DD1 is going to be assessed/tested for ASD, can anyone tell me what it will involve please?

[TheFeministsWife]

DD1 is 8, and DH and I have suspected for years that she may have some form of ASD. At parents evening last month her teacher asked if we would agree to have her assessed as she suspects she may be somewhere on the spectrum. But no one has ever taken us seriously, so it was a great that her teacher has finally recognised what we've been seeing for years. We signed the forms last week and are just waiting to get a date back.

I think she only has a mild form if she does have it (obviously there's a huge possibility she might not). She has a reading age of a 5 -6 year old and her writing and maths are pretty much the same. Socially she's not very good either, but is able to interact with other kids quite well in school and seems well liked, but she seems to find it difficult to maintain friendships. Maturity wise she seems like any other 8 year old really, she's quite sensible and is very rarely naughty. She has a fantastic memory too. She also has speech problems, she stutters a lot and finds it very difficult to get her point across as her speech gets very muddled. She's also still not dry at night (not sure if that's relevant at all).

I'm just wondering what to expect from the assessment and what they will test her for? If anything comes from this I'm just hoping it gets her more one on one time and help in school.

Do you know who is going to be assessing her? If it's being arranged through the school, I assume it will be an Ed Psych. They can assess for educational needs but cannot diagnose (DX) ASD or Aspergers, that would need to be a developmental paediatrician or a multi agency team.

Has the teacher or SENCo talked about Statutory Assessment for a Statement of SEN? That is what will get your DD support at school, but it won't get her a DX. I think it would be a good idea to be pursuing the medical route in parallel. See your GP, ask to be referred to a developmental paed, say the school will be assessing her for a Statement and that you and the school suspect ASD. Getting a DX certainly won't hurt your chances of getting a statement and you will know what you should be researching to help your DD.

From what it says on the forms she'll be assessed by both an EdPsych and a Paediatrician. No her teacher hasn't mentioned anything at all about a Statutory Assessment for a Statement of SEN. I'm not actually sure if she's already had a statutory assessment done before. She saw an EdPsych when she was in Year 1, and she said she had "Uneven Cognitive Development", I completely didn't understand any of that. She has an IEP which she's had since Year 1 but no statement.

That sounds like a multi agency assessment all right! If you already have an IEP and have seen an EP before your DD is probably on school action +, which is the SEN level one below a statement. There's lots of info on Mumsnet about SEN and statements.

The uneven cognitive development sounds just like my DS's (ASD) 'spiky profile.' It's quite common with ASD, they are trying to measure intelligence and because of the ASD there are some areas of development that are delayed like social use of language, understanding that others are different from yourself and understanding abstract concepts and emotions. My DS was very good at correctly naming objects he could see, like a lighthouse or a stethoscope but he finds predicting what might happen next very hard.

I would find out if this assessment is part of a Statutory Assessment (SA) as a statement will give your DD a legal right to the support she may need. The assessment she had in Y1 may not have been SA, it may have been to simply help the school find ways of best teaching your DD. It sounds like you and the school think your DD needs more support so I it may be that the forms you have signed are to agree to SA, if not, that is what you should be requesting, IMO. Hope that helps.

Link here to Statutory Assessment info on Mumsnet.