First appointment today

[FateLovesTheFearless]

Saw the community paed today with my 7 year old dd after getting a referral from my gp. She asked a lot of questions, did a variety of tests with my dd then told me that there were signs of autism. My dd will be having referrals for speech therapy, physio, audiology and there will be a meeting with the school along with a question are sent for me to fill in. I am a bit overwhelmed to be honest.

I thought my dd might be aspergers but she said signs of autism. Is it more likely then that she has some form of autism or could it still be either?

I'm sure someone more knowledgable than me will be along soon, but I just wanted to send some hugs to you. It is hard hearing from someone else that they think your child isn't NT. I have known for years that DS2 has HFA but he has now finally entered the diagnosis stage and it hurts.

Aspergers is a form of autism. Because a lot of people tend to say 'oh that's just Aspergers' assuming people with AS are just a bit quirky, rather than actually having real problems that impact on their life, the diagnosis of AS is being removed from the new diagnostic criteria, and being replaced with the single umbrella term of ASD (autistic spectrum disorder). In some places this changeover has already occured, in others it hasn't as some services are only available if a child has AS rather than different forms of ASD.

It was hard and a relief to be honest. I have known since she was two that something was not quite right but noone around me could see it. I an relieved that at last I know someone agrees with me and also sad, that I was right because life will be that little bit harder for my dd.

I must admit, I thought aspergers wasn't as serious as autism so I can see why they are changing things.

Big hug coming from me-I remember my daughters first appointment like yesterday!! I just hope that she will get all the help and provision that she needs now.

Does she cope ok in school?

She struggles with her school work, except maths, she is a whizz there. She is happy enough but her friends seem to take bouts of getting fed up of her and not playing with her for a while. She is quite severely behind with reading though the school have said they suspect dyslexia and will assess at the end of primary 3. She can get quite teary if there is too much noise going on or touching (p.e) but for the most she gets by.

Hugs to you and I hope her referrals come thick and fast for you. If they dont then make your phone a hotline lol :)

It is a hard wierd feeling that someone has agreed with your instincts for once and now it is real. But you are on the right path now to get her help and understanding for her bright future x