Should I correct the paediatrician? Early stages of diagnosis

[chummymummy]

Hi, I am a lurker on this thread and just wanted to ask a few questions re my ds. He is 6 1/2 yrs old and we have been concerned about some of his behaviour for a while. He is very easily distracted,cannot concentrate and is very anxious. That is a very brief description. We spoke to the senco who agreed on a referral for possible autism.
We have recently seen a pardiatrician. She spoke to us and then observed him very briefly. We have received a letter from her and she reccomends seeing an educational psychologist. However she states that she doesnt think that autism is an issue based on her limited observation of him. My problem with her letter is that she has stated that he glues his fingers. He doesnt. He blows them repetatively and continuosly. This is something that the school has observed. She also states that his birth and antenatal period was uneventful. It wasnt. He was born via emergrncy c section, wasnt breathing and spent the first week in nicu being treated for respiratory difficulties. There were no long term implications.

I am in the middle of filling out the gars autism questionnaire to send back to her. I was wondering whether I should write a quick note correcting her mistakes?

Yes do, the documentation can become relevant at various points. Alos while she might dispute the blowing/glueing in terms of its her observation she cant really dispute the birth things where shes just got it wrong

I agree. Politely thank her for her letter but say there were a couple of factual inaccuracies and set them out.

Thanks, I thought she was quite dismissive. The school senco and ds's teacher have been really good in helping him with his anxieties. They have seen him first hand and know how to help him.

The paediatrician asked him a few questions. I dont know if she was aware but every question she asked was answered with a 'yes' or a 'good'. I had sat him down before the meeting and explained that the dr would want to talk to him and that he should answer all her questions. If I didnt tell him what to do he would have been stumped. I didnt want him to panic, but now I feel I should have just let him.

Also, she mentioned seeing a salt in the meeting, but hasnt requested this in the letter. shall I query this while I am at it?

Thanks, I have written my 2 page 'quick note', highlighting the issues. Having reread the paediatricians letter, I have realised that she has also d.o.b wrong.. so I am losing faith fast...

The vibe I get is that it takes a lot of pushing to get things moving in the right direction. The school senco seems to think this is particularly true when dealing with borderline cases like my ds. I get a lot of 'dont be silly' and 'he is just eccentric', as though I am looking for fault in my child rather then trying to help him.

As expectations grow, so does his confusion and panic. I try to keep things as calm as possibe for him, but that worry is always there in his eyes. Oh well, I will persevere...

Definatly correct the pead the amount of times I've been quizzed on dds birth details so its obviously relevant so for her to get it wrong could be a big thing