Help so many questions?

StarkAndWitchesWillFindYou · 22/10/2010 15:19

Hi Willmum

Sorry to be a pain, but I have problems with my eyes and can't read when it is all text.

Is it possible to break it up a bit?

WetAugust · 22/10/2010 16:11

Hi I wonder if you could help.

My lo is currently undergoing statutory assessment. He has see the ed phys (im waiting for her report). He seeS an ot privatly and they have put together a report and the salt presumably will have some input.

he has no diagnosis which is where the problem lies.

He has been refered by portgage to the social and communications panel and I am aware he has some autistic traits (I have an autistic brother) However Im not sure this is entirly (if at all where his problems lie).

In my mind he has some autistic like traits and characteristics of adhd and probably dyspraxia. He does have an as yet undefined speech disorder and language delay, and sensory integration issues.

The problem is, pre school don't see his issues, probably becasue its resonably unstrutured and he is able to choose what he wants to do. They very much seem to take the view that as he is not directly causing them a problem then he is fine! (apart from toiletting issues they have a real problem with this)

This is not especially helpful, the head seems to think she knows him better after a few weeks of seeing him for 2 hours a day then I do.

Anyway I have read on a lot of threads about people posting that their lo is in the 0.5th centile and similar and also refering to various assessments. As of yet no-one has done any sort of assessments with him (other than just observe him a bit and so I have very little to go on. What sort of assessments are people refering to here? Is he too young to have had anything if this nature? He's 3.7.

Is anyone can offer any help advice , that would be great thanks

ThePumpkinofDoomandTotalChaos · 22/10/2010 16:13

taken the liberty of breaking it up into paras.

----

Hi I wonder if you could help. My lo is currently undergoing statutory assessment. He has see the ed phys (im waiting for her report). He seeS an ot privatly and they have put together a report and the salt presumably will have some input. he has no diagnosis which is where the problem lies.

He has been refered by portgage to the social and communications panel and I am aware he has some autistic traits (I have an autistic brother) However Im not sure this is entirly (if at all where his problems lie).

In my mind he has some autistic like traits and characteristics of adhd and probably dyspraxia. He does have an as yet undefined speech disorder and language delay, and sensory integration issues.

The problem is, pre school don't see his issues, probably becasue its resonably unstrutured and he is able to choose what he wants to do. They very much seem to take the view that as he is not directly causing them a problem then he is fine! (apart from toiletting issues they have a real problem with this)

This is not especially helpful, the head seems to think she knows him better after a few weeks of seeing him for 2 hours a day then I do.

Anyway I have read on a lot of threads about people posting that their lo is in the 0.5th centile and similar and also refering to various assessments. As of yet no-one has done any sort of assessments with him (other than just observe him a bit and so I have very little to go on.

What sort of assessments are people refering to here? Is he too young to have had anything if this nature? He's 3.7. Is anyone can offer any help advice , that would be great thanks

--------

ThePumpkinofDoomandTotalChaos · 22/10/2010 16:14

oh bugger, sorry, x-posted with you Wet!

StarkAndWitchesWillFindYou · 22/10/2010 16:14

No he is not too young.

Who are the social and communication panel? How long is their waiting list? Can you ask the portage person?

Who referred you to portage?

Sorry, I'm firing questions at you now, but it is just to see where you are in the 'system'.

StarkAndWitchesWillFindYou · 22/10/2010 16:15

Can I psychoanalyse the differences between the way you both broke that up?

ThePumpkinofDoomandTotalChaos · 22/10/2010 16:20

right - in terms of assessments - 3.7 wouldn't be too young for language and other types of developmental assessments as some of the tests are suitable for pre-schools. I imagine that the social and communication panel ,when the appointment comes through (which could be some time, might be as well to chase this or at least get an expected timescale) would do some form of assessments on him. Exactly how each area does ASd assessments varies - some areas use ADOS/Disco (standardised highly detailed questionnaires looking at many aspects of behaviour and development) but not all!

My main experience of formal assessments are:-

broadbrush assessment of expressive and receptive language, giving a result with a 6 month age range - e.g that DS's receptive language skills were in the 18-24 month range when he was 3.

more detailed centile assessment of various aspects of DS's use and understanding of language. The formal test used was one called CELF.

non-verbal intelligence tests (getting him to copy patterns, pick an odd one out from pictures).

broadbrush assessment of development (Griffiths questionnare) - so looking a bit at all areas of development - so anything from being able to dress himself and feed himself to whether he can build towers of blocks!

ThePumpkinofDoomandTotalChaos · 22/10/2010 16:22

stark - feel free to PM me with your psychoanalytical thoughts, but I suspect the OP may find them a bit distracting at the moment

ThePumpkinofDoomandTotalChaos · 22/10/2010 16:23

btw with the formal language assessments, 17th centile is the lower end of the normal range. 1st or 2nd centile (can't remember which) tends to trigger off some sort of threshhold in terms of getting support.

