Being tested for ASD - is it true that you have to wait till they're 9?

[Psipssina]

Ds2 has some traits that I associate with the possibility of an ASD and I asked the SENCO recently if we could have him assessed, and if so how.

She said they don't generally do it until the child is 9. He is nearly 8.

She said the only way to do it sooner would be to take him to the GP and ask to be referred for assessment at the hospital.

I'm concerned that this might make him feel as though he has something wrong with him, though of course the school process might do that too.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the best thing to do? He has been a little 'different' since he was a baby and scored a few red flags on the M-CHAT, which our HV told me not to worry about.

He is very anxious, generally, has a stammer, is shy, and the way he moves is unusual. He has already had a bit of bullying at his primary.

I suppose I'm worried he may suffer more, socially and with his anxiety, if he isn't diagnosed before long, that's assuming these issues are caused by what I suspect and not something else.

He's not in a desperate situation - he is anxious though and also seems to be very bright (completing a times tables sheet well before the rest of the class, and 100% correct - not having really learned them yet AFAIK, he just figures them out). I don't know if it would change anything to have a DX in any case?

Thank you for any thoughts.

That's interesting, Polter. Is that across the board now? We were first referred to salt who was lovely but didn't really have a clue about asd and how the acquisition of language is a very different pathway for children on the spectrum.

No thats not true, DS was diagnosed with ASD when he was 4.

He needs to be diagnosed ASAP in case he needs a statement which can take a while, but leaving it until 9 he'd only be about a year away from going up to high school, if things need putting in place for him they need to be put in place way before then. :)

Psipssina, your DS sounds so similar to my son! And I absolutely went through stages of thinking, I'm imagining things he's fine. I wish I had trusted my own instincts more. My ds is now 11, he was diagnosed with Aspergers exactly a year ago and it has been incredibly helpful for him and us to have that dx. It took 18 months for us from GP referral to dx. Can I strongly strongly recommend contacting KÍDS near you? They know exactly how the system works, all of the SENCOs, the obligations of the school and in combination with Mumsnet posters helped us navigate a very confusing process.

Psipssina, your DS sounds so similar to my son! And I absolutely went through stages of thinking, I'm imagining things he's fine. I wish I had trusted my own instincts more. My ds is now 11, he was diagnosed with Aspergers exactly a year ago and it has been incredibly helpful for him and us to have that dx. It took 18 months for us from GP referral to dx. Can I strongly strongly recommend contacting KÍDS near you? They know exactly how the system works, all of the SENCOs, the obligations of the school and in combination with Mumsnet posters helped us navigate a very confusing process.

Thank you very much indeed. Yes the secondary school thing is looking rather near now. MrsDeVere thank you, I will start writing a list now as I always forget things when I talk to anyone about it.

This is all so useful.

X posts, that sounds great Accessorize, I am so glad your son was diagnosed and it has helped.

I spoke to ds a little while ago and explained it to him and he is quite interested in finding out what his brain is doing so that's one problem out of the way.

I will look up KIDS now.

I cant find it on a google search - does it stand for something?

Poltergoose gave me great advice when I started this journey. Thank you again Poltergoose!
www.kids.org.uk

Cheers Polter - brilliant

We went through the gp at 6 and took under a year for diagnosis of ASD. The school recommended this route as they too had concerns.

GP it is then, I think. Thank you AQ for the link!

I definitely recommend pursuing a dx sooner rather than later.

I'm waiting for the final conference for dd1 - I'd hoped that she would get her diagnosis before starting secondary school in September (and had expressed this view several times to nodding, sympathetic professionals) but rang up today and was told there was no chance, and she'll probably be midway through y7 before we get called in for the final meeting .

I'm going to speak to the SENCO at her new anyway and hopefully they'll be able to make the transition less stressful for her without formal diagnosis. The process takes a lot longer than I thought (or was led to believe).

No worries. I need to call them myself so they can help with ds1's school appeals. One thing I meant to say earlier that it seems sometimes to happen that ASD traits only appear at home (until things get too much) at least IME with my son and several other children I know. Ds1's school were very sceptical, until we produced some videos. It was one of the reasons I hesitated about going for a dx, and I wished I had known that before.

No, see your GP and ask to be referred to the community paediatrician for assessment. School is trying to save money as they need to pay for first 20 hours of support if positive diagnosis. Also ask for referral to speech therapist for his stutter.

Oh that makes sense.

Just wondering - do I have to take ds along to the GP or can I arrange to be referred without putting him through that?

DS is 5, he has just been reffered by the school to the local developmental peads to start the diagnosis process

Thank you, will take ds along then just in case.

That should have said school nurse. School did a CAF and then she triggered the refferal from tnat.

Please push for diagnosis of you think that it is needed. My ds2 has asc and had traits and has been challenging at times, lovely bit challenging. We saw camhs when he was the age your son is now who said yes yes lots of traits but you and school are coping well... And they sent us away. Anyway he is now on ur8 at high school and yes it has all fallen apart, we are ending up paying as the nhs route is taking too long and we don't have time. He has had some health issues as well, gastro and joint issues so at the moment he is at home until school get proper support sorted. I so wish we had pushed for a diagnosis when he was younger so he could have had a plan for transition to high school.

We have had to go through gp to community paed and also school are finally getting in ed psych etc.

Good luck.

Oh and i had to take ds2 to see the gp for referral to community paed despite reports from school and ed psych etc saying needs referral they still wanted to meet ds2 and observe him, though in a five min gp app I not sure what they were expecting to see!

Well this is it 5, I don't think the GP will be able to diagnose a problem just by ds sitting there saying nothing. Plus I won't feel comfortable discussing him while he is there.

I think I will ring the surgery and ask what their protocol is for referral. Ds would have to miss school for an appointment anyway which isn't ideal.

Sorry you are going through this, it sounds like a nightmare.

Btw I should probably say ds isn't challenging as such. He behaves really well which is why I don't think school is that bothered iyswim.