Dev. Paed. Appt.

[jenkins88]

We took DS for his asmt with the Dev. Paed. yesterday and it seemed to go quite well. I was really impressed with the Dr. as she was so thorough. She even secretly observed him interacting with other people in the waiting room before calling us through, and the appt lasted for 90 minutes.

She will see him again in 4 weeks, after his SALT asmt, to ask about his early development as yesterday was only about what stage he is at now. She said that this information will affect her diagnosis. She said it as though it was a foregone conclusion that there would definetly be a diagnosis.

Some of the things she said were quite reassuring. His fine motor skills and logic are appropriate to his age and she thinks that he understands quite a lot that is said to him. She said it seems like he has concentration problems and that could be why his speech is so poor. Some of the things hse said were really upsetting to hear as I had not really noticed them before, such as intrusive staring and inapproprite interaction with adult strangers.

Alot of the questions she asked seemed to indicate that she suspected autism. I asked her if it was a possibility and she said tht he does have a lot of traits, but she needed to spend more time with him before she could elaborate.

I don't know what to think about it all now. 4 weeks seems such a long time to wait before the next assessment, even though in reality I know it isn't that long.

What happens after the next asmt though? How many assessments are normally needed when as ASD is suspected?

Sorry if this post is a bit all over the place. DS has only just gone to sleep after being up for 20 hours. He's in my bed so now I have to wait for DP to get up at 4 before I can go to bed, and I'm so tired. The Dr. has asked me to keep a sleep diary until the next appt and she said she will prescribe melatonin (sp) if it hasn't improved. At least that will be one less thing to deal with.

[jenk1]

we r in same situation our ds age 8 was seen by 2 psychologists 2 months ago and they suspect asd/as we are waiting to see the paed to see if he agrees, our waiting time will be months though not weeks - let us know how u get on

[Davros]

Aren't either of you going to a Child Development Centre and having multi-disciplinary assessment/dx? Maybe that is what comes next, it has all changed since my day. Good luck to you both.

[heartinthecountry]

Not every area has a Child Development Centre Davros - we don't have one in Greenwich.

[heartinthecountry]

Hello by the way

[Davros]

Hi too, emailed you earlier. TBH, I sometimes think its better to bypass the big crowd of professionals and see a Dev Paed only!

[jenk1]

we do have one-r still waiting for an appointment. Have just said to dh that am sick of waiting so he is going to phone them this very minute

[bunny2]

our appt was meant to be next week but it has been cancelled after the dev paed took sick leave . The waiting is the worst bit.

[jenkins88]

I've never heard of CDC before. Not sure it would be good for DS anyway as he gets over excited if there are more than a few people in the room and won't co-operate.

Jenk1 - Sorry you have to wait so long for your appt. It's strange that the procedure seems to differ so much in diferent areas. DS's HV refered him about 8 weeks ago (even though she didn't want to) so I was very surprised that we didn't have to wait ages, especially as we live in London. The wait felt like ages though.

Does anyone remember what happens next though? Will he get a diagnosis at his next Dev. Paed. appt. or will he need to see someone else?

[jenkins88]

bunny2 - What a PITA. How long had you been waiting? Hope you get another appt soon.

[Davros]

jenkins88, if you do have a CDC I wouldn't worry about how your DS will behave/react, these places are for our kids and these people are used to all of this. If you don't, then I suppose Dev Paed will dx and not sure what then? Maybe Portage, maybe SLT, maybe both???? Where in London are you?

[mum38]

hi jenkins88

I'm glad the assessment went well. it's encouraging some aspects of development are age appropriate. Did you have a hearing test in the end? Hope the SALT assessment goes well and the 4 weeks doesn't seem too long & he starts to sleep better!

Best wishes

[jenkins88]

We're right on the outskirts of London, in Merton. What is Portage?

Mum38 - Yes, DS had his hearing test about 3 weeks ago. He was really reluctant to co-operate but the audiologist (I think) was confident that he could hear perfectly.

[heartinthecountry]

Portage varies a bit from area to area but essentially you get a portage home visitor who comes in plays with your child in a way that encourages development. Will also give you ideas of things to do with them.

Can be fantastic, can be mediocre (as ours was). But worth finding out about. In some areas you can self refer.

[Caroline5]

just been out today with dd's two former portage visitors - they are both lovely and were really supportive to me as well as v helpful to dd2. But I guess it does depend on who you end up with, and in this area there is a long waiting list apparently (surprise, surprise the Portage service doesn't seem to get enough money). We were referred by our HV/paed.

[mum38]

glad the hearing test was okxx

[Fio2]

caroline5 you socialite you

[Caroline5]

fio ! - haven't seen either of them for a year, so not really! Have just seen your email and will reply soon