DD being referred to autism clinic
I would definitely go for it! If nothing else, you may get an autism rule-out.....that alone would be enough to make me go.
When my son was dx'd with disorder after disorder, I went straight to someone that specialized in that disorder to get it ruled in or out....I'm so thankful I did.
My son was first dx' as Asperger's....a developmental team at a major hospital ruled it out.
Then it was bipolar....a child psych that specializes in childhood bp at a top psych hospital ruled it out.
So forth and so on....
I would love your valued feedback on this. We belong to Kaiser and I have learned we can usually get what we need if we jump through the appropriate hoops and make enough noise.
DD, age 4, (almost 5) is ADHD/inattentive and has moderate hearing loss. We've been to the child psychiatrist whose answer is to reintroduce stimulants just before kindergarten. Otherwise, the child therapist says I'm doing everything that can be done already at this age. DD had a scary violent reaction to stimulants last summer.
I went back to our pediatrician whom we love, and after talking to an autism social worker the doctor referred us to, we're being referred to a multidisciplinary autism clinic. DD will meet with a speech therapist, occupational therapist, neurologist, pediatrician and psychologist for a 90 minute consult. I am certain we don't have autism, but it's the closest thing I can find within our insurance plan to mimic a neuropsychologist. This is in another city, I said I would go anywhere within the state.
Would you do this? Do you think it may help lead to a more thorough diagnosis? (DD was diagnosed within 20 minutes previously).
Some days she's just a spirited child and a real joy. Other days I'm overwhelmed and can't believe a 40 inch cutie pie could level me and be so shocking. It's been a good week and it's hard to remember how bad it was just two weeks ago.
DH is no support at all with this, so I'm on my own.
Would you do this? The social worker said it's the only real chance of getting so many specialists to discuss little DD together and come up with a diagnosis, treatment plan and suggestions for IEP.
Thanks.I *DID* do it. Too bad the autism clinic missed the autism
. However, they did say he had "autistic tendancies" and "some traits" which made me keep it in the back of my mind and keep trying until he finally saw a NeuroPsych who spent so much time with him that he caught it. Autism of any sort has the best prognosis when caught early and with interventions as early as possible. Although my son never got a formal diagnosis until he was 11, he'd been having autistic interventions since infancy (he was a foster child and got the best treatments because of it). His early interventions made a very frustrated, angry toddler into a serene, easygoing, happy 12 year old boy. I would go for it. They must have seen something.PSM~
At what age did your son go to the autism clinic? What were the deciding factors that caused them to rule it out? What did they dx him with?
Take a type written history of your child. This gives a over all picture of the child from your side of things. A video might help also. My son went to the clinic at age 9. He is deceptively friendly and will respond when you talk to him with enthusiasm, common for atypical autism (PDD-NOS). They said he had "many traits" but he was "too friendly and made too good eye contact." Actually he isn't friendly at all, except on the surface, and hates to play with other kids and his eye contact is dependent upon if you know him or not. He makes no eye contact at all with strangers and only surface eye contact with us. He knew the Psycologist who headed this group, so he was more at home. I think the error in diagnosing was MY fault. I had to answer questions and fill out forms, and I filled them out according to how he was NOW and not as a toddler. He had classic autistic traits as a toddler--he didn't speak much until four, he echoed speech, he rocked all night long to go to sleep, he was so hyperactive that he put most hyperactive kids to shame, he pottied late, etc. But he seemed to "outgrow" many autistic symptoms as he got to kindergarden. Then some ill-informed professional told me maybe he HAD autism and outgrew it. I didn't know you never outgrow it, but it CAN change how it appears. I didn't tell the clinic about the early behaviors and they didn't seem interested. The NeuroPsych put great stock in the early history and, also, he gave my son all sorts of performance tests--much m ore than he got at the autism clinic. It showed classic autistic executive function problems that go beyond ADHD. He spent a lot of time with my son. Although we were at the autism clinic for six hours, no one professional saw my son for more than 45 minutes-an hour. This man studied my son for twelve hours, in two hour appointment slots. I thought for sure that he would say my son has Aspergers because he is very verbal now, but he said that son had too many deficits for Aspergers and that Aspergers kids have no speech delays. Watching my son now, it seems right on the money. My son failed the ADHD computer test, so he theoretcially also tested as ADHD, but our NeuroPsych, who worked at Mayo for ten years, explained that ADHD like symptoms are part and parcel of autism. We tried Ritalin, but it didn't work so he is now unmedicated, but he's doing great. He does not have behavior problems at all anymore, but, wow, did he rage as a toddler.
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