Need input, Aspergers and ADHD?
My son's kindergarten teacher requested a meeting with me to discuss her concerns. She has an Aspergers checklist in hand with many marks checked off. She believes this could be him. This has always been in the back of my mind, but I have never mentiond it to her. I even brought it up to my son's psych in the beginning, but b/c of DS's age, and since ADHD and Aspergers can mimic each other, we didn't pursue it. Here are her concerns. I would like feedback please, Thanks, BTW, my son is medicated for his ADHD.
Here is her *checklist*. ..
Need for the chewy tube. It helps him stay focused.
Rarely makes eye contact
Withdraws during lessons, stories, classwork, etc...
Obesses over objects that are seemingly out of place in classroom,
whether they belong to him, me, or another student.
Continues to hit/punch/poke other children, although this has
improved tremendously from the beginning of the year.
Has begun to write all over his desk, poke holes in class work.
Has trouble finishing work on time because he zones out.
Many times he must stand up to complete seat work.
Easily distraced by events that are out of the normal routine of our
day.
Easily distracted by others who come in our classroom.
Many times does not answer questions in complete sentences-during
lessons or conversation.
Overly agreeable, sometimes to his disadvantage.
Your child could very well have AS. You can have both!. May I suggest that you bring it up again to your psych.? Although there is no med for AS [some do take risperadol for anxiety] your child may still need his adhd meds. A dx of AS will open many doors for services and accomodations to facilitate your child through school and life. Here is the link for the AOL parents of AS board. The gals there are terrific.
Asperger's Syndrome - AOL Message Boards
Thanks, I will look into it. Everytime we are at the psych's office, but son shows good social skills. Social skills seem to be big in dx AS, so I don't think they see itLots of times the social skills seem 'normal' to parents ,especially at this age. However the discrepancies show themselves more as a child gets older. Every child with AS is different. There is an entire spectrum of abilities and inabilities.
It used to be that AS wasn't even dxed much before age 7 because of this.
A lot of little ones who are given dxes of PDD or PDDnos are actually somewhere on the autism spectrum. PDD is just an umbrella term used until a more indepth eval. can be done.
This is interesting because my son just got a second diagnosis of PDD-NOS, and he is 8. We've been chasing these issues for years and I was positive he just had ADHD and anxiety disorder (as diagnosed by 2 psychiatrists). After we did a huge round of testing and that was still the diagnosis, I was convinced that it was correct. However, a psychologist saw him for 6 hours and then said that she saw PDD-NOS. I immediately "got" it. It made the picture much more complete. Now his whole diagnosis is PDD-NOS, ADHD and phobias.If you feel that an Asperger's diagnosis would complete the picture for your son, you are no doubt correct. The diagnosis doesn't change who he already is, but it will REALLY help you get services more than just ADHD will. He might not need the services in kindergarten but maybe in the next couple of years, and then you will be all set.
If you can afford it and your insurance covers it, I would really recommend seeing someone like a psychologist (not sure if that is the "psych" you meant) who follows your child from week to week. We should have done it a long time ago, because she ended up picking up on a lot that the other doctors just haven't seen.
Franny Gran, I've got to tell you that your "blessed are the cracked" gave me my first smile in hours. We've had a tough evening, and I feel completely cracked. I guess all hope is not lost!
Thank you. I borrowed it from a friend who used it in her siggy years ago. I remind myself of it all of the time! I'm glad that it gave you a moment to smile. Franny Gran, I've got to tell you that your "blessed are the cracked" gave me my first smile in hours. We've had a tough evening, and I feel completely cracked. I guess all hope is not lost!
Thanks for all the great information. I'm going to check out the AOL board now. I have also though he could have SI issues. All of this is starting to sound the same in a way! One thing we didn't do when my son got his ADHD diagnosis was consult a neurologist. That is something we may still do. We see a pediaric psychiatrist.
I did ask me son's teacher about any special services he could get. For now, he doesn't need an IEP or 504. He is getting an education. His teacher said he is at grade level, maybe even above. My concerns are the social ones. He often gets in trouble because of his impulsive nature
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