My 14 Son - Is It ASD?

[jennaV]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice. I'll try to make this long story short! My 14 year old son was diagnosed with a speech & language disorder when he was 8. He did'nt properly form sentences until he was about 9. Looking back now I think he always had ASD but never looked beyond the S&L.

 

He has a real communication problem with people but particularly with peers. He has had difficulty all his life making & keeping friends - his short term memory is terrible and things have to be told to him about 4-5 times before it gets done. He continually loses his pe kit,jumper,tie and once even trousers at school! (dont even ask!). He spends hours in his bedroom by himself not always but sometimes. When we are out in social situation his body language is very awkward and sometime he will even put headphones on and not get involved in the conversation.

 

i'm concerned that when he is assessed it will get missed because he is on the borderline I think, but however still has a lot of issues.

 

Any advice would be appreciated

 

Many Thanks

Jenna

[trekster]

Try this weblink to see what you think..... http://www.autism.org.uk/about-autism.aspx

[Sally44]

There can be children with speech and language problems, who are not on the spectrum. Those on the spectrum have to have speech and language problems because it is part of the diagnostic criteria.

Those with speech and communication difficulties usually do have social interaction problems due to their language difficulties - so they may appear to have another aspect of an ASD when the real cause is language.

 

The only way to find out is for assessments by professionals experienced in both diagnosis. If your son is assessed by a Speech Therapist experienced and qualified to assess children with autism and speech and communication difficulties - they should be able to give you a good idea of whether they maybe on the spectrum.

 

They would then refer you onto a Clinical Psychologist and/or a Developmental Paediatrician and sometimes an Occupational Therapist as well.

 

If you wanted to have assessments carried out independently the National Autistic Society should have some information about professionals in your area.

 

Some special schools do independent assessments.

 

Children with an ASD do have additional difficulties on top of language, such as difficulties making and keeping friends - even difficulting initially and sustaining a two way conversation. They tend to have a narrower set of interests and can have huge gaps of knowledge in both vocabularly, general knowledge.

There is usually a need for routine and for expectations to be met.

A poor theory of mind.

Sensory issues are common. These can involve one or all of the senses which can flutuate between being over and under sensitive.

You can google the DSM IV Criteria for language disorders and Autistic Spectrum Disorder to see the differences.

The only for certain is that if he is on the spectrum he cannot be Aspergers due to his speech and language disorder.

[jennaV]

HI

 

thank you for taking the time to reply. What I didnt mention was he has a statement for S&L. Initially I thought he has Aspergers but having done a lot of reading up on it, now realise that children with Aspergers are quite fluent. He is being observed in school on tuesday and a referral will be made from that hopefully.

 

It seems to me that ASD the spectrum is so wide that it can overlap into other disorders/symdromes. I think because my son didnt really speak until he was about 8 it is only now that he's 14 that other issues are becoming obvious that we could'nt see before becaue the S&L was such an issue.

 

I have read a lot on this forum and it appears a lot of the children throw tantrums or have bouts of anger whereas my son does'nt have any of that he is very very passive and will almost accept anything, to the point where you want to give him things simply because he does'nt ask! He has a passion/obsession with the guitar and he is v v good at it and will spend hours in his room playing it.

 

I personally think is has ASD its just whether it get picked up is another thing.

 

Thanks Again

Jenna

[SimonC]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice. I'll try to make this long story short! My 14 year old son was diagnosed with a speech & language disorder when he was 8. He did'nt properly form sentences until he was about 9. Looking back now I think he always had ASD but never looked beyond the S&L.

 

He has a real communication problem with people but particularly with peers. He has had difficulty all his life making & keeping friends - his short term memory is terrible and things have to be told to him about 4-5 times before it gets done. He continually loses his pe kit,jumper,tie and once even trousers at school! (dont even ask!). He spends hours in his bedroom by himself not always but sometimes. When we are out in social situation his body language is very awkward and sometime he will even put headphones on and not get involved in the conversation.

