To think DS doesn’t haveautism

[TakingItall]

So the word autism has never been said by professionals. He is going through a asd assessment but I know this doesn’t mean he has it. He was non verbal until 4 and a half now he is saying some words like “bed” “milk” etc. He doesn’t like routine but that might just be him as I am the same. He understands things like get your shoes or coat. He doesn’t like being wet he will freak out but I don’t know anyone who would like to get wet when they are dressed. School said he will gag if children in the school hall are having pasta or something but maybe he just doesn’t like pasta. He won’t socialise with other children but I like to be left alone too. School says he has no sense of danger but surely this is normal for 4 year olds.

They are trying to aim asd at him and I don’t think it’s fair as he’s only 4 and they need to give him time to develop

I don't think that catastrophising is helpful, but neither is head-in-the-sand minimising.

The sooner children with developmental differences are helped, the sooner they can develop the skills they need to flourish. Not being supported and struggling for years with being different and not understanding why can cause severe mental health issues in the ND population. MH problems and suicide rates in this popularion are much higher than the NT population, and if earlier help goes any way to reducing that it is morally right to put the support in place asap.

I have an (undiagnosed) autistic family member by marriage who is flourishing now at nearly 50, but he nearly didn't make it. His parents refused to accept there was a problem, or looked for solutions in the wrong places (and to be fair, since he was not profoundly disabled, 'just' non-verbal for a long time, and as he was bright it was not picked up in the education system in their country). He has suffered through various MH crises and misdiagnoses, but at least he is still with us! His 8 year old child is now being seen by the school psychologist for assesment - his wife is not as passive or head-in-the-sand as his mother was. My autistic DC (aged barely 9 at the time) picked up on this child's differences two years ago. It was really obvious to us, but harder for them to identify because lots of family members have the same traits.

@puppymaddness I don’t think that is true - the diagnostic process is much the same as that in the older population - ie differential diagnosis - it is only when more common diagnoses are ruled out that autism is considered. DS2 started school with a SLCN concern and was referred for hearing assessment. It was only later after further assessment that ASD and ADHD diagnoses were made. If anything this leads to under and late diagnosis given the delay in progression to further assessment.

Yes they will rule out hearing- but ASD is pretty much the only available / used label for any presentation of unexplained neurodevelopmental difference - and these can be hugely varying in their presentations. ADHD is the other major one but it's hard to get a diagnosis for that at 4- normally children need to be at least 6.

My nephew was diagnosed autistic when he was 3 and as he has got older it has become clear that he isn't autistic but was massively delayed in many aspects especially speech.
I don't know how common a misdiagnosis is.

@puppymaddness again that is not true. Unexplained neurodevelopmental difference is not diagnosed as ASD if the criteria is not met. It a diagnosis of last resort with strict criteria frequently involving input of SALT, OT, EP as well as input from parents and teachers before formal ADOS. Do you have relevant experience of the diagnostic process?

which others are available? The diagnostic criteria are intentionally very broad, and presentations/ challenges of those included under the umbrella vary very widely . I think (/hope) in the future we will see a lot more differentiation.

@puppymaddness the diagnostic criteria of what are very broad? I don’t think you have any real life experience but are trying to sound as if you know what you are talking about by confidently asserting unsubstantiated nonsense.

I can think of more than a few kids with this profile who are now adults who can drive etc and some live semi independently. Verbal intelligence and nonverbal intelligence are very different things which is why the NAS used to have the puzzle piece as its logo.
If anyone could accurately predict outcomes of an autistic child at five they’d be the first person professional or otherwise I’d know of.
I’ve known autistic adults who started making progress with speech in their 30’s but no one has ever reliably identified why this sometimes happens and why it sometimes doesn’t.

But when you consider that Autism is really just an umbrella term for a set of behaviours, physiology and difficulties that can be caused by a huge variety of things, that’s probably not too surprising. I hope they never reliably find the so called autism gene as there is so little real understanding of why and how people progress/regress within their spectrum.

Which is why it used the be described in many papers as ‘childhood autism’ as children sometimes seemed to emerge around the age of 5.

The diagnostic criteria for autism. (You said a person can't get diagnosed without meeting the criteria..)

It should be possible to have a difference in opinion / exchange of ideas with someone without resorting to insults.

Op please check out DLD which is far more common than autism ( about 3 kids per class) and often misdiagnosed for it

It was initially thought dc was autistic as she was also nonverbal at 4 but I knew it didnt fit properly. She only had social difficulties because she couldn't understand what people saying.

It's definitely worth looking into.

I think it happens a lot with language disorders, our consultant told us that area of the brain can develop later in some kids.

Yes my DD. Totally non verbal at 4/sensory issues/dyspraxia. Thought to be autistic.

Turned out to be DLD which affected her language understanding.and caused a secondary impact in lots of areas including social difficulties

Intensive speech and language therapy later she has no sensory issues, dyspraxia disappeared and whilst DLD is lifelong she can talk the hind legs off a donkey, got great A levels and her first choice for uni. People can jump to autism too early.