Whats the difference between SCD, ASD and autism?

[AprilSkies]

DS has a working dx of ASD by a dev paed. Another dev paed is using the term social communication disorder and other professionals are using the term autism. I thought autism was the old dated terminology for ASD. What's SCD and how do they differ? Sorry, I should probably have worked this out by now but can't find anything that makes it clear to me, thought you might be able to explain it.

Hi, I've not heard of SCD, but I always talk about my ds with autism or ASD as they are the same.

I have very limited experience of this but as I understand Autism(classic) is part of the Autism Spectrum Disorder(ASD) but professionals use autism and ASD interchangeably very often. Not sure why.

Now Social Communication Disorder is an umbrella term covering a range of delays/disorders, ASD is one of them. If a Dev. professional has told you SCD, then that means they are delaying a dx and using the wait and see approach. HTH.

Social communication disorder is when a child shows problems with the social interaction part of ASD and shows some communication issues, but doesn't quite have the theory of mind problems needed for a full diagnosis of ASD. Autism is a part of ASD. ASD covers many dx, classic autism, atypical autism, retts, SCD and a few others. I think

Nothing really. At least not in terms of provision.

ASD is the most flexible. If you have a dx of ASD you can tell people you have Aspergers, ASD, Autism or SCD depending on the purpose of you telling them.

It can be easier to get into a SALT unit for example with SCD, but easier to get DLA with ASD.

It's a bit of a circus IMO.

It's all bollocks, isn't it...

I'm not going to get any effective help anyway. Guess it might make a difference when he goes to school? Not much I can do, they will diagnose him as they see fit.

Yes, but you want some control over it.

If you get no medical dx others will label as naughty/lazy/rude/difficult.

The key purpose of a dx is it's use to the person. With this in mind you get some say.

Just a word of warning as sometimes the "label" can be used to ration or restrict the services your child needs, especially if you live in an area of high demand.

Ds is "social communication disorder with autistic traits" - translates as "not eligible for support services" or "we don't have a clue what this means so we can't help", or "poor parenting" depending on which service you are trying to obtain help from.

The "diagnosis" or "label" needs to be summat people like ordinary teachers can google and get some idea of what the issues are easily, if you want it to be a genuine signpost to support in the real world. A simple ASD or "Autistic" label would have made my son's life a lot easier in terms of getting help.

Starlight, you are always saying if you don't get a DX others will label naughty/rude etc.

i have yet to find this to be the case with DS2

DS2 has a 'label' of SCD and i find it quite useful as it lets people know exactly what he has difficulties with.

I do acknowlege, however, that DS2 is high functioning.

Perhaps it is less that they WILL but more protection against them doing so. If you have documentary evidence of a 'label' then that can be as useful as a dx especially if it is specific enough (rather than ds has SN of some kind).

I am glad you have found the world kind though. You must live in a very different part of the world to me where undiagnosed SNs are blamed on parenting.

Maybe it's because we are just at the start of our journey to some sort of diagnosis and DD is only 3.5 yrs but I can't see how any of her issues could be blamed on bad parenting. She clearly has social communication issues and has significant speech delay but she is really well behaved, adaptable new situations and is mostly happy and tantrum-free.
Her NT sibling however seems to tick many more boxes for the difficult behaviour associated with ASD and is certainly the one people may accuse me of being a poor parent when they see her screaming, throwing her book bag across the playground and freaking out because on of the buttons on her shirt isn't done up.

Alice, i am the same as you, it is DS1 and even DS3 sometimes who have tantrums, fight and are rude to me, DS2 is a sweetie.

I have only felt lectured at and patronised once and that was by a dental nurse giving me a lecture about DS3's teeth (I did NOT enjoy that, so sympathise with those who get it all the time).

I am probably lucky, I live in a friendly small town and DS goes to a school with a very low staff turnover, so everyone knows everyone, they know I'm not a bad parent (most of the time).

We also don't have statements up here and i think that takes a lot of the confrontation and need for firm DX's out of the equation.

I hope people don't think I'm a bad parent. I know a dx will help, just never heard of SCD.

My son has a statement for social communication difficulties (SCD) which we have found very helpful as we did not want a full diagnosis and were not confident of current approach of spectrum being so wide.

We feel as a teenager now, we made the right decision and talk openly with our son about his previous issues or more to the point he talks openly with us about issues he remembers having.

I like SCD as it says exactly what the issue is. My experience is , even if you tell adults what difficulties your son has, they still treat them like a bad child, or politely exclude or see you as a deficient parent. On the other hand, some parents are appropriate. Once my son overcame most of his discernible difficulties, then people were a lot nicer. Whether your son has a label/statement, it is no protection from , in my experience, non- empathetic parents of which there are many but the teachers and professionals were fab! I persevered and invited every child to tea 2 or three times to keep him included despite their (parents) lack of encouragement.