Full cognitive assessment

[propercheesed]

Ok the results I have been given(verbally) for my ds 6 yrs 11 1/2 mths.

VERBAL COMPREHENSION-outstanding(?)
PERCEPTUAL REASONING-high average
WORKING MEMORY-low average
PROCESSING SPEED-top low average

EP also flagged EMOTIONAL LITERACY-below average

She didn't see anything from the first questionnaire both myself/school supplied before her first visit , he is perfectly capable of completing his work but if he doesn't see the purpose he will not do it, and she mentioned using a more sensitive approach to teaching.

He does not fit the triad of impairments therefore CAMHS will tell me the same because they are very good at their job and will see it for themselves.....ok am I just being paranoid or is my parenting skills being questioned yet again or is she simply telling me my sons probs lie in the way he is being taught?

At the moment we are getting more and more worried as our ds has openly told us he wants to throw himself off a bridge and kill himself because when we get cross(raise our voices so he can hear us...not even being cross????) he thinks we don't love him any more!!!

This is how I feel right now :( that my ds could even think we don't love him...we tell/show him every day, and also at what was said, because if it was not for that stupid feckin school I would not have spent the past 2 years probably over analysing everything!, but at the same time because I have been told by a professional that he does not have AS(which apparently you do not see signs of until after the age of 7?).

When I told DH about the call he just said ok lets get it confirmed by CAMHS and we will go from there :) bless him.

Who says he doesnt fit the triad of impairments?

My ds scores (from memory so approximate)

Verbal 86th centile
non verbal 96th centile
spatial 99th centile
IQ 95th centile

He has a dx of general ASD.

Hi pipin...not the best he confuses people being nice and people being nasty so reacts wrong to those situations, talks over people while they are discussing something sometimes changes the subject/stands far too close.

Hello, claw the EP she said he is showing very few traits.

or rather some traits sorry.

Would also add CAMHS will always question your parenting skills, its their job, dont take it personally.

The Triad of impairments are social communication, social imagination, social interaction. None of which EP tested above, she is not qualified to diagnose ASD and she has stated he is showing some traits, which is good, not bad.

Social communication - Does your ds talk about only the things that interest him? My ds for example can answer questions when asked, but this is more 'formal', 'informally he will rarely intiate a conversation unless its of something of interest to him.

Social imagination - Can your ds incoporate the ideas of others, into his? For example my ds is very good at turn taking or any games with 'rules' he loves a rule, in fact he will get upset if someone doesnt follow the 'rules'. But with pretend play, although he will happily go along with someone elses ideas, he cannot generate any of his own to add to it. He follows his own agenda.

Social interaction - Does your ds have any friends who he sees outside of school. My ds desperately wants to interact, but cant do so appropriately.

Up to a point whether he fits the triad of impairments right now isn't the issue. He may or may not fit that diagnosis later as challenges change and his ability or inability to cope with them becomes more obvious. ( I say this from pov of parent of a child diagnosed with traits and 7 and AS at 12.)

But EP's report does highlight a huge disparity between the four areas tested. this spiky profile of eg v high verbal reasoning and very low working memory is typical of AS but not just AS. Point is he will need support and tailored teaching to make up the defecit otherwise he will struggle to demonstrate his giftedness/strengths in first two areas.

Again the emotional continence issues & talking inappropriately about death are pretty typical of AS but, whatever the cause, should be taken seriously by CAMHS. Don't know the history with the school but have you been referred to camhs or seen them yet?

Claw-yes he does answer questions when asked but he will only start a conversation with someone when its about something that interests him.Ds tends to make his own rules for games yet if there are rules(house rules) he will enforce them on others.As for friends he does want them but he struggles to interact with them...and never gets invited to birthday parties :( he has said on many occassions he is lonely and he has no friends yet the school say he has lots of friends .

