ASD assessment on a 3 year old?

[KitKat1985]

Hi all.

I thought I might ask for some thoughts / advice from the parents on this board as I know there's a lot of knowledge here. DD1 is 3 and nursery have raised a few concerns over the past few months in relation to her lack of interest in other children, and also her 'ritualistic' way of playing. She has also had some language delays, although her general academic level is either average or above average. Her nursery on Monday have straight out said that I need to speak to my HV about having her assessed as possibly being on the ASD spectrum. I'm happy to do this, and obviously if she is on the ASD spectrum then I can understand they would like her to have additional support in place by the time she starts school. But the other side of me feels that 3 is young to be trying to label and diagnose her, especially as it's a diagnosis she would then have for (presumably) for the rest of her life. What do you all think?

If she has autism, then she has autism, with or without a diagnosed. Would you rather her be labeled as naughty?

She's not 'naughty' though. Quite the opposite. Nursery say she just likes to quietly play be herself in the corner a lot of the time. It's precisely the attitude that if she's labelled as 'autistic' people will automatically assume that she has 'challenging behaviour' that worries me.

I have a lot of ASD issues in my family, so I'm very aware of the connotations that people will draw when they hear the diagnosis.

I think you've misunderstood my post.

That's because ignorant people think autism is something you can see! But it isn't and if she's autistic she's autistic, diagnosis won't change that, but it might bring some supports and it will bring legal protections, and will mean she gets to grow up with a better understanding of herself (potentially reducing the risk of mental health problems later).

Honestly if Nursery have picked up some issues that could work in your favour.

We've spent years trying to get people to believe, understand and support our children's issues simply because they are so 'good' most of the time. (Which by the way seems to mean not causing any extra work or disruption and really how common is that in children?!)

A diagnosis is not a label. It's a starting point in understanding part of a person that might end up becoming a problem for them otherwise. A child brought up knowing their brain works differently can learn to accept that and focus on what they are able to do instead of wasting time wondering why they feel different and can't do things like others do. If a person is autistic they will be so whether it is diagnosed or not.

The modern world can make it a problem without the right attitude and support. Besides your child may not be autistic...and if she is and it causes no issues that warrant support then nobody will judge either of you especially if you don't tell them..but the likelihood is that if she is on the autistic spectrum then at some point she will find living in a neurotypical world overwhelming or tricky in some way and you'd be several steps ahead if you'd already sought an assessment. As someone who has spent years knowing my children are autistic without anyone else noticing or believing me I would urge you to pursue the idea just in case. Your child is who they are regardless so what's there to lose?

Yeah I guess your right. My brother has Asperger's and I'm very aware of multiple people when I was growing up making 'in my day we didn't have autism because we had discipline' type comments in relation to his diagnosis, because they automatically assumed 'autism' = 'challenging behaviour'. I guess I'm just worried that if she gets a diagnosis everyone will make assumptions that she's 'difficult' or 'challenging', and that will affect her throughout her life. And whilst I can't do anything about people's ignorance, it feels so hard to potentially expose her to potentially a lifetime's worth of people's incorrect assumptions and ignorance when she's only 3.

But overall I do agree that if she does have autism it would be better for her to have support in place.

NiceCupOfTea - My brother wasn't diagnosed until he was nearly 11, despite him really struggling (he eventually had to move into a special needs school) and I know my parents fought for a long time to get him the diagnosis, because without the diagnosis there was pretty much no support available to him, so I do completely understand where you are coming from.

My 3 year old is on the path for diagnosis and I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t get an ASD diagnosis.

The only thing I want for my son is support and understanding. I don’t feel that anyone outside of close family and teachers need to know. My son isn’t naughty but he struggles with receptive language and therefore following instructions. I’ve found that sadly people quickly put their own labels on him. My knowledge of his needs being backed up allows me to fight this ignorance.

Hi Soulcakequack. Can I ask what the path to diagnosis looks like? Is the diagnosis made by a GP or by CAMHS?

Start as early as you can as a diagnosis can take years. We waited over three years for the assessment. In total from first GP visit to diagnosis it took just over four years!

Like others have said if she is autistic, she is autistic, a diagnosis won't change her. I have only experienced positive attitudes since my son was diagnosed, more support, more understanding.

Also if she is autistic she may find life becomes more challenging as she gets older. Without wishing to upset you as obviously all children are different, at age 3 my son was the least challenging child I knew - he had never even had a typical toddler tantrum. He was different to other children - a little quirky, had no friends but loved to talk to adults, he was like a 'mini professor'. I noticed he was different and thought perhaps he had autism as it's in my family but I didn't seek any advice. Now at age 10 he has challenging behaviour, severe anxiety, daily meltdowns.

I took him to the GP when he was 6, the GP referred us to CAMHS who did an initial assessment and then referred us to SCAT (social and communication assessment team). Within SCAT he saw Speech and Language, Paediatrician, and had ADOS. School simultaneously arranged Ed Psych report which also formed part of the diagnosis. A panel then met to discuss the findings and give final diagnosis.

Your area might be different though, and hopefully won't take as long!

Hi KitKat for us it took 2 attempts via the GP plus a self referral to speech and language. If you have a good Health visitor they can help you too.

Thank you for your replies. Our HV is coming out to see her on the 14th Feb so I guess we'll have to see what they say.

Can anyone advise on strategies to get DS (aged 7 has HFA) to play less roughly. The combination of lack of social and sensory awareness plus poor motor skills is meaning he is now able to really hurt other children. Last week on a play date we were hosting, he pushed another child into a wall while playing hide and seek which resulted in the other little boy having a bump on his head and concussion symptoms.

DS apologised immediately and again the next day, and seems to feel bad - we've been talking a lot about it! I can only think he got over excited and totally misjudged the strength of his push.

Ds being rough is something school are very aware of, it has been on his' SEN targets since reception (now year 2). I think the fact that nothing anything like this serious has happened at school shows he is being well looked after at playtime, but is there anything more that can be done to address this?

The trouble is if you talk to DS in the cold light of day he completely understands what is and isn't acceptable, but in a play situation this understanding seems to go out the window.

Sorry thought I was starting a new thread!!