autism/dyspraxia

[MumRum]

We've had a really long journey getting my daughter assessed for dyspraxia... the EP mentioned aspergers so CAMHS assessed her as well..
camhs conclude that all daughters difficulties are down to her dyspraxia...
the very next day we had a letter from the OT saying that DD no longer presents as a dyspraxic child...
so basicly they cancel each other out...
I rang camhs and they had just received the OT report as well...

anyway Camhs rang last week and they still say her social problems are part of her dyspraxia... but the OT has just phoned me as she has received the dx report and said her dyspraxia and social communication problems are completely different and should not lumped together...
I asked if she thought DD was more autistic and she said yes....
I asked what differents the autistic dx would be and she said DD would get more help at school....

I decided not to query the dx and leave it as dyspraxia but now wonder if I have done the right thing!!!
I know there is a big over lap with dyspraxia and autism,

What extra help would she get???... have I done the right thing by not backing up the OT...

help....

Your dd sounds like my ds. The OT has said he no longer needs therapy for his dyspraxia (well not much anyway), and he has just been assessed by CAMHS as definitely not having aspergers. In my ds's case, camhs say all of his social problems (which are very similar to aspergers) are down to his dyspraxia. I thought that the OT specialises in physical problems associated with dyspraxia - weak muscles tone, breathing exercises etc, I think that camhs probably has more experience in the social/mental side.

I am not challenging the dx we have got, but if you are unhappy, could you ask for a second opinion? I'm not sure it would really help to have a dx of aspergers

Oh i suppose they mean that if she was diagnosed with aspergers, she would get a statement and then qualify for more help at school(ds only has school action plus and didn't get any extra help), but I don't think this is by any means certain. Others on here probably know more about that then me.

Hi Pollyanna... Camhs said that daughter does have asd similarities... I'm not sure what extra help she would get....

I think that asd similarities are present in dyspraxia too, so that doesn't necessarily mean that she has asd. I don't know how the treatment differs for asd or dyspraxia. I suppose she might get more help at school for asd, but that would depend on how severe she is judged to be. How old is she?

she is 10 on friday... and will go up to year 6 when she goes back to school....

Hi Mumrum - after waiting 5 years for an asd dx I think I would probably ask for a second opinion.
If you are anything like me then it will niggle at you as you have different opinions.
IMO it is so much better to know and I feel like such a wait has been lifted!

We have had alot of different diagnoses already and ds is 7. When do you know when to stop? (is it down to intuition do you think?)

pollyanna - yes i think it is. As much as I really didn't want it to be asd and as much as many professionals reassured me it wasn't I just knew.
The school senco explained it very well in that knowing that dd has an official dx of asd means that people dealing with her know her needs a lot more. It also means now that we have access to the asd outreach team which funnily enough couldn't happen with the asd traits dx.

thanks for getting back to me... what really annoys me is that they say one thing while you are there and another on paper.... at the meeting they said DD would definately get the support she needs what ever the dx.. then in the draft letter it just said she would "benefit in support in thinking about relationships and how she would come across to others and well as reading and understanding facial expressions and gestures".. how would they do this?? would the school do it... would I have to do it....

I'll ring them tomorrow..

on a funnier note... my uncle said he had to give some one a ring and DD asked if he was getting married... bless her

thanks for getting back to me... what really annoys me is that they say one thing while you are there and another on paper.... at the meeting they said DD would definately get the support she needs what ever the dx.. then in the draft letter it just said she would "benefit in support in thinking about relationships and how she would come across to others and well as reading and understanding facial expressions and gestures".. how would they do this?? would the school do it... would I have to do it....

I'll ring them tomorrow..

on a funnier note... my uncle said he had to give some one a ring and DD asked if he was getting married... bless her

lol aww how sweet. dd takes things literally like that too!

I think it is so important to get the right dx as it does sign post your child's needs more specifically.

I def. think with an asd dx you would get more help. For a start the autism outreach team could come in and observe (as they are with my own dd).

Girls, especially on the milder end of asd are so much harder to dx. I know friends of mine whose children haven't been dx until 14!

You know where I am if you need any more help xx

MumRum, I had a meeting with my ds's camhs person yesterday and she told me the same thing. It was very upsetting, from being told he was ok-ish, they told me that they had observed him at school and he isn't ok. He also needs to sort out relationships etc or he is going to be lonely and bullied . They said they can help in this by running group sessions where all the children are "trained" in social interaction. Ds definitely has the problem that he can't see his peers' perspective in how he behaves. He also doesn't seem to have any of the social skills other children do. The psych person didn't know whether that would come in time or not. In addition, they were no longer so sure he doesn't have aspergers.

I'd be interested to know how you get on - it seems as though we're on the same path

Re: the social skills aspect - The school may have a social skills group already or may even set one up. My ds1's mainstream primary has one of these. It's used both for children with SN in the more traditional sense and those who lack social skills due to other circumstances. They are taught things like turn-taking or conversational skills. Ds1 has also been learning what different facial expressions mean.

For specific social situations your dd may also be able to use social stories. (Google Carol(E) Gray for more info about these). You can also write your own at home and/or buy books with pre-written ones in that you could adapt for your dd.

I would definitely agree that there can be an overlap with dyspraxi and ASD. Ds1 is 6, has ASD and has a lot of the difficulties associated with dyspraxia, eg poor co-ordination, poor balance, can't pedal a bike etc. The OT has given us some exercise sheets and books to work through. The idea is to re-train his brain. He does similar exercises at school too as part of their sensory integration programme.

Ds1 has no statement and is on School Action Plus.

Hi I would go for second opinion if your not happy go back. DS is 7 and i've been trying since he was 3 to get an answer local paediatrics wouldn't diagnose said not enough evidence but did show tendencies. I was very upset by this and felt in limbo with him. Got him referred to hospital and got a diagnosis first visit he has mild autism and mild DCD developmental coordination disorder which now means he gets extra funding in school for one to one and school is aware and understands his behaviour, we have regular meetings with teachers, senco, psychologist, speech & language to discuss what support and where to go next with him, alot more than before. Hope this helps