In your experience, is it in the school's interest to seek a diagnosis?

[PiPoPiddlyPo]

School is pushing for us to request a referral for DD to be assessed for ASD. She's doing well at school, apart from a few minor behavioural issues.
I'm unsure whether to go down this route as DD doing well, I was happy to wait and see for now at least. But her school are really pushing me to get her referred, and I'm just wondering whether their concerns are justified or whether it suits them for her to have a diagnosis?

Yes it is better for the school. The child will have difficulties whether diagnosed or not. With a diagnosis they have a clue as to what strategies might help and 'may' be able to apply for further funds to support them in meeting her needs.

They also have an often misguided perception that if you as a parent get a diagnosis then you can access support or strategies that will improve her behaviour when she is in their care. It also fulfils their preferred method of partnership which is of the 'outreach' type and undiagnosed children can be considered the offspring of parents who need their concern/expertise/help etc.

My LA had specific support for children whose challenging behaviour in school was caused by an ASC, which wasn't available for children whose behaviour had other causes. Without a diagnosis DS's school would not have been able to get that help.

To be honest, it might be in your DD's interest to get a referral now. Demands and expectations increase the further up the school your DD goes, and the teacher may be concerned that she wont keep up later on. Referrals take time, and if she struggles later on or if her behaviour becomes more challenging you'd still have to wait for assessment. My DS was an "emergency case" and it still took months, and that was fast according to what I've heard. Apart from emergency cases like my DS, his reception teacher saw it as part of her job to start the process of getting assessments and help in place for any other children who might struggle further up the school.

And some of the help I got out of school did help my DS in school, for example he got access to an NHS social-skills group which helped him get along better in school.

Thanks. Yes her teacher mentioned all those reasons Kleinzeit. I guess that whilst I agree that DD has some difficulties, and could do with a bit of help from me and her teachers, I don't think they're severe enough for diagnosis. Like I say she's 7 now and is doing fine, and I find it hard to imagine that things could deteriorate so much later on. I'm hesitant to get a diagnosis "just in case".

Exactly I don't think she'll get one so that's why I'm wondering why the pressure? Unless I'm completely missing something that they can see? But honestly I think I would've noticed if her problems were that bad!

Have you asked the school what their concerns are? If you met my DS in a social situation, you would most likely think he is completely 'normal'.

In a school situation, he is anything but. He finds the need to sit down in his chair/conform/follow instructions/do work on demand and to a time limit almost impossible. So he fidgets/stands on his head/hums/chants/wanders off etc. Because he's largely in control of what's going on at home, he doesn't do much of that. I'm fairly sure you wouldn't notice.

And in answer to your question, I can't see there's any downsides to diagnosis. What it means for your DD is that she's more likely to get the support she needs at school (which is likely to grow as she gets older) and putting a plan in place to deal with potential issues. Without a DX, it's a constant struggle to explain what her issues are and dealing with problems after they've already started

Well, I’ve seen how fast things can go downhill. In just two weeks my DS went from – according to his nursery report – a perfectly ordinary “happy friendly boy” with a sense of humour and the occasional tantrum when things didn’t go his way - to a raging violent monster when he started primary school. The change of environment was all it took.

And your DD’s teacher probably wont have said this to you, but what happens if your DD gets an unsympathetic teacher next year, one who is not willing to tolerate those minor behavioural issues and thinks all your DD needs is more strict discipline? That could start a downward spiral. This referral could give you the formal recognition of your DD’s difficulties which would protect her, and just now you have the support of your DD’s teacher to get it.

And like polter says, if your DD is assessed she will only be given a diagnosis if her difficulties really are serious enough to qualify for one. (And possibly not even then.) Girls especially can be good at masking the signs of ASC difficulties day to day and fitting in, but that in itself is very exhausting and can lead to problems later on.

I know this is a very tough decision. But (unless you have reason to think otherwise) I would trust the teacher's experience, she probably does have your DD's best interests at heart.

I'd look at it 2 ways. If a diagnosis is given (and they're not given easily!) then I think you just live with the diagnosis until your child a) develops more symptoms in which case you'll be glad that you have it as a passport for 'some' support; or b) your child doesn't get the diagnosis and you go back to school armed with the knowledge that they were wrong. the child then doesn't have to declare their diagnosis. its their choice when they get older at least that's what i was told.

Wow, unusual to hear of this really, Most of us have had to battle and chip away for years to get a diagnosis, let alone recognition of issues from school.

I've had SENCO 'tell me off' in the playground as I've gone to too many people (teachers) for help (no one listened or communicated between one another). This is because they didnt see issues. DS was diagnosed in year 1.

I know I'm babbling but what Im trying to say is that they saw nothing in year 1. DS now has dx of ASD, SPD, dyslexia, visual stress, and now has symptoms of OCD that have affected him massively. He's always struggled educationally but never far enough back to be of concern.

Ive been requesting them to acknowledge his needs since reception. Now. school are now applying for support due to the deterioration of his condition, education, happiness and everything else.

I sincerely hope your DC never deteriorates and needs any of this support, but from my own experience I would recommend you did the referral while its on offer, just in case. Maybe even for peace of mind if no dx is forthcoming. Good luck.

Whilst it should absolutely be your decision as zzzz says in our case it was true that the school saw things that we did not see because our ds's were our only children so we regarded their behaviour as normality whereas school had experience of lot's of children. Like Kleinzeit we also went from very few problems (before age nine) just a bit quirky to lots of problems in a matter of weeks. I remember feeling smug after a meeting with the HT telling me they had no behaviour problems at age six. Unfortunately, by age 10 ds1 had been permanently excluded and ds2 was school refusing. I wish we had recognised earlier (they are both AS) their difficulties and put in support.

