M 5 year old ds

[deeeja]

has now been diagnosed with asd, rather than as. I am finding it a bit of a shock, since previously he was diagnosed with as/adhd, but since I quieried the adhd, and did not want to medicate, ( I know that sometimes it is necessary, and am not criticising others who can see that their dcs need it), he has been re-assessed as having autism.
I am a bit shocked, and feeling a little floored. My 3 year old has autism, so supposed I thought aspergers was somehow less severe,(rightly or wrongly), but now am flummoxed since it appears he has sufficient problems in all 3 areas to be dxed with asd.
All a bit shocking, I supoose the doc thogt it would be easier for me to take since I already know my 3 year old is autistic, but I suppose I imagined that my 5 year old would take care of his younger brother.
Apparently the possibility of adhd has not been ruled out, and will be looked at again in the future, but at the moment is presenting as comparatively mild.
Sorry for waffling on, just had to let it out. Thanks for reading.

[bubblagirl]

i feel for you its always a shock even if you kind of do know but have they specified what form of asd my ds has HFA he is 3 so has problems in all areas alythough i didnt notice these

i ahve nt too much help im afraid as all new to me still but sending big hugs xx

[Widemouthfrog]

I had the same situation with my DS (5) when he was diagnosed in the summer. We all felt AS, his paed has said he had AS, and then when the final diagnosis came they said Autism. It shocked me too - they categorised him as having language delay, which I have never felt to be significant. I have now come round to the idea that actually the distinction between HFA and AS is so blurred that it doesn't really matter. He did fulfil every criteria on the IC10 for autism though, which also shocked me.

You cannot predict his future at 5 - he could move right along the spectrum as he grows older. The HFA/AS distinction is a pretty academic exercise, and should in no way change your expectations. On a positive note, it may be easier to access services with the 'autism' label because of the perception that it is more severe than AS. I know its a cliche, but your DS is the same person as before his label was changed.

[dustystar]

{{{hugs}}} A dx is always difficult even when its one you have expected and maybe fought hard to get. As WMF says, he is still the same little boy and the distinction between AS and HFA is unclear

[Marne]

hi, i have a dd1 (almost 5) with AS and a almost 3 year old dd2 with ASD, they are completely different but i would say dd1 (as) is the hardest work.

I have been told today that dd2 may not have asd and may have a speach disorder , dd2 shows most signs of ASD, hand flapping, good at puzzles, poor social skills ,i was slightly shocked that they would think its not ASD.

The autistic spectrum is so huge, i think they can change so much in the early years and its hard to see where in the spectrum they will end up. At the momment dd1 has so called mild AS and i would say dd2 has mild ASD but has no speech at all (at the moment the speech/comunication is her main problem).