Hi, my son seeing SALT tomorrow possible asd/aspergers

[Thames]

My son is 7 yrs old, was always 'different' from a baby he is the youngest of 3 boys.

 

he had speech problems and was refered to SALT at 3 yrs....didnt see anyone until he was 5 though due to staff shortages/waiting lists, he had an iep in nursery for his speech difficulties

 

spoke to his class teacher in september last yr as i was concerned at his progress [social difficulties etc], she suggested possible asd/aspergers which was what i was thinking too.

The school senco promptly refered him again to SALT and she is coming into his school tmrw to see him[i will meet with her before she sees him].

 

I also have concerns about his literacy skills as i dont think he can read i think he just memorises the story.

 

when i spoke to his teacher in september i was relieved that they also thought he had some difficulties, that may sound strange its not that i want there to be a problem just that i know there is and i felt glad that they agreed and were so helpful[i saw the senco at 8:30 the next morning when she filled out the referal form.

 

dont really know what to expect now, any advice from anyone whos been through the process?

 

Thanks

[NickyB]

Hi and welcome

 

My son is 7 and was diagnosed with ASD when he was 4. He was initially referred to SALT who then referred him to the asd specialist who diagnosed him. He also seemed to memorise words and stories rather then actually show any comprehension of what he was reading, This has improved in time, and now I feel that he does understand what he's reading. His main issues now are sensory problems, which then lead to behaviour issues.

 

I know exactly what you mean about being relieved that someone else has spotted some issues, much as you don't want anything to be wrong. Having a supportive senco is invaluable - I'm not sure where we would be right now without the support of ours.

 

The procedures are different from area to area, but I would imagine you will get a report from the SALT and he/she will contact anyone else you may need to be referred to. I found the process a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, so it is important to give yourself time to take it all in.

 

I hope it goes well with the SALT and keep us posted

 

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[Thames]

Hi Nicky..thanks.

 

You're deffo right re 'emotional rollercoaster' when sitting telling the senco all of the many issues hes had over the years made me realise how different he is and how much it affects our lives, ive got used to his ways and now its 'normal' but going over them with the senco showed me how not normal it all is!

 

I just want him to get a dx so he can get the help and support he needs, a day in school is a real battle for him just dealing with the interaction with others..thats often what he finds most difficult.

 

most social gatherings are out as he just cant cope with the noise and bustle so we do miss out..hes never had a birthday party which is quite sad.

 

I really was expecting a 'dont be silly theres nothing wrong' reaction from people, but after the referal i told my family [grandparents etc] and they all said 'yes theres something' i think people thought i would be in denial that there was a problem! and didnt want to broach the subject..so relief all round!

 

Thanks again and i will post again after hes seen the SALT

 

[NickyB]

most social gatherings are out as he just cant cope with the noise and bustle so we do miss out..hes never had a birthday party which is quite sad.

 

Hi again

 

My DS has never had what would be seen as a 'normal' birthday party either. I try not to see that as a negative because he would hate all the noise anyway. This year we took one of his friends to stock car racing and it was fantastic. We had a few friends round after school on his birthday but it was very low key, as most of them are on the spectrum, too. We usually do go to social gatherings but often I will end up sitting somewhere quiet with him or we have to leave early.

 

[Thames]

Hi Nicky

 

Today went well, the SALT was really nice and explained the procedure and what will happen next etc.

 

I spoke with her first and was also present when she assessed him, after he had gone back to class she said she thinks hes on the autistic spectrum very probably aspergers as he doesnt seem to have the communication issues that some children who are autistic would have.

 

she obviously cant make that diagnosis so she is going to refer him to developmental [cant remember the name] dept and something else [sorry it was a lot to take in!]

 

she is going to send me the report and give me some strategies that will help him cope and will do the same for the senco and his teachers.

 

I feel positive now i know what the problem is, she said he was very intelligent and he will get through educationally wise because of that he just needs help with coping with the social side of things.

 

now i just need to look into a good way of explaining to him why/how he is different, he has started to ask questions but i didnt really know what to say to him before.

 

any suggestions of how to explain things to him?

