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Here you'll find advice from parents and teachers on special needs education.

Original poster

Got an appointment with a paediatrician at son's school

30 replies

debs40 · 02/03/2009 14:05

Hi

I have posted before about my son who is 6. He has some sensory issues - problems with clothes and smells and chewing things for example. He licks and chews his fingers and plays with his tongue all the time. he now has a rash under his mouth because of it. We have terrible trouble with shoes which need to be very snug and trousers, underpants and big BIG problems with socks!

He sometimes gets overwhelmed in crowds. He seems to be ok at school but can't seem tell when teachers are really angry or why (he thinks people are 'shouting at him' when they're asking him to do something) and this worries him. He gets very shy and adopts a strange voice to deal with it when talking to people he doesn't know.

He has food issues and the sight or thought of some food e.g. banana can make him gag.

He has alot of meltdowns for his age, particularly at times of change e.g. starting a holiday or going back to school.

Anyway, the GP suggested dyspraxia and we now have a referral date to see a paediatrician in March.

The appointment takes place at school. Is this usual? I can speak to the doctor first and then ds gets brought in to do some tests.

I feel really strange about all this. I know there is something not right but I also feel a little bit like I'm betraying him and talking about him behind his back - does that make sense?

Any advice about the content of the appointment or how to handle it would be much appreciated.

OP posts:
Original poster
debs40 · 02/03/2009 22:47

Thanks this is really helpful. I wasn't aware that the paediatrician might not be best placed to make a diagnosis. I will speak to the paed about every thing you mention and the fact that school seem not to have noticed anything. I think I'm dealing with fall out of him managing to cope with school

OP posts:
WetAugust · 02/03/2009 22:19

Hi Debs
Yes it was school that noticed my son's odd behaviour at age 6. This was back in the dark ages when Aspergers was hardly known, so the doctors never picked up his condition. It was just put down to him being naughty / uncoperative.

Even these days many kids with ASDs slip though the 'professional's' net as Commuity Paeds are very general purpose medics and its clinical phycologists and psychiatrists that hacve the specialist knowledge about ASDs.

MaryBS is absolutely right - make a list of the behaviours you've noticed and definitely ask for a written report. I'd go furthaer and say that if you disagree with the eventual diagnosis to question it. Too many parents with ASD chidren find they are initially wrongly diagnosed or wait years for a diagnosis while the medics all faff around trying to decide exactly what it is the child has. I wish I had queried my son's misdiagnosis at age 6 rather than waiting until he was 15 to find out the truth.
Best wishes

MaryBS · 02/03/2009 19:42

My son has Asperger's (an ASD). It was the school that alerted me to it. His behaviour was more pronounced at school than at home, where he was in more comfortable surroundings. Also we tended to subconsciously compensate for his idiosyncracies.

In fact it was my son's diagnosis that alerted me to the fact I have it too!!! Which was a bit of a shocker, although I've got more used to it now.

Ask lots of questions, get the paed to clarify anything you don't understand. Ask for a written report (you'll probably get one, but just in case)

It may be worth going in with examples of behaviour you want to discuss, and ask whether it is connected. Make a list so you don't forget, its easy to forget when you are in there!!!

Good luck!

Original poster
debs40 · 02/03/2009 19:32

Thanks. I will be attending and I have been told that the Paed will see me before ds so that we don't have to discuss things in front of him - a worry for me too!

Can I ask whether school noticed anything in the case of your son? School hasn't and puts any 'odd' behaviour down to individuality which may be true. But ds gets very wound up about changing and food in particular and they don't get to see that bit.

I wondered how common it was for behaviour to be different in and out of school

OP posts:
WetAugust · 02/03/2009 18:41

A lot of the behaviours you've describes I have seen in my son who has an autistic spectrum disorder. They don't sound at all like dyspraxia to me. We saw the Community Paed at her surgery, not at school. You have a right as parent / guardian to be present and if you want to speak to the doctor before they see your son you should ask for that. I perosnally hated discussing my son's behaviour in fromt of him as I did not want him to feel I was criticising him. The Paed should take a full development history from starting at birth (or before) up to the present day. Only you have that information to tell the Paed.
Best wishes