Hi pink, Yes we got referred to CAMHS by our GP due to the school telling us various things(asd, aspergers etc) and his behaviour at school deteriorating...pysically aggressive towards staff and other children, we went for initial appointment 2 months ago they asked about our main concerns which where social and definatly behaviour at school(talk of death has started since then, I have been taking a note of it all) they said they would wait and see how EPs strategies helped and arrange another meeting(which is on 28th may)...during the initial appointment ds was there and the lady observing said he was making it very easy to see everything she needed to eg imagination etc etc and also said she could see a great deal of skills? with a huge smile on her face.

I have the same problem with school not noticing ds's social skills. They do not realise that wanting to sit on the same table as your peers and wanting to interact with peers, does not equal actually being able to do so and being successful at doing so.

The fact he doesnt get invited to friends parties and doesnt see them outside of school, speaks volumes. Maybe write a list of your concerns for next meeting.

I had the same difficult to begin with at least, with CAMHS, upon first meeting ds i was told they didnt see any of the difficulties associated with ASD. Their reason for thinking so was he was 'polite'!! Do you have a child development centre, who specialise in diagnosing ASD that your ds can be referred to.

Once ds was assessed by ASD specialists, it was as plain as the nose on your face, that he had ASD.

Well thats just it when he had his easter concert he got upset when all of the parents where leaving and he wanted to come home with me..I reassured him and told him to go and sit back with his friends to which he told me they aren't my friends they are just in the same class!! and these are the children he will spend his breaktimes with.

EP did keep telling me what a beautiful/lovely boy he was(spent 2 hrs contucting the tests) which we know this is why we find it so hard to imagine him being violent!

I will look into the child development centre. But right now we feel as though we are back to square one in regards to Ds but glad steps are being taken to help him at school.

Its good that he recognises he doesnt have 'friends' the fact he feels he doesnt should be taken into account, especially by CAMHS. EP concluded that ds HAS friends, because he could name 5 children in his class!! When ds is asked who his friends are, he will say he has loads, but he also says he has '86 girlfriends'!

Im sure your ds can be a beautiful/lovely boy and is a credit to you, doesnt mean he cannot be violent or not so lovely at times though!

As Pink said earlier in the thread, a diagnosis is almost irrelevant as long as his needs are being met. Although, a diagnosis sometimes makes meeting needs easier and also results in you being taken more seriously. Good luck

Pipinjo, exactly diagnosis doesnt always mean help either, same problem here! I think the only way it has helped us so far, is that others now realise i am not making it all up!

You are probably right about there being 86 girls in the school, who ds regards as his friends, he is usually very exact and has probably counted them! But ds's version of 'friends' is anyone who has been nice to him, even in the slightest, even if they then hit him, as long as they have shown a bit of niceness at some point!

Oh yes, my experience too but you cannot argue with a dx, he has it there in black and white. Now i just make up the difficulties! and hear things such as 'he only has those difficulties on paper'! Im not sure how that works, a difficult has been identified by an expert, its a functional difficulty, but only happens on paper. I feel like im living in a 1d world

Yes I am well aware that everyone can be violent but when we don't see that behaviour at home it is hard to vision him being that way, we didn't argue that he wouldn't do that(sun shines out of bottom etc) we were miffed..if that makes any sense.

Anyways will see what happens on 28th I will mention the death etc but like EP said they are good at their jobs so they will see and hopefully we will finally know.

He seems happier at school since EPs first visit(even though he won't speak about school anymore). Will see how strategies continue to improve his work/reading/behaviour.

Thanks everyone for your responses they are much appreciated

Sorry Propercheesed, i read that the wrong way, i thought it was EP who was saying that he couldnt be violent and you were saying he was!!

If it is totally out of character for your ds to be violent, i assume in school? then they need to focus on why he is acting out of character.

Its ok sometimes I have a tendancy to confuse peeps, I have wrote on so many threads over the past few months I just presume everyone knows what I'm on about ....and no doubt i'll be back on here after 28th confusing everyone some more

I know exactly what you mean! but it was was my reading, i need to put my glasses on i think

If its any help to you my ds often talked about 'wishing he was dead' etc. He had a year and half therapy at CAMHS which really did help both of us. For him he really enjoyed going and for me and him they got a really good understanding of ds and what was causing his anxieties.

He also misreads voices and he is hypersensitive.