[pickledbrain]

Man, another brick wall

Had the second speech appointment today for DS and I asked at the end what she thought about him having ASD. She said "he has all the markers for it, but is too social and did obsess over object enough". I wanted to slap her! He is in a one-on-one situation, no other distractions around and he barely looked at her, yet he is too social? She couldn't get him to do the tasks without a lot of prompting, getting him to come back to sit down, forcing the task on him and him tantrumming, he kept wanting to go back to the one task (but he was obsessing about it enough either apparently), he kept trying to use his distraction techniques (eating and playing iPod) and still she doesn't think it is ASD.

Am I right though that only a paed needs to diagnose ASD in NSW?

This post has been edited by pickledbrain: 08/05/2012, 11:27 PM

[baddmammajamma]

pickledbrain:

Yes, in NSW, a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder can be made by:

1) A paed or developmental paed (medical doctor) ALONE or

2) A psychiatrist (medical doctor) ALONE or

3) A multi-disciplinary team (must include at least a psychologist & speech therapist; may also include an OT), which issues a report JOINTLY or

4) The ASPECT assessment team

http://www.autismspectrum.org.au/images/Ap..._-_Aug_2011.pdf

I was under the impression from your past posts that you already had the diagnosis from your paed? Or am I mixing things up?

If so, go ahead & apply for your FaHCSIA funding.

[pickledbrain]

Nope, no actual diagnosis yet, just him saying this is what he is certain it is but wanted to get the speech input as well I hope this wont mean that he wont diagnose it as I think it is the best fit for now and the funding would come in handy. I know the paed was certain this is what we were looking at, so hopefully the speech report will say something along those lines so he can be more certain of the diagnosis.

Just so frustrating that the whole "social" thing keeps coming up with ASD kids. I know I'm not the first to have it said to them by professionals and I'm sure I wont be the last.

[baddmammajamma]

Frustrating!

It's really important to see a developmental paed or a generalist paed who has a focus on ASD/related disorders so that you don't get this sort of run around. I'm really sorry you can't seem to get a clear cut answer.

Are you in Sydney, by any chance??

[pickledbrain]

I am in Sydney so if you have a recommendation, I'd love it!

My paed is brilliant and has been so fantastic, but I know his focus isn't autism.

[baddmammajamma]

PB: I need to run out for an appointment, but later today, I will PM you a few outstanding recommendations. If your son ends up being on the spectrum, you will want someone with a deeper expertise to work hand in hand with your wonderful generalist paed (or, if your paed still isn't confident in the diagnosis & you feel that you need deeper expertise in that area in order to firm up the diagnosis, it might be worth calling one of these developmental paeds).

Stay tuned!

[firstatforty]

I kept told he can't can have autism he's too friendly, this was by well meaning friends. Well guess what, he does have autism. He is very social, would go to anyone and loves being with other kids. He just didn't know how to interact with other kids and his eye contact was so fleeting it looked like flirting with those long eyelashes of his. He has always responded well to attention from adults.

I hope you get somewhere soon. Its frustrating when you know something is not quite right with your child but can't get a straight answer from medical people. Good luck and let us know how you go.

[pickledbrain]

Quick update: Had an appointment with DS's OT and explained what the speech therapist had said and asked her opinion. She is of the opinion that he DOES have ASD and was calling the paed to chat about it all in the hopes it might help with the diagnosis.

She also pointed out that he struggled with a puzzle that had the pictures underneath where the pieces go, he had no concept of "matching" the pictures to the ones there and having the pictures there really confused him (he thought there were already pieces in that place, or just simply didn't recognise the picture as the same as what he was holding). He did a harder puzzle, without the pictures underneath much more easily then the easy one with them. We also realised that he isn't "seeing" things when they are in the bottom right of his field of vision. He will skip over that area and not attempt to put a puzzle piece in that space until it is the only piece left - he even put the piece down that fit in that space after trying it in the other spaces and then placed it at the end. He didn't attempt at any point to put the other pieces in that space. She wasn't sure if he was not seeing that area or if that area had to be last when placing the piece so he didn't pay it any attention until the end. It was quite strange and I realise that he does do it a lot, so might go back to the ophthalmologist sooner then we were to see if it is a sight issue (although I don't think it is, I need to rule it out).

[feliz6]

pickledbrain:

Yes, in NSW, a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder can be made by:

1) A paed or developmental paed (medical doctor) ALONE or

2) A psychiatrist (medical doctor) ALONE or

3) A multi-disciplinary team (must include at least a psychologist & speech therapist; may also include an OT), which issues a report JOINTLY or

4) The ASPECT assessment team

http://www.autismspectrum.org.au/images/Ap..._-_Aug_2011.pdf

I was under the impression from your past posts that you already had the diagnosis from your paed? Or am I mixing things up?

If so, go ahead & apply for your FaHCSIA funding.

in the area of nsw in which i live clinical psychologists also make ASD diagnoses where appropriate and are trained in ADOS and ADI-R. In my area I see a huge advantage in seeing a psych for assessment/ diagnosis. I have spoken with parents who went ot psychiatrists who get a diagnosis, medication and thats it. with a pysch families are more likely to get behaviour management strategies as well. In my area we find psychs to be the most throrough in their assessment of ASD. As ASD kids can also display anxiety and/or oppositional type behaviours I think its good to work with a psych through that.

[pickledbrain]

Quick Update: At the moment we are leaving the ASD diagnosis alone. He had an MRI which showed CP so we are using that instead and using the funding for that to get the help he needs and will revisit ASD at another point. We saw a psych who said he sat so close to the edge of a diagnosis she wasn't sure if he really did fit so this seemed like the best option for now.

Thanks for the help everyone.