Probable ASD diagnosis today-so was this it all along? And ASD?

[used2bthin]

So I have been on these boards wondering recently about whether DD1 has an ASD and today the community paed said yes she seems to but we will wait till we see our hospital psychologist for full assessment to see more in depth where she is. DD1 had this psychologist already due to her genetic condition.

Till now all we have had in terms of her learning /behaviour/speech and lang issues was SLI but never in writing as diagnosis, global dev. delay or learning difficulties.

My question is how many types of ASD are there? Will go to NAS too now to look more but thought some of you would know lots on this. She apparently doesnt have classical autism but I am guessing she also doesnt have aspergers due to her speech and language being so severely affected (she still speaks in very very simplified and disordered ways ie bee go deep would be how she would say can she go to sleep now/soon. She is six.)

Hi used, all children with ASD are different and there is a huge range of abilities and difficulties associated with it.

Communication is a big part of the disorder as are sensory issues.

Your Dd would probably fit into the High functioning autism criteria, children who are not classically autistic but have had or continue to have a speech delay.

I wouldnt worry too much about where she fits tbh because they are changing the criteria next year anyway.

If you can, pick out the areas that cause your Dd the most difficulties and work on those first.

For my Dd we find sensory issues and not always understanding what is expected of her cause the most problems.

good luck and be kind to yourself

Hi, thank you. She has such severely affected language issues though that she is functioning at a two to three year old's level in some areas and is way below where she should be in others so I am not asure if she is hugh functioning although in some areas not relating to language she is above average (technical stuff or puzzles etc).

Ah yes the criteria is changing! Any idea when? We are seeing our psychologist for assessments the beginning of january so it will be next year she is being properly diagnosed (although today the consultant did say she is confident she is on the autistic spectrum).

I suppose I wonder how this changes things for us-possibly not much as the strategies that have worked are things geared towards people with ASD anyway. But possibly in terms of support...? Or maybe that is over optimistic?!

little bump, haven't even told my parents yet. I suspect no one will be that surprised though.

Yes the paediatrician noted how good dd's eye contact was but it was with her dad and not all the time. But things like that have confused things tbh as has the silly doctor we'd been seeing till today (after I complained).

I met someone at the pool yseterday who described her dd as having ASD rather than saying she had autism. I thought ah maybe she has asperers but maybe not it seems as now I would say the same about mydd. Do people usually get a more defined diagnosis after assessment do you know?

Oh also does that mean my dd has autsim? even though she doesnt have classical autism?

Sorry used, I have been madly running Dd3 around this evening.

For some reason all her acitivities are on a wednesday atm.

I dont know when the criteria is changing, I read 2013 somewhere but nothing more than that.

leonie and I have both come across proffs who have trouble seeing ASD in girls so it doesnt surprise me either that it has taken a while to spot it in your Dd.

Once you have found a proff that actually recognises ASD in girls hang on to him/her with a vice like grip, they are hard to comeby

Good luck

Thanks and will do! She said dd's obsessions were unusual in a girl her age (fans, clocks, thomas, fire alarms!!)and that her dislike of transitions and sensory issues were strong indications and she's confident that it is ASD just from what we discussed-very different to the registrar we've seen the last two times who said dd displayed good imaginary play just because she was making toys talk to each other (actually she was repeating what she'd seen done with toy dolls). So so wish I'd pushed for this sooner, I really thought no way was ASD the issue and thought Dd was really complicated when in actual fact we could have been working around her issues all along (have been recently on the basis that she has sensory issues etc) but no point thinking like that I guess.

Leonie posted something about imagination a couple of weeks ago.

It was about the criteria being about social imagination, the ability to think what is going to happen next or what will happen if things change. [I think thats what it was anyway]

My Dd3 plays for hours with playmobil, so would appear to have a good imagination. She doesnt though because her play is either retelling things that have happened to her or on the TV. she replays episodes of Tracy Beaker or currently Helicopte Hereos.

Dont worry about the time that has gone, you know now and can focus you efforts onto developing strategies that work for you and your Dd.

I would recommend visuals, visuals, visuals oh and visuals

yes thats what my dd does and when I or someone else has shown her how to play something she can repeat that and variations of it or storylines from tv etc so it looks like it is imaginative but is repetition.

And thanks yes the visual planner is going well. Very interesting about not being able to imagine whats next as she gets so stressed when about to go anywhere and I often say but she wants to go, why is she then hitting me and throwing herself against the wall rather than getting her shoes on!
I do think she has been more obviously on the AS the older she has got.