I was in exactly the same position when DS1's school SENCo came up to me in the playground after he started in Y1 (Montessori school for reception and he was fine btw). We'd always known he was hard work, but at home we didn't have what we called serious problems with him.

I was reticent about getting him diagnosed and resisted it for a while, but then two things happened. One was that I started watching him with other kids at school, and saw how differently he behaved. He talked to them while standing too close, didn't read social cues and didn't let others talk but talked over them until they got bored and wandered off. As a consequence he often got left out of group activities.

The other thing that happened is that DS2 started at a different school (long story) and HIS school's SENCo started talking to us about a possible diagnosis. They eventually were both diagnosed 2 months apart with mild ASD (they don't dx as AS in these parts any more) and a couple of co-morbids.

We still don't have many problems at home with them, they are lovely, intelligent, loving boys who make me laugh all the time. But they have problems at school which they get help with, in particular social skills, extra help with writing (OT etc) and regular sessions with a learning mentor who talks through some things they have difficulty with.

One thing I would say though is that once they have a diagnosis there is, in our experience, s@d all chance of keeping it quiet. The school SENCo would hunt us down in the playground and talk about what they were doing with them at school in front of other parents, and the other kids in their class all knew. You do find quickly that some parents will avoid us (in case it's catching I think ) while the nicer ones stick around and the boys have friends round all the time.

Our concerns about diagnosis are 1) its a label that will stay on her medical records for life 2) what you say pleasenomoreminecraft about stigma and stereotypes and people treating your child differently, or avoiding her :( That's really horrible that some parents avoided you 3) the teacher has already said that IF she was diagnosed she wouldn't qualify for any extra help at the moment as she's doing well - so it would be pointless for this reason.

The benefits of a diagnosis according to the teacher are providing future teachers with an understanding of her difficulties, and if she does have more serious problems later on then help can be put in place more quickly because the waiting list for diagnosis is very long.

Of course what I want is what will be the best decision for DD, but I'm completely thrown by all of this because up till now we had no suspicions at all. We knew DD was slightly eccentric and prone to tantrums but put that down to personality and immaturity. And everyone I've spoken to who knows DD has said the same. The school has an ASD base and so I would imagine there are a number of experienced staff and that's why they've mentioned it as a possibility. And obviously the teachers will see her in a different environment than me and my family & friends. But still :( :( :(

I can only sympathise In some ways we were in a very different situation from yours, the school told us we had to seek an assessment for DS or else they would throw him out – now that’s what I call pressure! But the school had good reason, he was a danger and disruptive and we all needed to pull together or he wouldn’t have stood a chance in school. With his diagnosis and plenty of help, they coped and he had a busy social life throughout primary school.

With hindsight, we had been making a lot of little adjustments to our DS at home without really noticing we were doing it. We mostly communicated in a way that suited him, we followed a routine and we didn’t put him in situations we knew he wouldn’t handle. I think that’s one reason why we didn’t see his problems before he went to school. But all those tiny adjustments added up.

But however it comes about, it’s a lot to come to terms with And like you, we came to it from a standing start – we went from a seemingly ordinary (if slightly tantrummy) preschool child to a diagnosed ASC within a year. It isn’t easy.

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The benefits of a diagnosis according to the teacher are providing future teachers with an understanding of her difficulties, and if she does have more serious problems later on then help can be put in place more quickly because the waiting list for diagnosis is very long

and to answer your original question - no, it doesn't benefit the school at all, but they are advising you it may benefit your dd.

A lot depends on the school and how motivated they are to supporting children with additional needs. Some are, some aren't.

My ds's school actively opposed diagnosis on the basis that "He'll use it as an excuse for bad behaviour", but to be fair the Head hated disabled children and didn't want them in her school. She operated a system of 'constructive dismissal' for problem children, so that parents would remove them to other schools and she wouldn't have to deal with them.

Ds's second school urged me to have him assessed for ADHD (I'd been trying for years, but CAMHS wouldn't consider it without school support) but then claimed all was well when it came to assessment. God knows why - in both cases it made absolute sense for him to be diagnosed so that proper support could be put in place, which would have meant less disruption from him every day and a safer environment for everyone else. But that's what happened, whatever the reason.

Sorry, anecdotal, but it does illustrate that there are no guarantees and it's hard to judge how the school will respond to a dx, and whether or not a child will get the support they need once they have it.

Personally, I don't really get the question of "Shall we have him diagnosed?" The child either meets the criteria or not, they have the condition or not, you don't get to choose but you can choose to have it acknowledged. IME having the dx opens more doors to support than it closes and it's always worth pursuing.

Just to add, in my LA the autism outreach service was so stretched it could only provide advice and support for children with formal diagnosis, and this might apply in your area too. It won't guarantee you support but you'll have leverage with the dx.

Hi - Ilikemysleep here, had to namechange when the password thing happened. One of my DSs is 7 and I am on 'wait and see' but to be fair I am not getting any pressure from the school who are pretty clueless. One of the criteria for dx is meant to be how much the difficulties impact your daily life. There should be a significant negative impact. DS1 (aspergers) is negatively impacted by his significant communication difficulties. DS3 has some of the same quirkiness but his communication is much better and so, whilst I can see that at some point in the future there may be a negative impact and at that point it'd be in his interests to pursue a diagnostic pathway, I don't see a need at present. I am in 'watchful waiting'.