Nursery think son may have autism... what next?

[surreygirl1987]

Hello, looking for some advice please. I have a 3 year old (4 in the autumn) boy, and his nursery have just told me that they think he 'may' have autism. I have suspected this for a while due to his stimming, dislike of loud noises and changes in routine, and (now very occasional) hitting the other children.

My question is, now what? Nursery want to adopt a 'wait and see' approach and say he's too young to be diagnosed. Is this correct (I see people on here with young children who have been diagnosed?). What is the best thing I can be doing for my son? I like the nursery and think they're doing a super job with him, but I don't want to let my little boy down - if there's anything I should be doing, I don't want to not do it. Should I be getting in touch with GP etc or just wait until he starts school next year?

He's verbal by the way, can hold a conversation, is developing friendships, and his physical skills seem fine.

Many thanks in advance!

The answer will vary in different parts of the country.
Where I am, then the Nursery should be putting in a referral to the CDC (Child Development Centre) where a Community Paediatrician will have an initial appointment and decide whether to put them on a 2 year+ waiting list for an autism assessment.
Nursery can also refer to a SaLT (Speech and Language Therapist) for an assessment and some strategies that might help.

I read on here that in other parts of the Country, assessment is done by CAMHS, and I have also read that referrals can only go via the GP - so I think you have to ask the Nursery what happens where you are.

However, the route to a medical diagnosis can, and should be happening alongside any support that can be given within Nursery to help him socially, to help with language development, to help with play skills and social skills. They should be making adjustments in areas he finds difficult (such as transition and changes to his routine).

If they think he is going to need support in school, they should be collating the paperwork now - evidence of the support his is being given, and progress he is able / has been able, or indeed hasn't been able to make in all the areas he struggles with. Obviously none of us can say from one post on the internet, but he doesn't sound as if he would need an EHC, but better to have support plans in place and them not be needed, than to find he really struggles and there is nothing in place to evidence the support he has had.

They should be talking to their Area SENCo / Inclusion Officers / LA Autism Team / Pre-school Forum or whoever it is that support them (again, different names in different areas, and different processes - but they will be able to refer in to someone).

My son was the same age as yours when he started school he's just had his 4th birthday and got his diagnosis yesterday, he already had salt involved due to speech delay and as soon as school suspected we had a meeting with the schools senco team who started him on a plan with a 1-1 while waiting for his referral to go through, which we was lucky only few weeks to come through

I agree it's not too early (DD was Dx'ed when she turned 4 despite not having speech delay/not needing 1:1) and it was useful to have when approaching schools and supporting her transitions.

If you Google your local authority name and "Local Offer" there should be some information there on what the "pathway" is to an autism diagnosis. It differs by area how you best get the ball rolling. Otherwise try your GP if the nursery isn't being helpful. By "too early" they may just mean they can cope fine and he's happy - but you don't want to wait until either of those things are not true to get going if you can help it.

It's not the nursery's job to kick off the assessment procedure for autism, it's yours. Take him to the GP.

It can be though @jamoncrumpets
Where I work, the CDC MUCH prefer referrals from Nurseries, as they spend all day every day working with the child, and working with all the other children of the same age. The GP will see the child once, for 5 mins, in a strange environment. The Nursery can note all of the differences they see, and can note what strategies they have been putting in place, and what help that has been (or hasn't been).
Nurseries can play a huge role in referrals.

In my area it would likely be the health visitor doing the referral (GP can technically do it, but the HV would do a development check first which adds weight to the referral). In our case the HV called nursery to gather additional info as part of the referral too.

Waiting times are horrendous, best to get on the list sooner rather than later.

Many thanks for all the replies... so should I talk to the HV as first port of call? Thank you!

Our DS was in a primary school based nursery. He's August born and started right after his third birthday. After the first term they flagged up their concerns and applied for extra funding. This was done by the school SENCO and inclusion manager. We had speech delay, routines, fine motor skills delay and lack of social skills. They did all the running for a EHCP and our EHCP was granted just as he started reception. He's had 1 to 1 which has been successful. So my advice is speak to the SENCO.