Aspergers, eye contact and speech

[Pootrouble]

Hi all,

DD2 been under a lead since she was around 10months old. Now she's 5 and still no further forward with NHS, been promised ADOS test for the last few years and nothing materialised. OT has said she has sensory issues.

So we went private this year. Private psychiatrist says "mini poo has plenty of symptoms consistent with aspergers syndrome however her eye contact and speech were within normal. Poo presents as an anxious shy girl who enacts her anxiety in controlling and obsessional like behaviour"

It then goes onto say "Poo has some features of aspergers and some features of adhd but the symptoms do not reach threshold of making diagnosis today, blah blah blah I think it is useful to consider Poo as presenting with generalised anxiety disorder of childhood".

We also saw a private SALT (who used to be head of autism team on NHS unit flew months ago when she went private) recently who said mini poo has some social communication issues but is clearly high intelligence as scored highly on tests, she said she would be under no doubt about referring Poo for more tests if she had seen her on NHS.

Anyway, given what our private people have told us is it worth pursuing a nhs diagnosis?? We have an app with the pead (new one as old one retired) in two weeks and I want to know what to say to him?? Shall i say about the private diagnosis? Also my main question here is can people have aspergers and be ok with eye contact ??

thanks!!! Just want to make this next nhs pead app worthwhile as they only see her once a year so its a long wait if i don't get across what I want from them.

Thanks for reading this far!

Hi thanks for that. We will plod on with the nhs then i think. But will our pead be disapproving of us going private? They dont seem to like it in our area despite their being three year waits for asd testing! I do genuinely think theres more to it than just anxiety which is why we went private

Sorry yes i have read one book on girls with aS. Any more you could recommend?

Great thanks polter

My Ds has just turned 9 he has NEVER had any difficulties with eye contact. He was diagnosed with Asperger's at 5. On 2 occasions ADHD has been mentioned in my hearing too! My feeling is he's a VERY busy boy with lots of energy, and doesn't always know how to channel it.
Good luck with your appointment in a couple of weeks

Thanks reader thats useful to know. The private psych did say it seems she is stuck between a few different diagnosis not meeting the criteria clearly but in a roundabout way. Think we may have a longer wait for our answers

My ds, 11, has just been diagnosed with aspergers. It took 4 years. The main reason for not diagnosing was his eye contact was very good. You know your child and if you think she has it then keep on at them. Good luck.

The trouble is also that often one assessment at a child development centre or similar is not enough. It is a mere snap shot of a particular one-on-one adult/child interaction. My dd2 is usually very engaged in these types of situations and makes good eye contact. Often a raft of good evidence across different social situations is needed instead, to get the fuller picture.

My dd2 sometime struggles with eye contact, particularly when anxious and at home (allowing herself to show her anxieties and work within her limits - often outside of the house she is busy trying her best to fit in).

That said diagnosticians often set too much store by the ability to make good eye contact. Girls often present more subtle communication difficulties. Hopefully you'll get some progress with a diagnosis soon.