5 day assessment starting this week - what to tell our possibly AS/HFA DS (age 4)?

[skidd]

How did you explain the assessment process to your DC? DS1 is pretty aware/curious etc so I think some kind of explanation is needed. Don't want it to sound negative (to try and find out what's wrong with you), and I think best not to mention ASD at this stage (?), have thought about something like, to see if your brain works differently... any suggestions?

Thank you

bump?

I don't think you need to worry too much about it. How is it different from any other new experience? Starting nursery, a club, going to a soft play, staying with a childminder.

It won't be done in a 'medical' setting with scary equipment or anything, it will just be questions and playing. For all she knows every child has an 'assessment' when they are 4.

Yy, didn't have any issues - just announced it as we would any other activity/ outing/ holiday/ trip/ dentist appt.

As the majority of it is play based with great and experienced staff, we proposed it as a great opportunity to play with/ go and see x, after the first day.

The bigger 'thing' you make it, the bigger 'thing' dc will see it as, with concomitant problems.

If it's HEPAC, they are lovely.

we called them meetings, to talk about DD (4yrs) and how she was getting along with things, especially since she'd not long started school.

there will be other children about in waiting rooms etc, and the clip-boards and note-taking tied in perfectly with her idea of 'meetings'

OK thanks for the feedback, you are all right - his life is full of new and unknown experiences - no need to treat this as any different. Thank you - I think my general nervousness/uneasiness had clouded my judgement - it has been a long journey to get to this point and feeling scared it will come to nothing again...

i understand the nervous feeling, who are you seeing, can anyone here help at all?

thanks unchartered. We are going to see a variety of people: SLT, OT, psychologist, paed, dentist (why??), orthoptist, opthamologist... don't really know what they will do though

I know it's different ine every area - we're in Oxfordshire so if anyone who's been through an assessment here, and info would be great

Thanks

Dentist and ophthalmologist might be to check for/rule out things like facial characteristics of Fragile X or Marfan's syndrome -- also, more basically, to check that painful teeth and poor eyesight aren't somehow at the root of whatever difficulties you've noticed. For instance, there's the business of using coloured overlays to help children with dyslexia.

Probably more a case of box ticking than actual use, I should think.

i think it's brilliant that you're getting the chance for these assessments now, hopefully you'll have a very broad picture of your DS

when you say 5 day, is this all week then?

Yy, I asked if you were going to HEPAC, but you ignored me....

They were v lovely with dd2. Even the paed who dropped the measuring pole on her head...

The assessments were all scheduled over a 5 day period, with the lovely nursery staff supervising in between (they are kind of like play leaders, but are also taking notes, lol. ) so some days you might have a later start etc, it depends on the times of your appts. We certainly weren't there from 9-5, five days a week. From memory, the Friday is parents only, where they go through the assessments with you.

yes that sounds exactly the same madwoman - sorry don't know what HEPAC is?

unchartered - it was supposed to be all of next week but they swapped one day next week for this Thursday as the psychologist is away next week - so Thurs this week and then 4 days next week

lancelottie - that is interesting that they might be checking for facial characteristics of a particular syndrome. He has a squint and goes regularly to the Eye Hospital for that so they already know about his vision

Do they ever do blood tests, does anyone know? I sometimes wonder if he has a chromosome trisomy, which (I think) they would know from a blood test

My instinct is that he will not meet criteria for diagnosis (AS/HFA) as his imagination is good (I think) but my good friend who is an autism researcher has assured me that they know how to detect subtle impairments like those of DS (she thinks he will get a diagnosis of PDD-NOS or AS)

Just googled HEPAC - no, it's not there, another hospital nearby - wierd they aren't doing it there since they're so close

V odd. Unless HEPAC has been closed for some reason and they have moved the clinic?

No genetic testing afaik, but they will obviously refer to geneticist if plausible - dd2 didn't have bloods taken but her assessment was different (she already had her dx, but we moved into the area, so it was to get her seen by all specialists and into the right therapies iysim. It was the easiest way to get current assessment and into the oxon system, as no one believes anyone else in medicine and they all have their own ideas about what treatment is necessary)

Hope it goes well. They do make it very easy!

went really well today

Really really lovely psychologist - asked lots of questions, took our answers seriously, and did an IQ test with DS. Said he defnitely shows autistic traits and she isn't sure whether he'll meet diagnostic criteria atm but that even if he doesn't they'll keep monitoring him and he may get one further down the line.

So relieved that our concerns were taken seriously and we were listened to - at last. God bless that lovely psychologist {and she was a punk }

That's good, well, you know what I mean... psych sounds great, always good when you get a nice professional.

thanks ellen, yes a good professional makes all the difference, The paed we were seeing said DS might have attachment disorder completely out of the blue and for no reason so having our concerns taken seriously is refreshing to say the least