AIBU for wanting a diagnosis

[foxy6]

To cut a long story short, I believe ds 9 is on the Autism spectrum. I have done for years but no one else seemed to mention it except my parents. I took for for a dyslexic assessment recently who also asked me to fill in some screening questionnaires for ASD, ADHD and dspraxia. The report came back that he is dyslexic and I should have him looked into for ASD and ADHD inattentive subtype. So armed with someone else's recommendation as well as my suspicions I went to GP yesterday. He made me feel like it was an unreasonable request and asked what treatment I was hoping for from a diagnosis. I pointed out you can treat ASD and that I was after a clear picture of his difficulties to ensure he gets the support he needs. In the end he agreed to do a referral, but I have to take ds with me to see him first. I didn't take ds as he has sleep problems and had just fallen asleep after having been awake for 20hrs. I felt he wouldn't be able to add to the appointment and he doesn't like it when people talk about him. He knows he is different without having to hear it from adults talking about him and pointing out his differences. I now have another appointment for the end of the month as this DR is on holiday.

[foxy6]

Sorry, maybe it wasn't that short afterall. X

[ProudAS]

I went through adolescence with undiagnosed Aspergers and would not recommend it.

[MaddyHatter]

have you spoken to the SENCo at school about it?

I have never even spoken to the GP about my son (asd/adhd/dyspraxia) its all been done via the school referring us to the OT and CAMHs.

[foxy6]

He is home educated so no senco. He went to a Welsh medium school and learning in Welsh was just making things harder for him so we decided to take the Welsh out of his education. While he was in school he has 1-1 support for an hour a day had an IEP and seen the ed psychologist twice but they just told blue they didn't like to say anything specific too early.

[pinkdelight]

Not yabu at all to pursue this. Can see why he'd want to see your DS though, even though the GP is clearly no expert in that field, I'd have thought he'd need to see a patient to start the process.

[pontoufle]

It's not at all surprising the GP wants to see your child before making a referral.

[AnyFucker]

Not AIBU about anything except the bit where you expect a doctor to make a referral for a patient they haven't seen.

If your son doesn't respond well to consultations you will have to work out a way to support him in them as he won't get a diagnosis without some rather lengthy assessments, possibly by multiple professionals. The GP is just the start of it.

Good luck x

[AnyFucker]

Sorry, I meant not BU

[PanickingwithacapitalP]

Sorry to hear that proudAS , must have been so so difficult.
I know someone who decided against getting a diagnosis for their dc based on the assumption a 'label' would be unhelpful in life. Poor dc had to endure social anxiety, refused school, had obsessions and extreme worries and went without help for all this just because parents did not want a label.
Heartbreaking and I wonder how adulthood must be now :(

[Emochild]

My GP did a camhs referral without seeing dd

Apparently me breaking down in the surgery was enough

[Kitsandkids]

My 8 year old is on the waiting list for assessment to see if he has ASD. I used to think I didn't want him labelled but as he gets older I think that if it is that issue it would be useful for me, and others, to know in order to understand him better.

I feel he is well supported already at school, and I can manage him quite well at home, so we're not looking for much extra support. It will be useful I think though when things happen such as him suddenly screeching in the middle of football practice making the coach look at him as if he has 2 heads. If I can quietly say 'he has ASD' the coach will understand why he does things like that.