First community paediatrician assessment for ASD

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Hi!

I've just had a call to give me the date of my long-awaited first appointment to assess my DS (Yr 4, 9yo) for ASD. I have a list of general behavious and trais, with specific examples. I have tried my best to break it down into different areas (social interaction, communicaiton, imagination, sensory, flexibility).

What else should I prepare?

I don't know what the school will send, as they may not be aware of the appointment (it's short notice and in the school holiday). I will email the SENCo today.

Any tips would be great. Thank you.

Keep a daily diary of all the problems, issues, bizarre behaviour etc between now and the appointment, then you will be sure you have not missed anything out.

Oh and it's great news to hear about the appointment. It's so sad to read of so many children and parents having to wait so long for appointments.

Thanks! Ironically we are going through a very good patch at the moment, with almost no violence and reasoable ability to get to school without tears.

Just in case anyone is following this or reading this for information, our appointment was an hour an a half long. The paed said that she would be referring my DS for ADOS and ADI within 15 minutes, but then continued to take a full medical history and take notes of all the things that had given us cause for concern.

She also told us that, while the first appointment was not diagnostic, we should expect him to be diagnosed with ASD after full assessment.

It was a really positive experience. The doctor was very patient and kind with DS. Didn’t push him to answer questions he was not happy about, didn’t force the medical examination on him but waited for us consent to do the physical side of the assessment. She modelled everything he had to do, so he knew what was coming. Just so very, very different from a normal GP appointment and hence much less stressful.