Aspergers? | ADHD Information

Both of my oldest sons have aspergers..I would be happy to help if you have any questionsI have just stumbled across this site and very glad that I have. In response to your question. My daughter 13, is currently being assessed to see whether she has Aspergers as well as ADHD/ODD. I read all about it and it most definitely explained a lot of things we were trying to deal with. If you think it may fit with your child see your doctor and ask them.

I have learnt over the last year that trying every avenue that is there is the best thing to do to get the right help and diagnosis for my daughter.

It took almost a year to get the help but after sending countless emails it worked and now we are finally getting answers to our questions.

Our psychopharm. who we see for our son's meds, asked us what we thought about our son having it. Our son wouldn't talk when he went to the appointments and it was a thought. Turned out that ds is too social, but at times I had wondered before the doc had ever said things. There are sypmtoms that fall between the two. I have a young man, I befriended, and he is both adhd and aspbergers, very brilliant, but socially behind, and obsessive on things. My son can also be obsessive of things, like video games, and is quiet, not so social and behind his age, but very smart. Both my son and friend also have sensory integration, which also resembles adhd. It is all so interesting and confusing!!

It is also tricky making sure we have the correct diagnosis.

I will have to agree on making the diagnosis tricky. Our first psychiatrist said yes to Aspergers, but the new one has said he would rather diagnose PDD-NOS first before making a definite diagnosis. So we know that she falls somewhere on the ASD spectrum but just where is a mystery for now.


Hi!

I take my son to TEACCH (NC) tomorrow. He will be evaluated to see if he is on the autistic spectrum.  I don't think he is but we will see.  He has been on the waiting list for a year so I figure we should go ahead and have him evaluated.

J has a ADHD/dyspraxia diagnosis and had a speech delay. He is 6 and a half now and talks pretty good. J receives OT and speech at school.

His private OT last year noted he has a lot of sensory issues and suggested he be evaluated for an autism spectrum disorder, asperger's in particular.  The school psychologist screened him  and said he saw some red flags although J is high functioning and belongs in the regular classroom. The school psychologist suggested I contact TEACCH. J is social  and loving which differs from classic autism.  I figure I will let the experts rule it out.

I'll let you know what they think. Cindyann please keep us posted.  Thanks!

We also had the pdd diagnosis being used when my son was first in early intervention and due to him not talking and not jargoning until over 3 yrs old, they had him on an autism watch but used pdd for the time being.

He is NOT aspb, but very ADHD and sensory, and speech delayed.

too many similarities amongest them all that I still believe doctors misdiagnose even with all the technogody out there and advancement that this area of study has made. They may be all related.

Still why so much autism? The stats are so high. I saw the commercial with the % of a child to become a pro athlete and then the % of an autism diagnosis, WOW, really bothered me!!

That's one of my favorite ADHD books.  

I just came across symptoms of Aspergers.  I'm wondering if anyone else is dealing with this as a diagnosis or possibility.  It sure would explain a lot of things.

I just want to add about being careful who tests your child.  My son was tested at 4.5 by a neuropsychologist who was only 3 weeks at the job.  We got a dx of autistic disorder.  I never really believed it.  I had read several books about aspergers and autism and also the in the mix book.

This year at the age of 6, we got my son retested at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin by a psychologist, dev. ped., and a speech pathologist.  He now has the dx of ADHD and pragmatics issues with a little bit of anxiety.  This dx fits him so much better.  I made the mistake of telling people that my son was autistic which now people (teachers) only see that.   The people at Children's Hospital said that he is definitely not autistic.  He was very nice to hear it from professionals and not only in my mind.

I say get him tested but find out his strenghts and weaknesses.  The sad part is that a label may get him better services, but in our case, the label of autism didn't get him any services.

Good luck with what you find out.

karleboys39961.9447685185

Hi Everybody,

I spoke w/my son's speech therapist today & she agrees that he has many Asperger's characteristics.  I don't know what to expect but I guess we move forward from here.  At least we are getting closer to an answer (hopefully).

If any of you have any good information or resources, I could sure use it.

Thanks!

Hi cindyann Might I suggest that you have your son evaluated by a neuropsychologist? I'm sure you would agree that getting a definitive diagnosis is critical and a specialist will rule Aspergers in or out. Many things can look like Aspergers and with all due respect, the speech therapist may agree but at this point its just guessing and they are not qualified to make a differential diagnosis. The sooner you get a definitive diagnosis, the sooner you can get your son treatment taliored to his needs. Early intervention gives the child the best shot at quality of life Luvmykids0239947.7306944444My son will be 11 in July. He was diagnosed with ADHD at 6. At 9 he was diagnosed with Sensory processing/integration disorder and anxiety. The psychiatrist lately has been leaning toward a diagnosis of PDD-NOS. She wants more testing done when school is out. From what I understand PDD-NOS applies to children that have some of the Aspergers/Autism characteristics but not enough to be labled as such.   TEACCH determined that J's issues are not related to autism.  It was good to get that clarity.

Get a professional doctor's evaluation. YOu will not know until then, honestly.

Early intervention thought my son was autistic, never mentioned adhd, but they really put a scare of fear in me. I ran to Boston Children's and had it ruled out.

I then had the adhd evaluation by Northshore children't hopsital, a pediatric neuropsch did it when he was just shy of 5 and it was ruled in.

then the meds began just shy of 7 and really helped him for the better. But we went to a pyschopharmacologist who specializes in all these meds for people, both children and adults and he really helped us.