[NickyB]

I'm really glad it all went well and that you're feeling more positive.

 

We are just in the process of deciding whether to move DS from mainstream school to an autism unit, so if we decide to go ahead, we will need to expalin things to him. I'm not sure where to start but I am sure there are others here who have some good ideas

 

Nicky x

 

[jaffacakes]

My son is 7 and was diagnosed with ASD when he was 4. He was initially referred to SALT who then referred him to the asd specialist who diagnosed him. He also seemed to memorise words and stories rather then actually show any comprehension of what he was reading, This has improved in time, and now I feel that he does understand what he's reading. His main issues now are sensory problems, which then lead to behaviour issues.

 

OMG, that sounds just like my son too. I know he looks at pictures and guesses the story, and reading the same book more than once is no good as he has learnt it.

 

Thames, I'm glad the assessment went well. Does your son get very angry at other children? My almost 5 yr old will growl and kick out at other children sometimes, even if they are just walking past him.

 

It's been suggested that he is anxious that they are going to talk to him, which makes sense in a 'fight or flight' sort of way. I'm trying to work out how to talk to my son about how to deal with this.

 

I have loads more questions but it's past my bed time ...

 

Lynn

[Thames]

Hi jaffacakes

 

yes he gets very irritated by other children sometimes, if they get too close to him [invading his personal space] he says he can smell them! and hates it!

 

he has lashed out on a few occasions but nothing too serious thankfully.

 

im off to bed too, spk again soon

[Sally44]

Hi Nicky

 

Today went well, the SALT was really nice and explained the procedure and what will happen next etc.

 

I spoke with her first and was also present when she assessed him, after he had gone back to class she said she thinks hes on the autistic spectrum very probably aspergers as he doesnt seem to have the communication issues that some children who are autistic would have.

 

she obviously cant make that diagnosis so she is going to refer him to developmental [cant remember the name] dept and something else [sorry it was a lot to take in!]

 

she is going to send me the report and give me some strategies that will help him cope and will do the same for the senco and his teachers.

 

I feel positive now i know what the problem is, she said he was very intelligent and he will get through educationally wise because of that he just needs help with coping with the social side of things.

 

now i just need to look into a good way of explaining to him why/how he is different, he has started to ask questions but i didnt really know what to say to him before.

 

any suggestions of how to explain things to him?

 

I'm glad it went well and that difficulties have been recognised and he has been referred onwards.

HOWEVER children with Aspergers (if that is the final diagnosis), also have significant problems with speech and communication and social use of language. They have to have that to get a diagnosis. BUT children with Aspergers are much more likely to be discharged from SALT because they have 'age appropriate language'. That does not mean his language development was typical, or that his expressive or receptive language or social use of language is typical. It does not mean that his 'age appropriate language' is across all areas. He might excel in language in his areas of interest and have very poor language in other areas. He may find it difficult to 'identify' the key points in a story and make sense of it, or be able to re-tell a story using the key points. He may find imaginative use of language difficult. He may have literacy language and concrete thinking. He may have Semantic Pragmatic Speech Disorder. He may use words or scripts lifted from TV or DVDs and use them in his expressive language. ETC ETC

So as SALT is involved NOW. Make sure you ask about all the above, and ask her to ASSESS and ask about things like SCERTS. Because IF the SALT comes to conclusion that she does not need to be involved he will be discharged. Then you will find it very hard to get SALT involved again because they will say that everything is okay and school will say they have no concerns. So NOW is the time to push for assessments of all those skills. These are all the REMIT of the SALT and it is their job to put together programmes of therapy.

Google Semantic Pragmatic Speech Disorder for a more indepth description.

 

As an example of how different results can be. My son is assessed as having age appropriate expressive language. He has semantic pragmatic speech disorder and uses alot of delayed echolalia. On another test carried out by the SALT my son was shown a picture and asked to describe what was happening. He could do that. Then the SALT asked him to describe the picture using the word 'before' - then using the word 'as' etc. He could not do that at all. He scored less than severe because in that section he could not do it at all.

[Sally44]

literacy language is meant to say literal language.