What do you think the pead tried to tell me?

[crazygal]

Hi....
Ds is adhd,and suspected aspergers all along
Yesterday we had our pead appointment....
We had filled out the social communication form quite a while ago and we thought this appointment would never come round,we just want to know what his diagnosis is!! and at long last the day was here....
In the office the pead went straight onto talking about her finding on the form,she said ds scored just above the cuff for aspergers,the cut off point is 16,and ds scored 17....
The pead said she is finding it hard to diagnose,
She mentioned the fact that we have a lady from camhs that started coming to our house,thats giving us anger and anxiety management for ds,is quite expert in asd,the pead said she is going to contact her to see hat see thinks,as she will be working closely with him over the next 8 weeks,
I asked the pead,'so has he a diagnosis?' and she said yes,but shes just not sure where on the spectrum he is,
she said it could be adhd and aspergers or adhd with social communication disorder...
We feel its a constant waiting game.....
We are just wondering what dx she will come out with....
Has anyone had a score just above the 'cuff'?

What difference will the specific dx make?

As he has an existing ADHD dx, you should be in regular contact to discuss support with school etc, he has a paed, he has experienced camhs support....

(Genuinely curious - ds1 is ADHD with aspergers traits, anxieties and phobias.)

I actually don't think with coexisting stuff like this that it is ever simple to box issues entirely, there is always so much crossover. And, I actually don't know that an actual specific dx is particularly useful or necessary, as long you have a dx of some description.

The list of issues he struggles with is more important at the end of the day, and you can be working happily with school and elsewhere to meet his needs with the ADHD (plus something-ish asd) dx. I actually don't even think it's possible to dx ds1 in entirety. He's a mixed bag.

Yes true...I suppose it wont make a difference...or will it??
Would i have to change the way i do things?would his meds change?
I'm not sure,the lady from camhs came round for the 1st time on tue,and she is going to put strategies in place...so it all helps,
The school will neeed more help as they said they just dont know what to do,so this lady is going to talk to them and send them ideas and charts that will work..
yes its true,with adhd,they can have a mix of things going on,i didnt realise how much tbh.

Well, his meds won't change because of a dx. They might change because of a symptom (ie his levels of hyperactivity or inattention aren't under control) or anxiety, or depression, or anything else, but they won't change because he gets 'ASD' on his dx. So, it's the actual clinical presentation that dictates the med, rather than the dx itself. Even with ADHD, there are a number of different meds to try. Ad every kid with this sort of dx is different, so there's no 'one size fits all' medication for a specific dx.

Camhs lady sounds great! And again, you know he has spectrum traits, so it would be entirely appropriate to look there for other ideas to complement. You might find some good coping strategies that will benefit you/ him/ school. Support is supposed to reflect need, not dx.

Our paediatrician felt able to diagnose ADHD but didn't feel confident enough to diagnose the Asperger's so referred us on to a tertiary centre for complex neurodevelopmental disorders. DS2's score was above the diagnostic cut-off by quite a margin in all three areas of difficulty associated with the autistic spectrum. Because his verbal development has always been very advanced, he most closely met the criteria for Asperger's as opposed to HFA.

Complexity may have consequences to treatments and interventions - whether or not they are appropriate or effective. There is also the prevalence issue in relation to lea - ie the number of children with ADHD as the primary need who are statemented compared to ASD.