Aspergers

[SS77]

Hi,

To cut a long story short we've been told that my eldest DS (who is 7) probably has Aspergers. The community Paediatrician is trying to get the ed pysch involved to get a diagnosis, but tells us that this will probably be hard as DS is performing ok at school, and also v well behaved, not disruptive etc. Really just wanted to hear from parents in the same situation and really grateful of any advice that anyone can give.

Thank you

Have a look at www.autism.org.uk or phone them up on 0845 070 4004 and ask them to send you a self assessment questionaire for Aspergers Syndrome.

Well, you've come to the right place

Has the paed given you a diagnosis?

I think you'll be surprised what the Ed Psych will find. Just because school says he is well behaved, does not mean loads of things won't jump out to an Ed Psych.

Before we got a dx I didn't realise how much of what DS did was symptoms of Aspergers. Now I 'see' a lot more than I used to. And schools are very often the same. They're not really looking for the right things so they don't see them.....

There's loads and loads you can do to help your DS. Let it all sink in for a bit first though.....

Performing well at school should not be a consideration when diagnosing Aspergers. It's a 'hidden' condition after all which affects social and communication skills - not academic achievement which can be very high in children with Aspergers.

Some children with aspergers are very quiet and well behaved. They wouldnt say boo to a goose, as they say.

as said above, the ed pysch should be able to 'spot' a lot of what school will miss day on day.
I have a 13 year old who was diagnosed with Aspergers when he was just under 7. with hindsight, the 'clues' were all there for school but not a single member of staff were anywhere near qualified to recognise them - if I had a pound for every time I heard the words 'but he's ok when he's here'.... Ironically, when the Clinical Psych was doing the obersavations, my son's teacher actually said 'an aspergers diagnosis would make sense' but no-one had put two and two together.
In our case, our son was an 'angel' at school, high achieving, on g&t register. At home though, he was impossibly challenging.
None of the above meant to scare you but just to reassure you that his current teachers are not 'experts' in the field of Aspergers/ASDs - ed pyschs should have more expertise

^^just realised that there was nothing in my post that was 'scary'!!! The gist was to reassure you - by the way, I did mean observations

Hi SS77,

The EPs words can go a long way when it comes to Statementing as well. EP cannot make a formal diagnosis, this person can make recommendations re educational needs (statement). Also statements are not just for academic needs; they can also address social and communication difficulties as well.

Having a Statement in place means that his needs at school are officially documented and in a legal sense as well. No other plan is legally binding.

DS may well be performing well at school now but this may not be always the case. He could well slip under the radar and this may well start happening. You need to also think longer term and about secondary school. It is likely that he will need additional support when he is there hence my suggestion now to apply for a Statement. Do not leave it until he is in Y6.

www.ipsea.org.uk are helpful re statementing.

Keep posting here too.

The transition to secondary school can be particularly difficult for a young person with aspergers. The noise and movement from one classroom to another and the queues for dinner. My own opinion, based on experience, is that is best to try to find a Special School for Aspergers children.

Thanks to everyone who replied. Sorry its taken me a while to come back - I've felt a bit emotional about it all for the last couple of days. Yesterday we received copies of the letters that the paediatrician has sent to CAHMS and to the senco at ds's school. She strongly feels that it is Aspergers but says she can't diagnose on her own but needs to be done with the ed pysch. I've got an appointment to see the SENCO on Tuesday afternoon to see what happens next. I've been told that the people who get the most help are the ones who shout loudest so I intend to do a lot of shouting! I've found the autistic society website very useful so far, plus we've been told about a local parent support group which I'd like to investigate, although we don't really have any family close by to help with babysitting etc which may be a problem with that.

My DD2 is 7 and is currently being assessed for Asperger's Syndrome.

She is well behaved and cooperative at school but really struggles with the school environment. She hides all her emotions so they see very little of her difficulties there.

If you're anything like me your mind will be in a whirl at the moment and all sorts of thoughts about the future will be popping into your head.

Have you seen any of the books by Tony Attwood? They might give you some pointers as to what he might find difficult there. You could then talk to him about his feelings when he's there and feed them back to the paed yourself.

Hello there,

I am hoping someone may be able to help with information that i may have overlooked. I have a son of 14 with Aspergers. He has had trouble in mainstream school since he started. Misunderstood and also trouble with other kids. He is bright and capable, but is struggling with secondary school. He was only diagnosed end of 2009. his behaviour dramatically declined when starting seciondary school. the beginning of this year he was suicidal. I have applied for a statement and been refused. On advice I have waited the six months to reapply rather than appeal to build up proof of extra conditions that make life difficult for him. I am just starting to reapply for a statement and need as much information as i can to try to be approved in the hopes of getting him into a specialist school to relieve the stress he undergoes every day at school. He is slowly declining emotionally again which scare me terribly after the last decline, and suicidal thoughts and depression.

Am hoping there is some hope out there for the help.

thankyou for your time

oStaro

Ostaro .. Welcome :)

would be a really good Idea to start a new thread ( just copy paste what you have here).. You have two or three issues that really need their own thread.. So we can hopefully help you better :)

with regard to your ds's mental health .. Have you seen CAMHS yet ?

I think it is very hard in general to get an AS dx. My ds is very challenging at school as well as at home and 2 EP's this year believe he has AS/HFA as do we and also the school. However,Ados test was negative and we were given dx of 'behavioural difficulties'. Paed refused our request for further testing and says he has no difficulties in the triad of impairments when we are adamant he does. He also asked why we were going for sm when he is doing well academically! Went to GP for referral for second opinion who stated that if we were told he doesn't have it then he doesn't. All very helpful on top of various other professionals who can't see the need for dx. On the plus side we have just won a statement with 22 hours support but it's been a really stressful battle to get there.

ostaro

You say he's 'suicidal'. In that case I assume he's being seen by CAMHS.

If so ask CAMHS to write a report stating his difficulties.

use that report as evidence when requesting a statutory assessment plus any other reports that back up your case.

But don't delay - he's already in secondary. I doubt he's get or would be too academic for an SN school. The best you can hope for is an autistic base for Aspergers attached to a mainstream secondary where, with the correct support, he could sit GCSEs

Is he on Schools Action / Schools Action Plus. If not speak to the SENCO - he probably should be

Best wishes

Hello there,

thankyou thearseniccupcake, I dont post messages so am pretty new to this, have started a new thread regarding trouble coping with secondary school. :) hope that is right.

to both thearseniccupcake and sausagemonster

CAMHS, i didnt even know about these people until i was talking to a friend tonight and she mentioned them. He was involved with CAST but they only offer support for 6 weeks. He was feeling better about things in the summer holidays, two months after going back to school and we are getting to that point again where he feels really down. Does my son have to be referred to camhs??

im not even sure what schools action is. I have spoken to the senco but dont get very far. I have had to go through the statement process myself as the senco doesnt feel he will get a statement as others have not been able to. Am beating my head against a wall at the moment.

thankyou for the help already.