Paed signing DD off (ASD 4.2) but keeping

[Eveiebaby]

file open? Can anyone advise is this normal? DD was diagnosed in December last year after a 30 minute question time with Paed, 5 sessions with SALT plus an observation of about 1 hour with Paed and SALT at preschool.
Anyway, follow up was last week and Paed said at the end of appointment " I was going to keep file open but sign DD off" but having seeing her today I would like to see her back in 6 months time.
To cut a long story short DD behaved great at appointment. Paed suggested weighing her and measuring her due food issues and DD was totally compliant and understood all instuctions , take shoes off, come over here, turn around, come and sit in chair, sit still etc... so Paed then asked about behavioural problems which we said well she is argumentative but then a lot of 4 year olds are! Paed then went on to say he would have expected a lot of behavioural/tantrum behaviours which DD does not have, she has major expressive language issues and is a bit behind with initiating socialization with peers but this is improving. Anyway, after thinking about appointment I am quite shocked that Paed was thinking of signing her off. I took it to mean that he would not be scheduling anymore appointments for her but if we were concerned we could make an appointment with him. Please correct me anybody if I have made an incorrect assumptiom. Also, I would be interested to know when others have had their DC's signed off by Paed. 4.2 seems way too young to me. My DD is still developing and I thought Paed would still want to see her until 5-6.

I am no expert, but that seems extremely quick to diagnose a child with ASD...for example my ds is 4, and we have been attending a CDC for about 16mths now, and now they hold their hands up and we are waiting for CAHMS (ds wouldn't interact so couldn't assess him at CDC)....he has similar issues to your dd, but also an impacted bowel, sleep disorder, hearing aids for conductive loss, GDD and SPD included in there...He has been observed so many times in pre-school by different people. I feel he is ASD but they won't diagnose him yet, although they say possible ASD.

I don't understand why he would sign her off either...hopefully someone who knows more than me will come along.

Thanks Pucca - Diagnosis seems to have happened extremely quick for DD. Early years observed her at Pre-school, Salt and Paed were involved and a diagnosis made all within 9 weeks which does all seem extremely quick to me especially when I read forums and hear of parent waiting years for a diagnosis. I could understand if DD presented as a severe case but I honestly do not think that she does. She was at pre-school for 14 months and the staff did not mention anything and I realize they are not trained to do so but I think if there were persistent or severe traits surely they would have picked up on them. There is something obviously amiss with her speech wise and she does seem behind with socialization but she loves being around her peers and going to nursery it is just when children try to talk to her I think she gets frustrated because she cannot respond and I feel she is not apporaching her peers because she simply cannot express herself. I am concerned that she has been labelled with maybe an inappropriate diagnosis. I am thinking along the lines that if speech is her primary problem then maybe I should be getting her private speech therapy or even applied for a language school. As it is she will be attending mainstream with 25hrs a week support which is excellent but again I did not have to fight LA for support which seems unusual as it seems a lot of people seem to have a hell of a lot of problems accessing extra support for their DC's at school.
I am totally confused with the Paed wanting to sign her off. I am not really questioning diagnosis with Paed as I just want DD to get help at school which I feel may be removed if I start getting difficult.

I hope your DS is able to get some extra help.

The thing is Eveiebaby....You of course want your dd to get the help she needs, but you don't want her diagnosed with something she may not have, its def a difficult one isn't it.

I would maybe look down the private SALT route, I only yesterday got a private SALT to assess my ds, and then she came again today. I feel already I have made the right decision in doing that.

Do you know about the Cerebra voucher? (this is what I applied for)

see here

think if paed was sure in dx , the signing of comes as he would feel his input needed would be minmal.But am guessing and is only my guess .That he might now be wondering if dx correct hence see in 6 months

Even if she is/is not ASD and you feel speech is an issue then private SALT would be a good direction to go in. I tend to think anything to help reduce frustration can only help, regardless of the umbrella condition.

A good friend of mine, a SENCO and mum to ASD kid gave me a great bit of advice: if they have a specific problem then deal with it specifically and it will help as a whole. I have found this to be the case with my ds (5) with poor receptive/expressive language problems - he is much happier now and easier to handle.

Language units/ schools will not take kids with ASD/behaviour issues though - well, not to my knowledge anyway.

How on earth did you get a statement with 25 hors a week on it if her problems are so mild that nursery didn't pick up on them?????

Isn't the world a weird place?

If possible I would keep lines open with the Paed. I know he has signed your DD off but he has left the door open. Over the years our Paed was one of the most helpful and influential people with our LA. Many of my friends' kids haven't seen a Paed for YEARS and I think there have been points at which a supportive Paed would have helped them immensely with placements, respite and, of course, medical advice. I know this is not your situation now, but do keep it in mind.

Thanks again Pucca - no I did not know about the Cerebra voucher I will have a look later. You have hit the nail straight on the head yes I want her to get help and she clearly does need help with her expressive language but I want the diagnosis to be accurate. I know it is a waiting game so maybe too soon for the Paed to know for sure and like Roundthebend4 said maybe Paed feels more comfortable with a wait and see approach over the next six months.

Thanks everyone who mentioned private SALT - this probably is the way to go but like everything else its finding a good one who really knows their subject. I know there is a website with registered SLT's listed so I shall take another look.

I know Indigo it is weird and unfair on others (although I cannot complain) - most probably a postcode lottery. I realize if we lived in other parts of the country we would maybe have to fight tooth and nail for help. Sometimes I read other mums stories on SN and am staggered at what hell they have to go through.
Just to clarify it was a Pre-school/Playgroup type setting who did not notice. Their staff was made up of one qualified nursery nurses and as far as I know the others did not have any quals as high as a Nursery Nurse they were mature ladies with older children.

Thanks Sprinkle - It sounds like SALT has really benefited your DS. I was thinking along the lines of if language was DD's primary issue maybe she should not have ASD diagnosis and therefore a Language unit would have taken her. Best not to dwell on this though. She has a place at our local primary school and will be getting lots of help.

Thanks for the advice Davros - yes, I will certainly try to keep door open with Paed.

Can I mention ican as another option for a good salt and ep reports .orginally ds was dx with GDd asd traits so could not get speech place

Icans report showed that lot of ds problems were down to his speech which if you can't talk course your going to struggle to socialise ep report. Showed with right language used he is cognitvaley able non verbal testing confirmed .thanks yo that report ds is of speech unit September

the diagnosis does seem quick. with ds I had the diagnosis delayed because slt thought it was de to his language but i was clinging to hope I think.

anyway, ds has just been transferred to a local paed (we moved and stayed with the same paed due to consintency) but now he is diagnosed she transferred us (she was an angel)
he has so many ppl involved, i do wonder what the paed will do. his weight etc.....is fine. no concerns there. so what can they do? he is on meds for sleeping but gp can sort them out or just call them for advice. it'd be a waste of money to keep seeing them just for that.

as for the behaviour, she sounds just like my son and yes, some of it is 'normal' for their age and some is due to language. sounds like he was looking for problems and if she is generally good, then woohoo!!! don't worry about it