To now query the diagnosis of ASD?

[nurserythings]

Maybe it’s wishful thinking but lately I’m feeling as if I’m not as certain now about dd diagnosis?

At just 3 years she was diagnosed with ASD. But at 3 yr 4 m started nursery and in 3 months has made so much progress so now I think maybe it’s wrong?

The nursery say she needs 1-1 support but her speech is so much better and she’s not violent with other children anymore she will not play with them but plays alongside. She can follow simple instructions now in a known sequence and is having less meltdowns there.

Suddenly I’m wondering is she actually just delayed and needs more time ? Or is is just that I’ve seen an improvement and that’s because the nursery are really good and it’s helping her autism not that she isn’t actually autistic ?

I would tell your family you don’t want to have those discussions with them anymore. I would find them so triggering.

My son was diagnosed at the same age. Nursery, one to one support, a supportive primary and now a supportive secondary have seen him blossom. He's 12 now. However, the fact he has autism (and now combined type ADHD) is still clear. It is rare for autism diagnosis to be wrong. I also had the comments about "labelling". It's nothing to do with that, it is because of his diagnosis that he's had the support he needs which he wouldn't have got otherwise. It opened doors for me to do courses which meant I learned to parent him in a different way to my NT child.

Please don't doubt yourself. It's lovely that your daughter is responding well to support. I would also say you are very fortunate to have an early diagnosis because girls so often slip through the net and are often diagnosed much later. Early diagnosis is key.

Also do your family not realise how difficult and time consuming it is to get a diagnosis?

Nobody "just" gets one so they don't have to work. They all sound a bit thick to be honest🙄

My company have just started engaging more with neurodiversity after a survey showed we have higher levels in the company compared with the levels industry wide.
For most positions within my company a PhD is required and are highly skilled positions.
I'm part of the diversity and inclusivity committee and the goal is to ensure that we bring things to the board to aid inclusive to a wide range of diverse people. I'm bipolar and have found the company very supportive over the years I have worked there including extending the payment for sick leave when I had 3 months off sick at the end of my maternity leave. I have seen such improvements since I first needed MH support in employment mid noughties

Things have come a long way.

Also, I have a family friend who's son was diagnosed with sever autism at. 2. He started at a SEN school in reception nonverbal by half term he had words. The right support can transform what a person can achieve.

It took me a long time to fully engage with support for my mental health as soon as I had improvements I assumed I was cured until the next time. It's brilliant that the support is making an improvement for your daughter but I would hold off the thoughts of getting another diagnosis assessment until those improvements happen organically and without the extra support.

I think they are trying to say that my PND in the first year may have caused the issues but I don’t think it’s that if anything I believe my PND and having so much support and HV visits etc led to professionals seeing there was a problem sooner than if I hadn’t had PND

First of all, that’s incredibly unkind on you. Secondly, PND does not cause signs of autism. This is something the would have been picked up in the assessment.

PND has absolutely nothing to do with autism. As I said, they lack critical thinking. Perhaps send them on a course.

That's a new one on me! I had treatment resistant pnd and no one ever raised the risks of autism as a consequence or any consequence of my illness on my daughter. We had a stay on a mother and baby unit so access to a lot of professionals

There are some things like meningitis as a newborn that can increase risk but only in those already susceptible but nothing for the maternal side of things!

Exactly. It’s like that horrible olden days thinking that autism was due lack of love/neglect. You can’t make someone autistic . It’s how you are wired.

Also the only link I can think of with pnd is that autistic babies ‘can’ be very different and very challenging to typical babies (not always) eg really poor sleep and overstimulated a lot if the time. This was my experience and the stress and feeling so inadequate all the time I’m sure contributed to my pnd.

@Newsenmum Yes agreed! I had terrible PND but I had a baby who screamed non stop day and night and rarely slept. I had so little sleep for two years that I thought I was losing my mind. Then my husband left. It was a fun time

Oh wow that’s a lot!

Op read ‘your child is not broken’. It’s really good and talks a lot about masking.