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DISCO

6 replies

neverputasockinatoaster · 17/05/2012 17:09

We've just got a date for a DISCO with the community Paed. Does anyone have an idea of the sorts of things they will ask? Is there a version on the web somewhere?
I don't perform well under pressure and would like to use the 3/4 weeks we have before the date to get mt head together.....

Thank you!

OP posts:
Ineedalife · 17/05/2012 18:43

Yes Dd3 was dxed using the DISCO. They start at the beginning, birth details what they were like as a baby.

Family history, one else with issues, we mentioned depression and alchoholism in the family.
It asks about anxiety, behaviour, routines, eating, sleeping. Just everything really.

It is scored so 0 for no problem, 1 for a minor problem and 2 for significant issues i think.

I couldnt find it anywhere on the web and the person doing it has to be trained.

It takes a long time to do, they recommended 6 hrs to us but i think it took 4 in 3 sessions.
It saved us!! We were ready to give up trying to get a dx for Dd3, I was so relieved when the psychiatrist said it had helped her to give her an ASD dx.

Make sure you dont pretend things are not so bad, you wouldnt be going for a dx if your dc didnt need one and you are not betraying him or her by telling it how it is. I found this quite difficult at first but it is the best thing to do.

Good luck, i am off to guides now but will check back laterSmile

neverputasockinatoaster · 17/05/2012 19:02

Thank you - I am hoping OH will be able to get time off to come. They don't want to have DS there at the mo - they will do the child stuff later I think but they have already seen him and had reports from school etc.
They reckon 3 to 4 hours for our bit! I am guilty of the not telling it how it is thing which is why I wanted to thik it through first and may be have some notes to hand.

OP posts:
Ineedalife · 17/05/2012 21:30

We didnt take Dd3 either she was assessed by the MH nurse, we were at camhs.

The psych asked for us both to be there and surprisingly we both had similar answers to the questionsGrin.

I remembered some other things she made quite a big thing of, out spoken behaviour eg saying Mum look at the big fat man etc.

And whether she swings her arms when she walks! Apparently people with ASD often dont.

Dd3 doesnt, she randomly flaps her arms, twists her hands and moves her fingers alot but no arm swinging.

If i think of anything else i will post again, good luckSmile

Oblomov · 18/05/2012 16:41

We did DISCO with CAMHS.
As needalife says, it kind of starts at the beginning and goes through, just about everything you could think of.
We started with my pregnancy, his birth, how he feed and slept as a baby. First milestones and developments. And then we went on and on and on. A diary of his life, basically.
So, here might be a good point for me to suggest to you, as you probably have already done, to make detailed notes, to take with you:

did he cry alot, breastfeed alot? colic? when did he walk, talk, did you have concerns, wehn, why. give the exact age he was, the exact date, if you can.

She kept asking me when he did a/b/c/ and I couldn't remmeber, so it might be a good idea to refer to your red book, as part of your notes, before you go.

Right down every date you can remember.. when you went on holiday and he said to the woman in the caravan next to you. 'Blimey aren't you fat', when he went round to your freinds house and said .....
the fact that your mum noticed a/b/c, and thta your friend said he was ' a-social'. and that he 'talked like a little old man'. That he was obsessional about .... pottermore, or thomas the tank. The time, aged 2.2 that he..... flapped and had a tantrum that lasted .... hrs etc etc.
You need to write down and remember every single that's every happened. every time you thought now thats odd.

You know how the triad works, right? so you know what they are lookign for, for a diagnosis ? right.
I'm only suggestign these things becasue its so easy to forget and kick yourself later, that you forgot to mention some of the most important things.
HTH

Jerbil · 18/05/2012 17:37

try and remember what they played with too. that one was a challenge for me, also things (if verbal) what they may say that's unusual for their age. if i remember any more I'll post later on. if you do it over more than one session and you just simply cannot remember chances are you'll remember the minute you walk out so keep a note and tell them on the next visit.

baboos · 18/05/2012 17:38

I would agree with the others... make lots of notes, they only need to be one liners as a prompt.

We were put on the waiting list (average wait 1 year) for DISCO. We didn't get that far as sadly the comprehensive notes that I had been keeping which I forwarded to Paed, along with lots of evidence from preschool and nursery meant that his paed decided it was pretty obvious to all that he was ASD.

Paed actually said to me though that what I had given in her note form was exactly what the DISCO was all about.

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