thought I'd pop over here for a bit of hand holding and advice of what to expect. if that's okay :)

[BCNS]

We had our CAMHS intial meeting this week, concerning ds2 and issues he has. So all great stuff..
before they cam I wrote as many observations about ds2 as I could.. he's "quirky" and quite hard to explain.

so one of the upshots from this meeting is that the CAMHS worker's "ears pricked up" at a number of the things we were saying about him.. and at some of the observations.. and she's going to pop round again with a questionaire type thing to see if he scores enough on the autism spectrum to warrent a further look into it.

now the thing is if they find that he's on the scale.. it won't change him .. because he is who he is..etc.. so I'm not worried about that bit

I just don't know what to expect or if he gets picked up on the scale where does it all go from there.

I know they will tell us.. but I'm quietly concerned about it all.

and the other thing is.. when you watch him with all his peers.. it just makes me so sad, you can see him wanting to join in.. but he's always awkwardly on the edge.. looking pretty clumsy and not the same as the other children.
I know he's always been quirky ( it's the best way to describe him lol) .. he does have SLD with regard to processing and dyslexia.. and it great that was picked up..

but I'm thinking I may have totally missed something huge for him..

okay worry/sad rant over.

[debs40]

Don't blame yourself! You don't know that you've missed anything at all yet and what I've learnt so far is that this road is a difficult and complex one to travel!

Quirky is how I describe my son too. How old is your son? Mine is 6 and I think the differences between him and others become more apparent as he gets older. He just seems so vulnerable in lots of ways. So trusting, straightforward, truthful and open to being teased. He has motor skill problems and sensory issues too and I also feel sad that he won't fit that sporty boy, footballer, most popular guy in the class mode.

He is without dx at present(possible AS) but I can see life may become more difficult for him as school goes on.

HOWEVER, as a person he is fab, fab, fab and he follows his own path and is intelligent and honest and has lots of fun. You have to concentrate on thse things!

I am new to this process too. We saw a Gp and then were referred to SALT and OT and consultant paed. He has referred us to CAMHs.

I think they all report back to the paed at the end of the day

I was really worried about CAMHS as there seems to be a lot of bad experiences with them on this board and I wondered how they fitted into to the ASD assessment.

How did you find them?

[BCNS]

ds is 10

tell me about the long and complicated road.. this all started off with bullying issues and ds's emotional health.. so GP, SS and PFSA all got onto CAHMS and we got to an intial assesment.

actually I have found our CAMHS worker pretty good.. she listened, read back her notes to clarify with us.. made some great suggestions ( which we put in place straight away and it's already making a difference) and then said she'd like to see how he scores on the autism spectrum side of things.

DS 2 has his moments.. but all in all he's quirky and brilliant, intelligent, verbally amaizing and pretty damn fab but he does also have some unusual traits too.

[whatreally]

Ahh, this is a helpful thread. We got our quirky DD referred to CAMHS the same week of "that" thread which worried us silly about whether we had done the right thing. It was a joint school / SALT referral. I've read previous post praise for CAMHS & our SALT has only ever spoken highly of our local one so I guess it is a case of wait and see. At this moment though I can't sit back and do nothing for DD. However painful I am sure I will find it, we have to do something for her. I don't want to look back in years to come & regret not having done it.

[debs40]

Yes, I know what you mean whatreally. Different people will have different experiences and it shouldn't put us off trying these things.

[pfft]

DCNS, don't feel that you've done something that will make your son miss out: you have done something absolutely wonderful for him in getting a diagnosis.

It took me 35 years to get diagnosed, 35 years of bullying hell, always being the last to be picked for school sports teams, getting picked on by my mother and sister for not being sufficiently sporty and social, never getting on with people, having my career almost collapse because of not getting social situations - and most of all, having my parents constantly label me as a badly-behaved, impossible, strange, spoiled brat.

Youu have provided him with a context for trying to make sense of the world. That is immensely important.

[BCNS]

well we have to wait for a proper diagnosis etc.. but maybe I should have highlighted all of this before.. but he is just him.. and quirky, I didn't think of it.. and it wasn't until all the bullying thing went on that we eventually get help.. and I might have prevented it all for him , maybe. I actually feel really bad about it.

on the other hand maybe he is just quirky.

[whatreally]

Oh good grief. I can't concentrate on the Masterchef final without responding. Stop beating yourself up. Any decision you have made so far probably seemed right at the time. You sound like a lovely Mum. He is lucky to have a mum who obviously loves him & is proactively trying to get help for him. You can't do anything about the past so the important thing is to concentrate on the future and be strong enough to stand tall and take on whatever crap is thrown.

[BCNS]

Thanks whatreally.. sorry I wasn't having the best day on friday.

my head is now sorted out

this is actually going to be all okay.