Does 'communication disorder' mean ASD?

[osospecial]

My dd 2.4 has been referred for SALT and RG assessment since her 2yr check by HV.
I took her to see a private speech therapist in dec as we were still on the nhs waiting list.
Within about 10min she said she though dd had a significant communication disorder. We are now waiting to see if the salt+rg on nhs come to same conclusion.
Can anybody tell me if this means she is likely to be diagnosed on asd or can a communication disorder be a separate disorder?

yes it can be separate so try not to worry. Also at that age of 2.4 she is still very young and can develop her communication skills with the right help.

A member of my family was told her child had this as he wouldnt interact with anyone or any peers, and he also wouldnt speak and didnt till he was 2nd year in school. Now he is grown up and you wouldnt know that he had problems in toddler years at all. He is still cautious around certain people he doesnt know but can still hold a polite conversation but with his friends there is no stopping him! :)

ASD is one form of a social communication disorder. But not every social communication disorder is ASD. do get a dx of ASD, you need to meet the triad of impairments.

I don't think it has any precise meaning but it is often used by professionals pre diagnosis to avoid predicting what any diagnosis might be - which in many ways is understandable but really if your dd is not communicating in the way expected then you need help regardless of what the dx turns out to be. I don't want to sound too depressing but in my experience, chasing the asd dx turned out to be a wild goose chase and we should just have got on with helping ds to develop more communiciation skills but I think we had the naive idea that once diagnosed as asd, he would automatically get more help

Ok thanks, will definitely try to stop worrying about actual dx, what willowthecat said was right, I think I just need to concentrate on helping dd with what I know is a problem atm (speech+communication)
With regards to the triad of impairments, I think dd has the communication+social side (lacks eye contact+shows little interest in others) but none of the routine/repetitive behaviour aspects, she is actually very easy going,rarely has tantrums +eats +sleeps v.well and copes with different situations easily so its a bit confusing and I think if she was to have dx of asd it wld be a mild form I think?? Anyway thanks for the advice+help, always makes me feel btr to talk about it a bit on here :)

There are a lot of red herrings about ASD - ds was very similar to what you describe aged around 3. Some mild repetitive behaviours developed later on but he is still relaxed and easy going and not at all dependent on routines or fixations and rarely gets very upset. Speech and communication issues are still severe though so again it's another good reason to get started now on helping her dd off the starting blocks. Does she verbalise or sign to get what she wants ?

Did the private SALT give any general advice on the way to go with developing communication ?

No she doesn't verbalise or point or anything like that, she brings me her cup if she wants juice now or leads me by my hand to what she wants or moans until I work it out!
The private salt did give me some good advice, she said the things I had already been doing (from it takes two to talk book which was recommended on here) were good and even though she wasn't saying any new words they wld be more recognisable to her when she could speak. She suggested PECS (picture exchange communication system) where dd gives me a picture of things when she wants them (like milk or jiuce etc) +i say the word then, which teaches her to communicate more what she wants, also to really capitalise on the moments when I do have her attention (as its infrequent) such as when doing peg puzzles that she loves+really make the most of that time, talking+taking turns then etc

DD (3.11) has autism. she does have a lovely eye contact, is the best eater in the world, no issue with routine. her ASD is not mild.

she is 'repetitive' with her play (no pretend play, just doing the same (such as puzzle) thing over and over again), with her speech (she is also very echolalic). she also has certain small rituals but nothing major. as willow said, there are a lot of red herrings.

as said above, try not to worry about a dx at this point. it won't bring you any extra help anyways (as least that is the case with us - dx made no difference what so ever in the help and support we receive). rather focus on how to support DD.

Chocjunkie is your dd at school now? Can I ask if she goes to mainstream or a special school pls? Does she need one to one in school?

Our paed asked if we had heard of "social communicaton disorders". I said does it mean autism and she replied that it was a form of ASD.
This is what she believes my daughter has plus a severe speech delay.
This hasn't been officially diagnosed.

ds did the hand dragging at that age. Although it is a behaviour you would almost never see in a typically developing child, i think it is possible to see it in a positive light as it shows your dd understands that to get what she wants she has to involve you in the process so it shows the seeds are there to start more advanced communication so don't let anyone talk it down as 'using adult as a tool' as I really don't think that is helpful. PECs can be very useful in these situations (although we never took to it and it did not suit ds's needs) and there lots of people on this board who can give you good advice on how to get PECS started. You may find though that prompting a simple echoed verbalisation before giving her what she wants works just as well and does not have all the set up time and training that is needed for PECS. This worked very well for us and in fact, if you could get the 'More Than Words' Hanen book you would find a lot of useful techniques to prompt basic verbalisations for communication and also gives a lot of tips on how to create and substain shared attention.

DD will start school in Sep. we are right in the middle of the statementing. DD will either go to special school or to our local primary (MS) which has a special needs unit. in any case, she will need a lot of 1:1. she has a lot of 1:1 at nursery :)

but do not worry about such things now. I assume your DD won't start school until 2014. things might look very different then

rather research on how to support your DD best. this board is a good starting point. it has been a lifeline for me over the last 2 years.

I was told that dd would start school next jan 2013 but I think this is optional as she will only be 3.3 so I was thinking it might be more beneficial for her to wait a bit longer, she has 1:1 with child minder atm
Yes Willow, like you I have always seen the hand leading as a positive thing actually as at least she is using that to communicate what she wants so I'm always pleased wen she does that :)
I have heard of the more than words book before on here, I think I will order a copy of that as it does sound v.good

my ds, 3 he has no diagnosis but still leads me by the hand quite frequently... his speech though as come on loads, at 2.4 he had no words really, he can now put words together and what he is saying can be quite intelligent... one of his first sentences was catterpillar turns into butterfly...i was shocked... i was constantly told ds is to young hes tpp young but he responded well to the early SALT he had the match and stretch work they gave him he responded well x

My DS regressed at 2.2 and dx with ASD at 2.6, now 5. I would say the repetitive stuff did not emerge until 2.6 onwards. At the first appointment I was no he never lines up and can take him anywhere. By dx appointment I was well he's lining stuff up all the time.

2.3 is still so young that you may not see the full picture for a while. The key is to get intervention to start regardless of dx as that can start to make inroads into some of the problems. We had a long wait to actually get any practical help and then had to go private / to tribunal. His ASD is deemed moderate although he ticks many of the diagnostic severe boxes, his IQ is normal though, so we actually don't know how things will turn out, he has had specialist help since 4 (and privately before that) and is doing really well now.

Its hard not knowing but unless it really is mild and you get help quickly you should prepare yourself that age 7-8 is probably the time when you will have a clearer picture of how things might turn out. My DS has made so much progress in the last year that I actually can't even predict where we will be with him this time next year. So however things are at 2.3 will not necessarily tell you what the outcome will be. Good services can make a massive amount of difference. Also remember that whatever dx your child gets he is also delayed, so I always work on the basis DS is about 2 years behind but as things go on am more and more confident that although he is behind he will get there in his own time. There is nothing which (with the right help and extra time) we have not been able to teach him.