PolarEyes · 22/10/2010 16:45

Hi

My DS1 was first seen by a SALT when he was 2.2 and is now 5.0, and he's been seen probably on average 2-3 times a year (maybe slightly more). His speech and language has never been assessed in terms of centiles (or in fact in any of the assessments he's had and he has a dx of ASD and a statement).

He did have the ADOS as part of his ASD assessment which was quite detailed wrt to his abilities and weaknesses. 1 SaLT did use to do what I think is known as the Derbyshire Scale to assess his ability to understand 2,3,4 part instructions but he got wise to that and started to intentionally do them wrong(!) so she had to give up with it.

Did the Ed Psych observe your DS at preschool?

DS1 was assessed by an Ed Psych at preschool shortly after his dx and she immediately spotted that he was withdrawn and passive and that preschool were mistaking that with him being good. It triggered some 1:1 funding and the preschool drew up and IEP with some input from Ed Psych and SALT and passive at preschool DS1 became ahem a rather less easy to ignore one.

Original poster

Willmum · 22/10/2010 18:29

Hi I wonder if you could help. My lo is currently undergoing statutory assessment. He has see the ed phys (im waiting for her report). He seeS an ot privatly and they have put together a report and the salt presumably will have some input. he has no diagnosis which is where the problem lies.

He has been refered by portgage to the social and communications panel and I am aware he has some autistic traits (I have an autistic brother) However Im not sure this is entirly (if at all where his problems lie). In my mind he has some autistic like traits and characteristics of adhd and probably dyspraxia.

He does have an as yet undefined speech disorder and language delay, and sensory integration issues. The problem is, pre school don't see his issues, probably becasue its resonably unstrutured and he is able to choose what he wants to do.

They very much seem to take the view that as he is not directly causing them a problem then he is fine! (apart from toiletting issues they have a real problem with this) This is not especially helpful, the head seems to think she knows him better after a few weeks of seeing him for 2 hours a day then I do.

Anyway I have read on a lot of threads about people posting that their lo is in the 0.5th centile and similar and also refering to various assessments. As of yet no-one has done any sort of assessments with him (other than just observe him a bit and so I have very little to go on.

What sort of assessments are people refering to here? Is he too young to have had anything if this nature? He's 3.7. Is anyone can offer any help advice , that would be great thanks

OP posts:

Original poster

Willmum · 22/10/2010 18:45

Sorry just tried to break it up after only reading the first reply. Guess thats 3 ways now of doing it lol!

StarkAndWitchesWillFindYou the social and communication panel is what they call the panel that assess for asd (where we live anyway). I was told it would take up to 2 years for him to get seen.

Portgage stopped seeing him when he began pre-school so I no longer have visits from them but I guess I could get in touch with them but they gave me the impression that their involvment would stop when he began pre school.

The person who referred to portgage was the health visitor, who also filled in a caf. This was about 16months ago now. Sadly she left and hasn'r been replaced. Maybe this is part of the problem?

ThePumpkinofDoomandTotalChaos thank-you, Did you have to ask the salt about these assessments or did they just do them iyswim?

Polareyes the ed psyc did see him at pre school and is coming to see me next with to dicuss her report and what it meant. She did say she had tried to get him to do some sort of assessment but that she was only supposed to ask him things once, but she felt that he was not listening to her so she asked him a few times , so we would have to be careful with the results? I have no idea what this was , it looked like a a4 booklet? I will ask her this when I see her next week.

I guess I think that if salt were able to say he is at x months for understanding and x months for expressive speech etc then I would at least have something to argue with if you see what I mean.

Thanks for the replies.

OP posts:

StarkAndWitchesWillFindYou · 22/10/2010 18:51

Right then. Go to your GP and get a referral to a developmental paed. Paint a bleak picture of clear autistic traits and, if you can some implication of regression, at least in relation to his peers.

This route won't be fast either, but it will be faster.

2 years is just stupid. You can't wait that long for a dx and intervention. I bet your paperwork has gone missing in any case.

PolarEyes · 22/10/2010 19:18

Totally know what you mean about having a solid level of where his understanding and expressive are. I asked countless times but his SALT was of the opinion the tests wouldn't give an accurate reflection. I did contact a private SALT who would do such tests but didn't persue it in the end. helpwithtalking.com has details of SALTs in your area.

Agree with Star on going to your GP and asking for a referral - we got lost in the "system" more than once.

ThePumpkinofDoomandTotalChaos · 22/10/2010 19:21

yes, give it a go at pushing things on via GP, and I echo the other ladies, double check that referrals have actually been received by the relevant people.

NHS SALT seemed very happy to do assessments, it was more a case of assess and advise than doing hands on therapy .

ThePumpkinofDoomandTotalChaos · 22/10/2010 19:23

oh and ask SALT if the department run hanen or similar courses (courses run by SALT to help you help your child to communicate).