Diagnosis today

[crappypatty]

Thanks to everybody on MN for their support (have namechanged a few times).

ds had ADOS this morning and we were told results afterwards.

He scored highly and was given an Autism Dx.

How are you feeling? It's such a big step to finally get the dx, but even when you've known it it your heart it can still be very hard to hear it confirmed.

DS was 3.9 when he had his dx confirmed.

Feel relieved if anything, this is the third dx we have had. Private dx of HFA but because he didn't use ADOS it wasn't accepted. NHS paed gave HFA dx but everybody else insisted on ADOS before any support was put in place.

He is very obvious but at the same time very verbal and HF. I had no idea how they score ADOS so was worried he might be just under cut off and just get a dx of traits, in our area that means no help or support.

I was cringing at some of the things he was saying and doing during the ADOS. He talks about Tom & Jerry cartoon and makes it sound like Texas chain saw massacre. He is really gentle but sounds so blood thirsty.

The pysch who did the ADOS has met and observed ds before, and she did say "well we knew what the outcome was going to be" He actually scored really high across all areas and was way past the cut off, so she said although he is highly intelligent, he is also has severe autism.

Just got to wait for the report now, and she seemed pretty certain that getting one to one for him now wouldn't be a problem. We shall see.

((((hugs)))) crappypatty. I hope this will indeed open some doors for your DS.

My DS2 is 12 and also very autistic but with pretty good intelligence. He has come on loads since he was DXed at 3.6, just by the paed, no ADOS here! He's bright enough to have learnt lots of coping strategies and is in a MS secondary. So there is lots of hope fr the future.

Where are you with getting support at school?

Just re-read your last post. You need to be getting Statutory Assessment kicked off. Don't wait for the school, although it helps if they are supportive. You can request it yourself, there are standard letters on the IPSEA website. SOSSEN and ACE websites are also useful.

It is upsetting and a relief at the same time to get a DX. Hope you're coping with the emotions. agree about SA. It can take months to get all forms filled in etc.

After going through dx process twice before I am glad that the ADOS finally ended the assessments for you and now you can make sure things are put into place as they have no excuse to deny it.

I agree start the SA off yourself. It takes a long time to go through so I wouldnt wait for the school to get around to it :)