Discharged from occupational therapy - is this good?

[birdynumnums]

Apologies if I sound really thick here but Ds aged 4 has been referred everywhere for his difficulties and to be honest, I am confused over which department observes what. One specialist has suggested he may be on the autistic spectrum but said it was very difficult for her to tell as he is such a stubborn child. He was discharged from speech therapy as he had come on leaps and bounds plus they were budget cutting . He has just completed his initial 3 observational appointments with Occupational therapy and the therapist told me they were discharging him, had no concerns and would just write with advice on how to further help him. Have returned home and am now wondering if this means they don't think he has autism? Surely if they were concerned about that, they would want to continue seeing him for a while?

School say he is very behind in writing, drawing and concentrating and he is awaiting visit from an educational psychiatrist. He also is seen by the child development team but they just ask me questions and never tell me anything.

Hello. I don't know much about the diagnosing of ASD but do know that occupational therapists are not the ones to do it. My friends with children who have been diagnosed with ASD got the diagnosis from CAMHS. I have heard of some paediatricians who were able to give such a diagnosis too.

The OT should be able to advise on exercises to help improve fine motor skills and may recommend things like wobble cushions and fidget toys to help your child to concentrate if appropriate. The last one that we saw also recommended a particular handwriting course and a week of group therapy in the holidays.

Hopefully someone else on here can give advice on the process of obtaining an ASD diagnosis.

Good luck.