Autistic tendencies??(sp?) Can anyone help??????????

[xlr8]

Just curious if anyone has any ideas to help me.
I have put this off for quite a while as I have enough to deal with at the mo, but..

Last year we moved house and the new hv came to see us . After about an hour of chatting about my ds's she informed me that she thought my 3 yo ds had autistic tendencies?!!
I was a little unsure of her reasoning because I see a VERY intelligent, imaginative, fun loving little boy. But she seemed to focus on the bad things. Nothing major IMO, but basicaly he has tantrums, and he liked things to be done a certain way , also he is not very 'cuddly'.
My mil was furious when I told her as she said even if he did have, this women is not qualified to say so, my dh agreed and they both said that I should ignore her. It has been in the back of my mind since.
So, we have sinced moved again and seem to have fallen off the radar.
surely if this women thought that she was right then she would have followed it up or passed it on??? I don't know what to think at the mo as my ds is now 4 and many of my friends and family think he displays some unusual behaviour!
I'm not sure and don't realy know what to do next.
Can anyone help??

[BriocheDoree]

Just my two-pennorth...if you have any concerns, I would address them, even if they turn out to be nothing, you're best finding out NOW. If your DS does have any problems, now is the time to address them. Talk to your GP for starters (hoping you have a nice understanding one). Hopefully one of the people who's kids have ASD can help you a bit more. We worried for ages that our daughter had ASD and it turned out to be a communication delay. (Not that I have a definite Dx yet). Now that we've started work with a speech therapist her behaviour has improved dramatically. It could be that your DS is absolutely fine, but talk to someone and it will either put your mind at rest, or help you get the help he needs if there is a problem. Also, the impression I get from some of those whose kids do have ASD is that they CAN also be intelligent, fun-loving and imaginative, but autistic as well!

[drowninginlaundry]

xlr8 so sad for you because of the idiot HV. She is not qualified to diagnose anything and if she had suspected something, the correct process, if she had concerns, would have been to refer your son for a Child Development Check with a Paediatrician. She has acted unprofessionally in my view.

However, if you now have this niggle in your mind, for your own sake it is better to deal with any concerns as soon as possible. You can ask your GP to refer your DS to see a Paediatrician who will be able to answer questions about any 'unusual behaviour' that he is displaying. There are also private Paediatricians who can assess your son if you want to go down that route, and you can normally self-refer.

Many children display unusual behaviour and are not autistic. To be diagnosed autistic, a child must display marked difficulties in communication, social interaction and imaginative play. A child who has tantrums, has some unusual behaviour and is not cuddly is not necessarily autistic, I can name a dozen neurotypical children who this description applies to. Does your son have a speech delay?

My son is very cuddly, makes good eye contact, is intelligent and fun loving, and he loves going to a soft play centre full of screaming children. He is also significantly autistic, and has no language.

[amber32002]

I also think that your GP is the best one to help you find someone who can do an assessment. Can health visitors make mistakes? Yes. But you'll worry about it if you don't get an answer, I guess?

If you wanted to see the sorts of tests the assessors use, have a look at
www.autismresearchcentre.com/tests/default.asp
There's ones in there for toddlers and for children, as well as the adult ones. You sometimes have to give your name and email address before it will let you look at them, though. Obviously they're not for parents to use to diagnose their own children - only for the experts. But it's a clue, anyway.

[jenk1]

HV,s GRRRR DS was 18months when i asked my HV for advice, her answer, theres nothing wrong with him, and made me an appointment to see my GP who prescribed me Prozac, 7 years later and he,s dx,d PDD/AS.

DD, theres nothing wrong her HER, its YOU that has the problem, puts me on a postnatal depression course, 1 year later the CDC says highly suspected ASD needs monitoring, the private psych says PDD-NOS.

HV,s are NOT qualified to dx or say there is no ASD, (try telling them that though), best person to speak to would be your GP, i took DS to the GP (DH sat outside for 5 mins with him) while i talked to the GP, then he went in with us and she talked to him -or tried to he wouldnt cooperate and she referred him to CAMHS.

the NAS website has loads of info for parents and how to get your child referred as well.

HTH

[MUM23ASD]

ammber that website is brill!!!

[Buckets]

Would have thought his preschool/nursery would have noticed something if there was anything there. Does he start school in Sep? They would be flagging up potential SEN probs by now.