Been given a dx of .........

[fightingthela]

'behavioural difficulties' after Ados test. Has anyone else had this at all? Ds had been suspected to be HFA/AS by 2 EP's and a Senco. He has a large number of traits such as good vocabulary at a young age,anxiety,liking routine,literal understanding, rigid thinking and poor social skills. Also gets angry quickly at other children who are 'annoying' him.

:( My son's friend has it (again a lot of professionals thought he had ASD).

He gets the behaviour support therapist at school. But of course their effectivenes varies ( maybe they're not all as rubbish as ours? )

It sounds like a broad and unhelpful label tbh. To me, behavioural difficulties are a symptom, not a diagnosis. DS has AS and 'has behavioural difficulties resulting from it' (which is how his EP phrased it, i.e. directly linking the condition). Other children have behavioural difficulties due to other underlying conditions, trauma, neglect, poor parenting. But you can't treat the behaviour without knowing what is causing it.

DS had a behaviour support mentor at school and the intervention broke down because it didn't target his underlying issues. A lot of behavioural work focuses on praise, increasing self-esteem and developing a relationship with the mentor. It was the relationship bit where things came a bit unstuck - fairly understandable when you take his AS into account (which they weren't doing at the time).

How do you feel about it, do you have any concerns regarding the results of the ADOS? Have they said anything about what might be causing the difficulties?

Do you have any scores from the ADOS? Did you observe it as well?

Hi all. Yes I do have some doubts about the results. He has lots of AS traits and we were told that sensory issues could cause some of his difficulties. I do not feel that this explains his literal understanding,dislike of change, rituals and routines or anxiety etc... He has had years of input from behaviour support but all interventions and strategies ultimately fail. I feel it is too easy to blame behaviour rather than looking at what is causing the difficulties. Have seen 2 EP's this year and both have suspected HFA/AS. I will be going back to paed with some further questions. We are awaiting a sensory assessment which could be months away. Meanwhile problems at school are escalating. He is often in trouble for not following instructions at first time of asking and walking away from teacher's when stressed!

Ds is classed as having behavioral difficulties by the respite services. He has learning disability and autism with associated ADHD and SPD - so it seems to be a broader classification based on needs rather than diagnosis. I find the term uncomfortable, because it is important to know the why (ie sensory overload or something else) to allow understanding.

Afaik that is not a diagnosis and sounds rather unprofessional to me. I always understood that there are strict criteria for very specific dxs. In the past it was DSM IV for ASD, I don't know what it is now. There are so many terms bandied about these days but a Paediatrician should never give such a dx. For instance, if you wanted to join a research project or something I think they'd refuse you, that is not a technical dx.

Even if a child scores below the cut offs in the ADOS they can still have HFA/ASD. The diagnosis shouldn't be just because of the ADOS score although in some cases it can be a good indicator. The paed should listen to the opinion of everyone involved in your son and maybe arrange some school assessments?

Star - no they did not indicate what was causing the difficulties apart from may be some sensory issues. The EP we have just seen for SA was very surprised when we went through his problems that we did not get a dx - she said "did you tell the doctor all this?". He has lots of AS traits but has always spoken in an adult way and reacts well to adult so he enjoyed the Ados! School assessments can be hard as he is very bright and knows when someone is in school that they are observing him and can act accordingly. We have not been given scores but the Specialist Salt and OT that did the tests were charmed by him and his sense of humour.

Are they waiting on the sensory assessments? I feel for you - it took a long time to get a useful dx for ds and in the meantime we were in that limbo that meant ds could not get support.

Fightingthela, i would ask for a second opinion.