Don't go by a speech therapist, they can't honestly validate this. So many appear to be autistic, aspbergers, adhd, etc. You need to see a professional for that.

You do need to know, call for an appointment, have your pediatrician set you up with a referral, you will feel better!!

Thank you all for your input!  I can't tell you how much it helps.

Milkyway-  My son's twin sister also has Dyspraxia.  Her biggest problems have been w/abstract math concepts and some motor planning (she is AWFUL at sports).  She went to a play-based OT & it did wonders for her.

My son sees his speech therapist tomorrow & I can't wait to get her input.  She works w/many Autistic kids.  I'll let everybody know what happens.  Cross your fingers.  Maybe we will finally get some answers.

Thanks AGAIN, Everybody,

We are going to go to either U of M or Western Michigan University to see about a diagnosis when school is out.   Both places were highly recommended to me. 

I have been gathering as much info. as I can and am a teacher so I have been talking to a lot of professionals as well as some other experts (i.e. parents of kids who have been diagnosed).

Our school psychologist gave me the KADI form to fill out and my son scored in the "Very High" section of "Likelihood for Asperger's Disorder Diagnosis."  I know the neuropsycholigist needs to be met with, but I would like all the ammunition I can get before I meet with the team so we don't waste anymore time.

To tell you the truth, it is a relief to be pointed in a direction that finally seems to make sense.

Thank you all for your input!  I will let you know what we find out. 

Great news cindyann!  I know you will feel better when you receive a definite diagnosis. 

Back again!  My son's Speech Therp. loaned me the book "Kids In The Syndrome Mix of ADHD, LD, Asperger's, Tourette's, Bipolar, and More!" by Martin L. Kutscher, MD.  It is really good! 

I am finding it helpful dealing w/Justice as well as some of the kids in my kindergarten class. 

What should you look out for with Autism / Aspergers?

My girlfriends brother has just today been diagnosed with Autism / Aspergers but what differentiates this from ADHD?

He clearly has behavioural issues which I'd put down as a combination of simply ADHD and his parents 'mollycoddling' him. They practically allow him to do whatever he pleases with no resistance from them.

for example, if he doesn't get his own way he will kick and bang doors / walls, scream and shout the house down, argue, be abusive, etc. If he doesn't like whatever his parents are cooking for dinner then he will kick off until they drop everything and go to McDonalds, KFC, etc. His behaviour also clearly changes when he eats sweets, chocolate, crisps, McDonalds, most junk food, etc.

My girlfriends parents allow their entire life to be dictated by a 12 year old. They often come up asking if her if they can borrow her laptop so he can play PC games and have a go at her if she declines (it's her laptop, paid for by her and she's 22!) yet they daren't say anything to him. More astounding is they fail to see the issue. They fail to see the problem in asking someone else to give up their property in order to placate a 12 year old.

If he wakes up and decides he doesn't want to go to school then he will scream, shout, cry and argue until they let him have the day off. His mother also does his school homework for him and if she forgets he gets to stay off school until she's done it so he doesn't get into trouble.

Every night around the same time it's the same routine, he starts shouting and banging when he's told to go to bed at a certain time. Same routine, like clockwork, I don't even know why they bother because after half an hour they always let him have his way and stay up an hour or two later.

Then there's Ebay. The kid os forever selling his belongings and spending the money on rubbish. Through his parents Ebay / PayPal account. for exmaple, a Wii and games they'd bought him for Xmas. Sold for a pitrance, spent the money on cheap, rubbish toys. Xmas 08 he and his older brother (who is 20) were bought a PS3 and games as a joint present. He decided he didn't like one of the games so took it upon himself to sell it on Ebay and buy something else. This was a joint present, he never asked permission, he just did it much to the later annoyance of the older brother but did the parents say anything? Nope.

The biggest problem though is that they're projecting their frustration with him onto my girlfriend. They will not say a word to him when he's misbehaving, they allow him to do whatever he pleases and yet my girlfriend gets it in the neck for every tiny little thing, constantly gets told she has an attitude problem and gets the blame for everything.

For example, her mother was on the phone one day in the living room, the brother is screaming and shouting, she walks into the living room and her mother has a go at her. why? Who knows! Who knows where the logic is in having a go at her daughter because her uncontrollable son is screaming and shouting whilst she's on the phone! And this is what it's like all the time.

Any advice?

 

We have had two thorough evaluation done on my daughter over the last three years.

One by a phycologist who diagnose ADHD,anxiety, depression, ODD. He said had many symtoms of Aspergers but not quite there.

The second was done at a Univercity using the team evaluation approach. they came up with many of the same findings. We feel very reassured after second evaluation came up with similar results.
I recommend the book ASPERGER'S SYNDROME a Guide for Parents and Professionals by TONY ATTWOOD. if you suspect aspergers at all. I bought it on ebay or half.com I think for a very good used price. It's a small book and easy to read with just over 200 pages. He is a professional who works with aspergers paitents of all ages and has experience with hundreds of them. HE also has a web site with info on it as well, do a google search for it.  He travels around too doing conferences every now and then and I plan to attend one next month.

It is very well written for anyone to understand not complicated terms at all. gives lots of incites and helpful tips and things to do for teaching and learning. Theback has recorces and other helpful info in the appendixes.

Feel free to ask me any questions, I'm no professional but my son is almost 7 and I would say I'm more of a professional about him then anyone else is, so I have his experiences to share.


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