 

i'm concerned that when he is assessed it will get missed because he is on the borderline I think, but however still has a lot of issues.

 

Any advice would be appreciated

 

Many Thanks

Jenna

 

Sounds like ADHD.

[justine1]

Hi

He sounds similar to my son Dan age 4.I would not like to say he has ASD it is best for you get get a referral.If he is still get speech and language therapy they maybe able to refer him on to a specialist either a paed or psych.If not you can see your GP about all the issues.

 

Given his age I would be inclined to see if the behaviour is recent,lie not engaging and listening to his music,not doing as he is told and being aggressive are very common in boys his age due to hormones.

If these have excisted since an early age (18mths-2yrs) then you may wish to see a dx.

 

Again if he already has a statement you need to consider what the benefits will be of him getting a furthur Dx,and how he would feel about it.

[JsMum]

Hi Jenna My son is nearly 14 in a few months and though he isnt passive he sounds a lot like your son, my son too was identified with SAL very early on and had therapy regular and was suppose to start a specialist unit but his name never came to the list and he started mainstream school but a lot of the 1-1 support he had which was half an hour a week was looking at Letters, words and sentences, he was taught high frequency words, my son didnt make any progress in litracy and started to fall in Maths, a lesson he loved, but sadly the complex Lanuage began to cause J to become confused and frustrated, over the years he has had numerous assessments and for years battled to prove he had Dyslexia and an Autistic Spectrum Disorder, the LEA and CAHMHS diagnosed ADHD, SAL and other comorbids and refused to except he had ASD and Dyslexia, then I fighted to get him into a specialist residential school, after private Assessments it was confirmed he has ASD and Dyslexia, but the LEA diagnosed ASD Triats and spersific Learning difficulties, Dyslexia. After a year in a spcialist school he is recognised as ASD too.

 

My son has samantic and pragmatic Language Difficulties, it causes him great frustration and much pain, Ive just recently found out that the specialist therapies I was told he was accessing have not been followed throw and we are seeking another residential school the one we are seeking is for communication and language difficulties and spersific to these needs many have ASD.

 

So it maybe a good idea to focus on what specialist support your son needs for example weekly/daily speech and language therapy, Visual learning support, multie sensory aproaches, OT ect.... so that your son has maximum support for his needs.

 

What kind of education placement is he accessing at the moment? Mainstream/Special school?

 

and how much support does he recieve in his statement for spercific speech and language therapy and how often?

 

I absaloutly recommend a private SALT assessment because Js is significantly impaired and before going down the road of Specialist Educational Placement, he was getting half an a week, now he has a strong SALT package.

 

I would ensure that your communication section is packed with visual support, multi sensory aproach, OT. if you can, and again recommend a Occupational Therapist Assessment that specialise in Sensory Intregration Disorder too.

 

A must read is The out of sync child by Carol Stock Krnaowitz, MA

 

JsMum

[Sally44]

The only thing I would add to JS Mums post is about "multi-sensory approaches".

 

Many children with an ASD, Speech Disorder, Auditory Processing Disorder, Sensory integration Disorder, auditory memory and auditory memory retrieval problems etc etc are going to find it hard to access multi-sensory teaching in the way that schools usually deliver it.

 

What they actually need is for learning to be taught through the different senses, but one at a time - not altogether. You have already noticed that your son puts his headphones on during group conversations. That may well be because he cannot process all that language in real time and loses alot of the information. So learning should be in a quiet low arousal environment with one sense being addressed at a time.

 

Visual learning is very useful. Google Widgit to see what that is about. These symbols represent words. They can be used in all kinds of way ie. to make a visual timetable or a visual reminder of a certain task or process. They can be used in learning to give the child access to words they would not normally member or use.

 

A good Speech Therapist should be able to tell you if he is on the spectrum just from how his language and social communication is. Has he been seen by a Speech Therapist that is experienced in diagnosing speech disorders and working with children on the autistic spectrum? Has his social communication been assessed?