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KarenT

Assessment tests used in diagnosis

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Just let me know when you get sick of me, I won't be offended :lol: ...

 

When your child/ren were assessed for diagnosis, how was the school part carried out? I know there are a series of questionnaires used to collate information from parents in other areas of the assessment (though once again our assessment was negligent in not using one for us) especially for ADHD etc, but none of J's teachers have had any.

 

I just want to check what the usual approach is. I'm a bit concerned because we've had a combination of excellent Y1 teachers, fingers on the pulse and some knowledge of AS and giving all the right signals about their concerns, then Y2 teachers thinking they know what they should be looking for and putting a case forward for J that doesn't match the problems, iykwim. It would be useful if I know they should be given a questionnaire then I can insist that it's used next time.

 

Waffling a bit now, off to put my head in a bucket ...

 

Karen

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For both dxs of ADHD and ASD ds school were sent questionnaires to fill out and that was really their only involvement. His inclusion support teacher contacted ds's psychiatrist and verbally passed on concerns but that wasn't requested.

We are in Scotland so it may be different but it seems that each area let alone country has different ways of doing things!

Carrie

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AD visited G's school herself and watched him. Apparently that was quite significant - watching him alone at playtime in his own world with a toy cone and growling if approached by another child (nowadays from what I've seen in the mornings he does join in and seeks out friends), and him being obsessive about having something just right on the table when the teacher was explaining something - no matter how many times he was told to leave it alone whenever the teacher wasn't looking he moved it back to the original position which AD thought was significant.

 

I know she spoke to the teacher but I'm not aware if a questionnaire was used (at a guess I'd say no).

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When my eldest was assessed for ASD in 2004 the school were sent a questionaire but just as I knew they would they said they could not see all the problems, I asked a teacher I knew had understood Luke the year before and she wrote a report which I sent to the paediatrician too.

She just looked at the schools questionaire and said "well the school just do not understand what they are looking at" and dismissed their nonsense.

 

I know with adhd they use the Conners questionaire for schools and parents of that helps.

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Psychiatrist visited the school.He observed Ben in class and the playground and talked with his teacher.He did not use questionare at all.I think medical diagnosis is based on observation of the child on more than one occasion,medical and developmental history obtained from parents,information and tests obtained from relevant other professionals .The information from school is one very small factor.In our case the school wanted a defenite ASD dX but the psychiatrist has not changed her opinion[Dx DCD with social communication difficulties ].

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The only input from the school was a conversation between his paedetrician and his SENCO - we asked the paedetrician not to bother with his head teacher who believes Martin doesn't have a problem even after his official written dx!

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Hi everyone, we live in Norfolk, kids attend a little village school. School reported problems with Barry so Our GP had referred us to a local Child & Family support centre in Norwich, where Barry was assesssed firstly by Phsychiatric nurse, then by Consultant Phsychologist Dr Rini Hoekamer, who made the diagnosis after observing Barry (several visits) and both School and ourselves used questionnaires, I think they are called Connor's,(or something like). The LEA child phsychologist visited School and observed Barry in Class, dining room and playground, all done with FULL consultation with us, and reported his findings.After receiving the report, we then had to take Barry round to see several specialists who advise the LEA .This was quite upsetting for Barry as it wasn't "His" doctor, and we had taken him to "strange (new)" places, which always disturbs him. This all resulted firstly in Barry's diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome, and ADHD, both moderately severe, (By Dr Hoekamer) and then the LEA 'statemented' Barry based on the diagnosis and their own observations and our visits to their specialists.

 

I hope that some of this helps and I'm aware that not all Schools are as open and co-operative as was Barry's. I really do think that having a forward-looking Head Teacher has helped both Barry and us as a family. To anyone who comes into contact with the Bethel Centre in Norwich I would say don't be cautious, they are brilliant, brilliant people as well as being damned good at their jobs. Be as honest with your answers as you can be, holding a point of view back defeats the object, and can really make things worse. I know that its very tough and sometimes heartbreaking to tell an "outsider"(i.e. Doctor) aspects of your family life, but it really does pay to be honest with yourself and the professionals who are assessing your case. I had a great deal of difficulty coming to terms with Barry's behaviour, as it was mostly manifested at School, not in the home.It was a real shock when I first saw Barry go nuclear, I cried afterwards, but it opened my eyes to something that I had been in denial about, and I had been quite obstructive towards the School up until that point.( I thought they were talking rubbish). Linda and myself are being as open as possible about Barry's AS & ADHD with both family and friends, we truly believe that the more open we are, the more people will find out about these conditions. Ignorance is not bliss, it's unforgivable.

 

crikey! that turned into a bit of an essay, sorry folks! :whistle:

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Sounds like it's pretty variable depending on where you are.

 

It rather worries me that a lot of school assessments are done on a once-only basis, which only gives a snapshot of the child on that particular day. J's school visit from the paed and her conversation with his then Y1 teacher was well over a year ago and so much has changed since then. I'm a bit concerned that if the new assessment approaches his current (Y2) teacher they'll get a load of drivel. At our 'professionals' meeting in March her input was all positive but vague, and it's clear that she had no idea what to look for.

 

Never mind, will cross that one when we come to it.

 

Thanks for the feedback, very useful.

 

Karen

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T was assessed for ADHD and both I and the school were given a 'Connors Questionnaire' to fill in.

As for the ASD assessment, I think I had already supplied the hospital with enough info so saved them having to do it. LOL I found questionnaires online which I personally gave to the school and I fill the same ones in also (so given the docs the views of both parent and school). After that I handed them all into his Pead who finally agreed to refer him for assessment.

He was seen by the Autism Team once but I was seen by them alone after that and they sent someone into school to observe him.

It was based on my forms and that of the observation that finally led to his HFA dx after 4yrs of fighting. :wallbash:

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With my daughter we had to fill in assessments for both the paed and psych and so did the school. Also the Paed went into the school to assess her in the environment she has problems in. But in my experience the face to face factor can be miss leading.

 

Sorry not much help here but again this is what happens my area. I have heard a lot of different stories on how people are assessed and it all depends on the person diagnosing the child. I have a friend whos child has ADHD and AS and she had a different set of things to do and we both have the same Paed for our children. :lol::wacko:

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