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merlin1

ADOS for diagnosing[autism disorder observation schedule] i think

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hello all

My son has been diagnosed as having aspergers 18 months ago, but we now have to go to a centre which diagnoses ASD's because school auxilliaries who are supposed to help my son disagree with the diagnosis :angry::crying: [which was made by a paediatrician] . They think that he is a very badly behaved child and has no disabilities and is just bad. This centre uses this ADOS system. Has anyone got any experience of this? I would be very grateful to hear your views and experiences. Thanks

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Hi

 

My son had an ADOS. An ADOS is not a definitive test, but can certainly help in the diagnostic process - other tests, observations, etc should be carried out (usually by a number of people). The ADOS my son had lasted just over an hour. He was assessed by a specialist consultant and a SALT. R was asked to look at a story book and then tell the SALT what the story was about, he was given a number of toys (and made a bee-line for two of them - spinning wheel and pinart) to play with, was given wooden toys eg fire engine, house, wooden people (family) and observed playing 'imaginatively' with them (he didn't come up the obvious house on fire/rescue scenario), his speech was assessed during that time as was his body language. Basically, a whole hose of things are looked at and the consultant and SALT retired to another room to look over the video footage. They also looked back over numerous reports (detailing behaviour, sleep patterns, etc) which all painted a clear picture.

 

Unless you yourself doubt the diagnosis, I'd be strongly inclined to tell the school to get lost (it could be a waste of time and money, not to mention add a load of unnecessary stress onto you and your son - although on the other hand it may reinforce the diagnosis. I'd also contact the Paed that made the diagnosis and see if s/he can offer any further thoughts/insight/or help overcome the school's stance. People can and do get things wrong, but given that the diagnostic process generally takes a long time with a number of people involved, no one takes 'labelling' a child' lightly and so although a child's diagnosis can change ie start off with Autism and then change to Aspergers (I've known that to happen) or additionally diagnose ADHD, etc, it's not a common occurrence. I'd be suspicious about effectively reassessing. I'd question the school's motives - are they attemtping to shirk their responsibilities in terms of meeting your son's needs?

 

Caroline.

Edited by cmuir

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My son had the ADOS, as well as lots of other tests too :rolleyes: , must say I,m a bit shocked that a pead,s dx can be questioned in such a manner , you can have a look at what the ADOS involves by googling it , might help you if you know what to expect, best wishes suzex.

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Asperger syndrome is a medical condition, which means that school auxilliaries are not qualified to diagnose it. Or undiagnose it.

 

Their job is to meet his educational need. Whether or not he has a medical condition, if they have problems with his behaviour, they *should* be able to identify the triggers, and should have a repertoire of strategies to help him overcome whatever obstacles are in the way of his learning.

 

cb

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Asperger syndrome is a medical condition, which means that school auxiliaries are not qualified to diagnose it. Or undiagnose it.

 

Their job is to meet his educational need. Whether or not he has a medical condition, if they have problems with his behaviour, they *should* be able to identify the triggers, and should have a repertoire of strategies to help him overcome whatever obstacles are in the way of his learning.

 

cb

 

Totally agree with you there, any chance you could change his school instead of doing the ADOS test? Pre diagnosis i was changed schools due to the other kids picking on me but unfortunately the move didnt escape the bullies or the bully at home.

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Thanks for the replies. I am of the view that we will not have this ADOS test as it is just school staff questioning it. His school have not managed him well at all and he has been excluded 14 times since September 09. A staff member manhandled him on the last day of term before the easter holidays and he was hurt physically by this that we reported it to the police, but they could not proceed due to lack of someone sticking up for my son. The school staff closed rank! He was not allowed back to school for 9 weeks as they were putting things in place for him as they had greatly failed him. However just before the summer break I was asked to collect him twice as they could not deal with him. We live in a small community and there are only 3 schools in the area, the next closest for him could be 18 miles away. We are considering one of the other schools. He was diagnosed through appointments with an educational psychologist, occupational and physiotherapist, SALT, Autism support worker[education], and also a consultant paediatrician. I am also of the view that who are they to question this? School management has been very poor as they should have stopped staff talking like this about my son. My other son is ignored, as am I, by certain members of staff and therefore the relationship with the school is poor. I agree with the diagnosis but I am being pressured by social work to do the tests as this may help my son in case there is something else as well as the aspergers. It was very stressful leading up tp his diagnosis and I dont think we could go through all that again and maybe have a different outcome! It is just the school trying to get out of working with him as his bahaviour can be challenging, and staff there have refused to work with him. He is discriminated by them but we cant seem to do anything about it. It makes us very angry and upset that us and my son are being talked about and treated like this. Sorry to go on!!!

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Why are social services pressuring you into having an assessment for autism if they think your son might have problems other than autism? That seems very strange.

 

If I were in your shoes I would get some things in writing; why they think he might not be autistic, why they want him to have an ADOS test in particular, what else they think might be an issue, why they are not assessing for other things, why they are not asking about the number of exclusions......

 

and push ahead with that other school.

 

cb

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