

 

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Hi Karen,

 

Thanks for replying. I am not really sure what you mean in your mail. Aspergers has intermittently been mentioned to us over the past few years and I would just like to know one way or the other. Are you saying that we should have gone for an assessment first before going for a dx?

 

I hope this doc is going to give us an assessment of strengths, weaknesses and some strategies to get the best out of son. Perhaps calling it a dx is the wrong word and an assessment is what we'll get? When I wrote to the doc, I just said that we were concerned our son might have asp. He has sent us a few forms to fill in but they are not asp specific.

 

Thanks,

 

Nora X

 

Hi.

I do not know how private appointments work.However in the NHS a referal is done to a team of professionals who are able to conduct a thorough holistic assessmemt.

The team would assess for various specific learning difficulties including ASD and dyspraxia.They would also investigate whether any difficulties a child has could be related to mental health problems or could purely be due to personality characteristics or even a child with high intelligence not being well understood in school.

All of the above can present as similar to AS.

I guess in my mind saying that you are going for a diagnosis of ASD sounds like going to the doctor to tell him you have a broken leg or to ask him to diagnose you with a broken leg.

It is only really fair to go to the doctor with some idea of the symptoms [pain in leg following a fall,swelling ,inability to move leg] and to ask him to assess what the problem is.

Perhaps I am being pedantic. :)

Edited to say that having just read Mumble's post.

 

What Karen, I and others have raised is that the process is and indeed should be (and definitely is within the NHS) far longer and probably more rigorous than that which you seem to be going for. Private assessments are going to vary enormously, but if you are just going for a bit of paper that says "this child has ASD" how much help will that be? You need to know strengths, weaknesses, where unevenness arises in his profile etc. in order to know what to put in place in order to help him address his difficulties. This is where a thorough assessment comes into play which you may not get if you are just paying to get what you already think put into writing. I was slightly irked by your original post because you seemed to be asking (again I may be misinterpreting - I am good at that ) what are the 'correct' answers we need to give to the questions in order for the doctor to give us the diagnosis we want. It shouldn't be about giving some set correct answers as if this is an exam you revise for, it should be about giving correct truthful answers as applicable to your son's behaviours and from those answers the doctor should be coming up with his own assessment.

 

She put it better than myself and I understand now you have answered. :)

 

Karen.

Edited by Karen A

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