Could It Be ASD, SPD ^and^ PDA??

[LadyNym]

I'm new and hoping for a little advice/support.

DS1 will be three at the end of this month and he's being assessed for ASD. I feel confident he's on the spectrum. My sister was diagnosed a couple of years ago and we've all become a lot more knowledgeable on ASD since then. He's had an initial hour and a half appointment with a paediatrician and has an appointment with a child psychologist in July.

That was all fine. I felt quite happy with how it was all progressing.

But recently I've had it suggested to me he may have SPD. I looked into it and he certainly does have many traits and it often goes hand in hand with ASD so I thought I'd mention it at his next appointment.

Then my mum suggested he may also have PDA. I didn't really think about it until it was featured on a TV programme the other night and I looked into that as well. Other than a delay in speech (DS1 has always been slightly advanced in his speech, though it can be quite quirky), DS1 does display all the traits mentioned on the PDA page on the National Autistic Society website. It would explain why he has so many autistic traits and has always been such hard work but there are a few elements of ASD that don't quite 'fit' (if that makes sense).

But now I feel a bit overwhelmed. Where do I go from here? A lot of professionals and LAs don't even recogise PDA. I don't know much about it compared to my knowledge of ASD. I'll mention it at his next appointment but they said at his age it was unlikely he'd get an ASD diagnosis and more likely they'd agree to review him again in a year or two so the chances of any further diagnoses seem slim.

Does anyone have experience of SPD and/or PDA alongside ASD? Did that diagnosis come after the ASD one? Is there any advice you'd give?

I have experience of asd dx first then eps came after and was dx by an OT, not the Pead. I would list out all your concerns that point to an asd dx. I also wouldn't except the "review in a year"- push for 3 month reviews and if you get pushback from Pead go to 6 monthly reviews. Explain that ds is young but as school approaches and if additional support is required for your ds - that whole process takes up to a year.

Not eps meant spd

Accept not expect! Someone needs coffee...

Thank you Lesley25. I have a long (six page) document with all his traits in bullet points, arranged into categories. It's the same template my mum used when getting a diagnosis for my sister.

I'm thinking, rather than starting separate lists for the SPD and PDA, I might print off the relevant bits from the National Autistic Society site and highlight the relevant stuff.

I thought up to two years before reviewing seemed like a long time given how quickly things can change at this age and the fact he'll be starting preschool after the summer and school next year.

I watched my sister go through most of school without a diagnosis and it wasn't pleasant for her at all.

Thank you, PolterGoose.

I guess I just want the diagnosis to be as accurate/specific as possible because obviously the techniques used for PDA can be really quite different to other types of ASD and some usual strategies used for ASD actually worsen the PDA (strict routine etc.).

I agree with poltergoose. It is all about trial and error. There is a wide range of methods to use and the method used with PDA are just an extra set available to us.

Don't forget to mention your "history" regarding your sisters asd diagnosis. That will count for slot since it's widely acknowledged that asd has a genetic element.

Hi. My DS (8) has all 3 of those dxes!

He got an SPD dx first (together with "anxiety") and later was dxed with ASD with a PDA profile (originally at the ENC and subsequently accepted by the NHS CDC paed and CAMHS).

ASD is now considered his "primary condition", with the PDA aspect pointing to where his profile best fits within the autism spectrum, and the SPD and high anxiety being very common alongside the ASD.

Hi
What really matters are what your unique dc finds hard, and what techniques work to make things better.

The more I look at ASD/C the more I think the dignoses are like 3 primary colours which, with skill, can be used to paint an accurate portrait of your dc.

In the old days of Imagination, Communication, Socialisation, they could have kids who had big difficulties with one and hardly and difficulties with another. (I heard this from an NAS lecture).

But now the diagnosable PDA and SPD are just more ways of helping people to understand what you dc is like and to point to what is worth trying to make life easier.

Hope this helps

Lesley25, I mentioned to the paed the fact ASD runs pretty heavily on both my mum and dad's sides of the family (I suspect it also runs in DH's family but undiagnosed). The child psychologist we've got an appointment with in July is actually the one who diagnosed my sister a couple of years ago so I'm hoping that will work in our favour!

Jacksterbear, it's good to hear from someone whose DS has those dxes. My Aspie sister is on medication for high anxiety so it makes sense it's commonly found with ASD.

Senvet, I think I'm just really anxious for people to understand what's going on with him. Obviously, it makes no difference to me and his home life whether he's diagnosed or not but with preschool after the summer and school looming after that, I want for as much to be in place as possible by then.

Lady, in my experience, teaching staff and front line medical staff do not understand what these diagnosis means. What I tend to do is to reformulate in terms of needs (i.e explain what these diagnosis mean for DS), I find it more efficient. It is actually chocking how little teaching staff know about all this.