how do i get a diagnosis for my 4 year old?

[lisa6967]

my son is showing signs of autism/asperges syndrome, my health visitor involved, my son has had educational pyschology asessment done and the SENCO at his school also think he his. What do i do next?

Yes, definitely get the ball in motion with the diagnosis now. Have you found out how the process of diagnosis works in your area? I think you need to ascertain that first otherwise you don't know what you should be asking for. I am not clear (although you of course maybe!!) whether you will get your dx from a paed or whether you will get referred to clinical psych.

Statementing and diagnosis are very different issues. As Cat says the diagnosis is medical and the statementing is educational. Not everybody who has AS needs a statement - a statement is supposed to help a child access an education. My DS has some help at school but doesn't require a statement because his condition doesn't really affect his schooling as such, so long as the teachers are sensitive to his differences. I am no expert on statementing though, having not been all the way through the process.

nursery want to apply for statement as they have stated through reading the ed pyshcs report its black and white my son has autism/asperges he has been put onto school action plus

my son has been put on school action plus but not sure what it means, have asked his nursery teacher if he is getting xtra help but she just says not more than the other kids in the group, and that they are just aware he needs xtra pushing really, paed report said son was showing significant characteristics/features of a communication disorder i.e high functioning asperges, and referred him on to SALT and audio and blood tests, but put diagnosis as "development delay" so what next, i did not even get a copy of thus report from paed it was sent to nursery, GP and HV and SALT it was only when i asked to look at sons school action plus file that i saw this letter which you can imagine i was not happy about considering i am his mother!!

the letter was a report from my first appointment with paed and he put these things on the letter which was then sent to the people i have just said, he requested audio fragile x and SALT asessment, and asked to see alfie again, we had audio and fragile x done both came back ok so saw paed again and he said he was happy not to see him again but if i has any more concerns to see him again, not had SALT yet that 19th may, do u think i should ask to see paed again after what the letter had said? because i did see him again to be discharged but was not aware what he had put on the first letter as i never got a copy of it!

cat64 to reply to an earlier post, SENCO do want to push for statement, there is a SENCO at the nursery who is very switched on and has a lot of years experience on autism/asperges, after reading ed pyscs report and seeing alfie briefly, she said she had no doubt he was on the spectrum, and gave me local autistic support group to ring and a card to carry around with me saying alfie had autism

Lisa some great advice on here. If you need any more post this on Special Needs Children section .... lots of parents with children on autistic spectrum that have gone through Statementing process too. Good luck!

Something seems to have gone a bit odd here. The paed has done a report which he hasn't copied to you, Lisa, and then says that your DS is on the spectrum without actually waiting to hear what the SALT has to say. I also think that the use of 'developmental delay' suggests the dx process hasn't been finished as it is a bit of an umbrella term.

It sounds to me as though the dx process has got muddled with the statementing process and what the paed is doing is to help the statementing or at the request of the ed psych and not to get a formal dx. Just my guess of course.

What you do about it I don't know. I think talking to the paed might be the best start. Failing that talk to your HV about what the process of dx should be in your area - it may be that you have to start again, or at least get proper reports done and an official dx.

It is all very well saying your DS is on the spectrum (and not even copying you in!) but it isn't that simple and something could be missed if the full assessment hasn't been done. For example, it became increasingly apparent that my DS had dyspraxia as well which wasn't even mentioned when the dx process began and it turns out as he has got older, that is much more of an issue than the ASD. I'm not saying your DS is the same but it is worth doing the dx properly because the dx can be complex. Given that you haven't see the SALT I don't see how all the information can have been gathered.

Also what happened when you saw the paed? Did he or she do a full range of tests or just chat to you and observe your DS?

Also, are you sure that you need a statement? I only ask as the nursery are saying that they don't do anything for your DS but he may need extra pushing. That doesn't sound like the basis of a statement. You can get that from a teacher who is aware of your DS's condition. I think you need to ask what the statement is for and what they hope to achieve by it. For your sake as much as anything - it is a long process to go through for nothing and not all AS children need one. There might not even be any additional money in it for the school to get a statement - not all statements provide extra cash.

had KIDS at my house this morning (parent partnership) she used to be a SENCO aswell, showed her all reports and footage off son, she wants to kick some buts now and has assured me i will get dx and a stage 3 statement which is full time one to one, she said she will take it all the way to a tribunial if she has to which will cost them more as it will have to pay for 3 barristers! she realy angry bout paed letter going to everyone but me and actually using the word "asperges" i only saw this letter a fortnight ago in my sons file at nursery and the letter was dated june 2010!

Oh no! Sounds like a right cock up by the paed. It didn't sound right, all that had happened.

I hope the KIDS lady sorts things out for you and gets them back on track. It is time consuming process anyway, without things getting derailed by people not doing things properly..

Hope you get what you and your DS need, and soon!!