Psychatrist wants to do a DISCO diagnostic on Dd3! Anyone got any info please:)

[Ineedalife]

Have been to CAMHS again today, we were led to believe that all the necessary assessments had been done and that it would be likely that the Consultant would be looking towards making a Dx, or not as the case may be.

However we got there to find that the consultant is not happy with the assessments which have been done, due to the discrepancies caused by Dd3's old school and now she wants to do this DISCO diagnostic.

I am happy for her to do it but I am infuriated that she is disregarding all the other stuff that has been done. I did let her know that I am not happy. She was going to have a few chats with us until I said we have been chatting with people for 2.5 years about Dd3 and I think we need to move forward, so she suggested this DISCO thing and told me to read about it on the NAS website.

But there is only about a sentence on the NAS so wondered if any of you lovely ladies would know any more about it. She did say it will go right back to when Dd3 was tiny so need to make some notes I think.

Hoping someone can help.

Ds2 (now 8) was diagnosed with ASD using the DISCO when he was 3. The paediatrician suggested it because Ds2 was so differently behaved in different settings, so observational assessments were not accurate. She was keen to use it because she said that parents' observations are usually the most detailed. She was also very honest and admited that she was being trained to use it, so it would be useful for her!

It took about 3 hours and was very intensive. It was just me and her -
DS2 wasnt there at all. You need lots of detail - things like vax dates, milestones, onset of symptoms etc. so I took the little red book the HV gives you. She asked me to bring along any significant video footage I had around the time of regression.

To be honest I found it far less stressful than the assessments we had involving DS.

whats the difference between the DISCO and ADOS? is DISCO for younger dcs?

Vinnie...Have found a bit more info, DISCO, can apparently be used for any age or ability but I don't know what the difference between the 2 is.

She said we needed to bring the red book sphil, I am going to make some notes, I am hoping that this will prevent the need for repeating the assessments that she is not happy with. She wanted Dd3's Dad to come too but when we came home we realised that he is on a late shift at work so won't be able to, unless she can change the appointment,Thanx for this info.

Ineedalife.......would be very interested to hear how things go, my DS's paed has put him on waiting list for the DISCO assessment, after stating "probable autism", but have informed us there will be a long wait, yet to hear just how long.

Ineed, keep bumping as some will have experience but may be on holiday or just not here tonight.

Thanx ellen might even ask again in a week or so.

Having said that I did find a bit more info last night via good old google.

Baboos.. I will let you all know how it goes, we are starting on the 15th but the psychiatrist[sp] says we will need more than one appointment to get through it.

She decided to do it because Dd3's old school haven't provided any usefull info and she has only been at the new school for one term.

We have waited from being referred to tier 3 at CAMHS at easter until yesterday to be seen by a consultant, not mega ong I know.

Good luck with your wait.

Hi all just thought I would bump this to see if anyone else in the know is around.

Hi, my DS (3 years) was diagnosed recently following ADOS and DISCO. The DISCO is conducted without your child there and is a series of questions about your childs development and traits. It took about 2 hours. ADOS is a play session with the child to see if they demonstrate sufficient traits for dx.

Happy to answer any specific questions you might have based on our experience.

Oooh, mainly wondering how detailed the baby questions are, because the pysc wanted us to take the red book but there is hardly anything in there[its Dd3 you see].

I do have a really good memory so will have to rely on that.

You might like to have a look at a couple of research papers which may explain some of the issues.
The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule ? Toddler Module: A new module of a standardized diagnostic measure for autism spectrum disorders
and The Diagnostic Interview for Social and Communication Disorders: algorithms for ICD-10 childhood autism and Wing and Gould autistic spectrum disorder

they were quite detailed questions but some of them I wasnt sure about and the paed was understanding about that. Eg. I couldnt recall if DS held his arms up when he wanted to be picked up as a baby as I hadnt filled in that bit of the red book. Worth looking through the red book before the DISCO to try and remember the dates if you dont have them. Any photos / videos may help to fill in gaps.