Advice on possible AS and where to go from here...

[Mamma101]

Hello, Just hoping for any thoughts / experiences from others who have been through the whole process (or decided not to).

At the end of term I was asked to sign a referral to psychologist form. This caught me by surprise and I said I wasn't happy to sign, but now I'm wondering whether I should. My son (5 yrs old) had an ELP which was passed on from his preschool. When he got his ELP I took it with a pinch of salt as the staff at his preschool made some funny comments and misconceptions about him and his lifestyle.
The issues that his school teacher put down on the referral form were "physical" - in fairness, he's not the most agile kid and "social / emotional".

I've spoken to loads of people since the end of term - friends, family, his friends mums, a dinner lady I bumped into - and nobody seems to think he stands out as having any problems.

One friend of mine mentioned Aspergers Syndrome, which I have been looking into, and he does have quite a few of the traits. He's bright, has "special interests" and favourite activities, likes adult company, can be fussy about certain things, he's got his own playful way of moving, and he's pretty bad at writing. However, he's not withdrawn socially - I'd say the opposite. All the kids at school seem to know him and he happily starts conversations with anyone at all. I suppose he's a little bit different to other kids but not to the point he stands out as being odd.
I was wondering what might happen as a result of me signing this referral form. Does this mean that other people / departments can become involved with him without my consent? Could this lead to him being diagnosed or labelled? Will he be treated any differently in school? What would be the benefit of getting an Educational Psychologist involved? Please help!
Thanks

When there are concerns about a child and the school are telling you this, I would go with it. We have had it the other way where we are telling them there are concerns. Our first child has asd and dyslexia and our 3rd we think is dyslexic both of them we had to fight for.

The Ed Psy will do a range of test and observe your child at the end of it they will give you a report or will meet with you and tell you their findings ( ie possible diagnosis) In my experience getting a diagnosis has been a mixed bag. If you get bad news you have to deal with your own shock and then others. However the school then has to take action and if it is serious enough ( school action or action plus) you may want to either go for a statement or and go for more independent reports. NO it doesn't remove your right to consent to further assessments and you have a right to be there when assessments are carried out as well.

As I said earlier with my first child I knew he wasn't talking and the social skill and physical skills were delayed. Nursery wasn't worried but to be honest he was in a state nursery and it was huge so I can see how these problems were over looked. Even though for us as a family going through this was hard we were able to help our ds and he has made so much improvement. Teachers make allowances and we can back him up where misunderstandings happen. I hope this helps.

I'd go along with the referral Mamma.We were asked to do the same (ds10)and it turns out he is definitely ASD with a dx now of Aspergers. We hadnt realised-thought he was just quirky. This only happened last year-still a bit shellshocked tbh. Schools spot things that parents dont. He is now getting support that he could perhaps have been getting much earlier if we had realised. Glad school spotted it now though for his sake.By the way, our ds is also extremely sociable-always has been. Aspergers becomes more apparant as they get older . Good luck, whatever you decide.