Age at which best to get an assessment done.

[Mummyoftheyear]

My DS is unusual, quirky, eccentric...
It's hard for him to let go of his own will long enough to hear a d follow that of another's. hence, being in a school, doing what he's told and playing/ making friends isn't very successful. I'm a dyslexia assessor and know that 7 is the earliest age at which a reliable assessment of IQ can be made. I would like an assessment that incorporates IQ and also looks at PDA as a possibility.
He's going to be 6 in December.
Anyone else have/ had similar experience?

I've heard lots of people say 7 is a good age for borderline DC as the differences between those on the spectrum and NT DC really start to show up, but my DS wasn't particular borderline! He was assessed by paed and SALT at 3 and DXed at 3.5. His statutory assessment for a statement was around 5.10, at the end of his reception year and the EP managed to assess him fairly reliably with a range of 5th centile to 99th centile giving him a classically spiky profile. Some tests had to be abandoned as he would purposely give the wrong answer (his sense of humour. )

In summary, I would say that unless you have strong doubts the sooner the better. These things can take years and statutory assessment takes a minimum of 6 months, if pretty straightforward. School will probably want to start assessing him themselves and the waiting list for an EP could be many months. Start now, he may be 7 before it's done.

We were told symptoms of AS only become apparent after the age of 7, which is shite because my DS has had the symptoms since a baby and has since been diagnosed with AS. I would say by the age of 7 most development differences would stand out more.

AS. Autistic spectrum?

Not going for statutory assessment as we took him out if his state school so wouldn't be of use at his private school now. Just would rather have a label IF appropriate to:

1. have more patience and understanding with my own child.
2. so that teachers view him with a degree of knowledge and understanding vs intolerance.
3. strategies / techniques that might actually work. Lol

AS - generally used to mean Aspergers Syndrome. ASD - generally used to mean Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

In the US AS is now part of ASD and not given as a separate diagnosis. From what I understand the main difference in young children is AS children don't have a delay in language / speech development, while ASD children do.

Age 7 is used IMO because it is the age a child who has had their needs consistently ignored begins to become a problem in the classroom.

And the Steiner lot say it is when children leave their spiritual world and enter their concrete one on earth!!

Isn't there also (for boys anyway, if I remember my Steven Bidolph correctly), a hormone surge at around 7 years?

And it's when many children move from infant to junior classrooms, with very different expectations of behaviour etc...

I recall reading something about retained reflexes and neurodevelopmental delay years ago that said there is a developmental shift at around this age in the NT - something to do with higher brain function.