Can anyone tell me what to expect?

[RantyMcRantpants]

My DC2 is being assesed for autism. Everyone we have spoken to has said that he is definatly autistic (no shit! Sherlock ). Any way we have been told that the final test is a question thing that my DH and I have to do, I think they said it was a 360 test or something like that. If anyone could clarify I would be greaful. What does this test involve and what will we have to do? Any help would be greatfully recieved.

Sorry to bump this.

I have never heard of a 360 test but I would say it would just be a question and answer thing, more than likely a multiple choice type of thing.

That might be a 3DI parental questionnaire. It is a computer generated thing - lots of questions (about 2-3 hours) Done this twice with both my boys. It then produces an algorithim which shows if your child has autism or not. Ok that makes it sound very basic but it is not used on its own, they looked at all the information from the professionals and ADOS (play based assessment of the child).

Hope that makes a bit of sense!

Is it 3di test? Info here

Starfish and insanity thank you, thank you, thank you! That's the one.
I knew there was a 3 in there some where. It's been October since we were told that we would have to do this and I had forgotten what it was called. I will have to ring and chase them up as this is getting beyond a joke. Mind you I have had to chase and push for everything.

After ringing 4 people and leaving messages and them ringing me back and saying I need to talk to someone else I finally got through to the person I needed to talk to and apparantly I should expect an appointment either in March or April. So we are nearly there.

Though I have just looked at my diary and the appointment that we were told that we would have to do this was the 31st of August. So if we say appointment late March/early April we've will have been waiting 7 months. Is it always like that? Or have we been lucky/unlucky?

I completed the 3DI for DS2, we had been given a verbal dx but the psych used the 3DI as a final test & also she said it helped give her a better idea of areas of strength & weakness.
It was completely painless & although its a multiple choice the psych also took additional comments as we went through.

Thank you very much don'trememberme. That is really useful to hear. We have been given a verbal dx too. We had to fill in a multiple choice form along with the school. That was bad enough and we were told this would be like that but longer. I am glad we will get to comment as there were things on the form where I wanted to say "we ticked this but we also have this and that happens as well...".

Once you got the dx did you get any additional advice or support on how to deal with him? When we started the journey they sent me on a parenting course, what a waste of time that was!!! How do you reason with a child who is haveing a full blown melt down and trashing his bedroom for the umpteenth time? Sorry just feeling out on a limb at the moment.

Hi Ranty, the short anser is YES , we have had lots of support since dx & it can/does get better.
Parenting courses dont cure autism, yes i'm sure they are good at giving ideas etc but when your child has autism & you are in the midst of all the, is he/isnt he angst the last thing you need to hear is " have u tried a sticker chart".
My ds's room has always been his safe place to vent, in his case it isnt trashing its pacing & licking & sniffing & rolling. But whatever it is for your son try & make his bedroom his safe place - just his, no expecations as few rules as possible to be safe.
Also there is lots you can do to help your ds deal with daily life & therefore reduce the meltdowns.
the 3di interview with the psych gave me the opportunity to explain some of the answers we put in the questionnaire as many of the questions were similar but allowed me to expand on them.
Feel free to PM me if you have more specific questions.
Take care

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Sorry I am so late in replying but I have had abad week with him.

Thank you for under standing what we are going through. I am feeling quite lost at the moment.

Thank you for the reassurance that it does get better, some of the behaviours drive me up the wall. He trashes his bedroom ( he shares with Dc3 who we don't think is autistic but is starting to copy things). He picks his nose till he bleeds and then smears blood all over the wall and snot and faeces in the bathroom as well. He draws on Walls and any thing else he can. He gets obsessed with things latest is Lego and Lego hero factory. I often find things in lines from stuff in my bedroom to cutlery on the table. The melt downs can be awful, he nearly pushed me down the stairs tonight. There is so much more and I feel so isolated.

I had a phone call today, we have an appointment for Friday 13th April. This is it, the end may be in sight. I know this doesn't change anything but having some support would be great.