Should we persue an ASD diagnosis or not?

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Hello, my son was recently diagnosed with dyspraxia and verbal dyspraxia. The paed thinks he has some traits of asd that he would like to investigate further with a school visit. We are paying for this privately because of the year long waiting lists round here.
My question is, would a diagnosis of asd be useful or not? In terms of getting him more help at school.
My consern is that his shyness may be misdiagnosed as asd and I'm worried he will get the wrong kind of support. Or am I over thinking things?
I would really appreciate some advice...

Have you seen this from the NAS:
www.autism.org.uk/about/diagnosis/children.aspx
Have you heard of PDD-Nos:
www.healthguideinfo.com/the-pdd-autism-spectrum/p100018/

If having read both, you feel it is a fit, then, yes.

There is overlap in behaviours between diagnoses - as in, maybe your son plays alone because communication is difficult, whereas for my son it was social interaction is difficult. So, same behaviour, different cause. Do I make any sense?

I think if a trusted professional is saying to explore something - I would even if it is to have it discarded. Knowledge is power.

Have you found enough information about dyspraxia?

There is a big crossover between DCD & ASD. My son has an ASD diagnosis but shows signs of dyspraxia. I suppose your decision ti pursue a diagnosis of ASD depends on what help you want in place and how he is likely to get on at secondary school..... The diagnosis can help as a shortcut to understanding but it all depends on the school..... if I were you I'd think about getting back into the NHS. In our area you can see a SALT at a children's centre or self refer to the main service. In our area the salts were the people who spotted our son's Social & Communication issues. They can maybe advice about whether a dual diagnosis is worth it. You should also start an OT referral if you've not had one. (Grit your teeth about the long waiting times and do as much self help as you can while you wait. I felt I needed the professionals' rubber stamp for school etc but it was what we did at home that most helps our son.) Get both of these professionals to write in their reports what help he might need at school. Then see if the school can get it in place..... depending on your issues once you have the reports from paed, salt and OT consider applying for an EHCP. You can pursue several avenues at once, so try not to think of it as sequential (As i did!) - in your shoes I'd:

• get a system of record keeping going. Write down every conversation related to your DS' behaviour at school and Sen with school staff and other professionals. Keep dates and times. Write down direct quotes where possible. E.g. "He's at risk of not meeting his potential", "he's making subtle but significant mistakes".
• research the help I thought my DS needed at home and school. Do what you can at home (we did an iLS programme which helped DS' balance a lot)
• Go to the school with a specific list of items for them to do. It's best to be specific e.g. Touch typing lessons, handwriting support, social skills group/circle of friends would all apply potentially to DCD

-Ask the school to get him listed officially on the SEN register so that the school has a support plan and termly reviews.

• get Salt and ot referrals underway to get advice for school from them - if your SENCO isn't sympathetic they may not have acted on your list
• take advice on advantage of a dual diagnosis and pursue through the NHS later if required
• consider applying for an EHCP. You will need the records you kept of behaviour and conversations to support this application alongside professional reports.

Good luck! (Sorry for the garbled brain dump)

Thank you for all this advice.

He does have a few traits that are a concern (concentration/ repetitive playing with cars/avoids eye contact (not all the time/ etc) but I think he may just be shy of his speech so struggles to communicate and really likes cars!! I'm not sure a professional can figure it out any more than I can!
He's also much better at home when he's happy/relaxed. He obviously finds the school environment difficult for a lot of reasons.
Thank you for all your advice. We see NHS salt and have started a bit if private because of slow progress, I'm on the list for NHS paed and ot but we will be lucky if we are seen this year.

Any dispraxia info would be great.

I have a meeting with school coming up. Any ideas what he is entitled to? What should I be asking for?

How old is your son OP? My DS has always had motor skill problems and was diagnosed with DCD/Dyspraxia recently. It was also recommended by speech and language therapist that he was investigated for ASD. I initially thought 'there is no way he is on the autism spectrum' (I have another child with ASD and dyspraxia who presented differently), but I am glad I did go ahead now as it turns out his difficulties at school are made much worse by his social communication difficulties (which he is good at masking).

As for the dyspraxia, when he was younger, my son was helped by a wedge cushion to sit on, a sloped writing board and extra time to do things. As he has got older, he uses a laptop most of the time and has a scribe sometimes. He also has regular movement breaks to help with his concentration and has information presented to him on printed sheets as he has trouble remembering instructions and is very disorganised.

I forgot, he also has touch-typing, which I had to fight for as our school only usually provides that for DCs with dyslexia.

Yes, I would get it over and done with.

He's only 5 (in reception), this all came from his SaLT who noticed 'dyspraxic traits' which spurred me on to get him seen asap. The school have been saying that he's only little and this is a developmental age... with the school and the waiting lists he wouldn't have been diagnosed for years I don't think.. (I've always felt something was wrong)
Do you think it's worth giving him 6 months of decent SALT to see if the asd traits start to disappear as speech improves or just get it checked out now to get him help asap. Once he has a diagnosis can he be undiagnosed if it's wrong/dissapears over time?

(I'm v new to all this)

dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/
www.learning-works.org.uk/sian-wilson-workshop-2-pdf
www.ldalearning.com/
dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/downloads/handwriting_and_dyspraxia.pdf
DS 1 and 2 have used Write from the Start, special pens, grips, the slants on the table, wobble cushion for them. They both now type.
The SEN show in London is also worth a visit.

If your DS does have ASD, then him having speech therapy wouldn't make his ASD traits "disappear". His speech and communication skills will improve for sure but he would still have ASD including the traits. My DS has ASD and his speech and communication skills have improved sooo much more but his ASD traits have become obvious with age.

I think 5 is late to be honest, by the time he gets on the waiting list, by the time he gets seen by a speech therapist, psychologist, doctor etc... he may be 7 till he gets a diagnosis. Why delay it ??

They don't diagnose ASD lightly. Even if you do get him assessed, it might be that he doesn't have ASD, but at least he would be in the system if he does has problems in that area. I asked the paediatrician recently about whether anyone could be undiagnosed and they said that some people have, as adults, asked for a re-assessment to see if they still meet the criteria for diagnosis, but it is usually assumed that once you are diagnosed, then it will be a life-long condition.