Whats a MIM assessment????????????????????????????

[bonkerz]

have been told DS wil need to be assessed further with regards his levels of emotional and anxiety issues and have been told he will have a MIM assessment but was told no more.

Look here It says a bit about MIM assessment.

I don't know if its the same thing as they are discussing with you though.

this site explains it more fully

Ah, we tried theraplay, so I guess the initial assessment was an MIM - but by a play therapist. Theraplay was explained as therapeutic play for therapeutic parenting of emotional difficulties (ds had a very difficult start to life - the reason for this particular scheme). We also discussed what we felt needed working on without ds. We were trying to work on ds sensory problems (under/over sensativity) and his poor listening, and controling behaviour. It did not really work for us since the therapist was in the room with us so ds just stared at her, (done properly the observer is not in the room) and then ds got a dx of asd traits so we stopped. Dont know if that helps.

thanks for that dusty, reading it though it sounds like im to blame for how DS is and it will be all down to me to correct whatever mistake i made...i dont know if im strong enough to do that.

You must not blame yourself Bonkerz - my god, blaming mums for autistic symptoms was supposed to have been ruled out in the 1950s, so your so-called diagnosers are stuck in the past. Why is your DD not also affected then, have they explained that? It sounds to me like he has traits of aspergers and adhd, but his high intelligence and verbal ability means he is able to mask it when he chooses to (my DSD is a bit like this, you would think there was nothing wrong with her, but her autism is still there and comes out in odd situations - eg at a recent family funeral, she had no idea that she was supposed to wear a sad face, and was laughing and joking at the graveside.) It comes in all different forms, but your people sound like they are just looking for CLASSIC autism or ADHD, and don't have the subtlety to pick up milder versions! Don't blame yourself, please!!!

its really hard not to blame myself especially after still having no diagnosis and being made to feel like its all about his anxiety and low self esteem.
Ds has many autistic traits but he can fuinction normally especially in new settings where he is getting alot of attention which is why CAMHS did not see the true DS on his visits. Sometimes my Ds appears pefectly fine and charming and intelligent and other times he seems to be a 2 year old who throws tantrums and says and does completely inappropriate things.

You could be describing my step daughter , who is HF autistic. She can also function perfectly fine in many situations, because she has LEARNED the correct responses. But she is still too literal in her answers sometimes, eg when asked "what would help you to learn better in the classroom?" she replied "my mind". It's teh same kind of thing as your DS saying he planned to try something new at lunch - he had sussed out what answer they were looking for, so he gave it to them, even if he has in fact done the same thing at lunchtime for years!

if oyu ask DS why he gets cross or why he does some naughty things he alwasy says his brain tells him to do it. So many times he has sobbed that he wants to get a new brain! We have been told by 3 different teachers that they felt DS presented as HFA so what you just said makes sense. the report also says that DS could not identify sarcasm or figures of speech but understood lying and joking. he also struglled to identify pictures that meant requests for example my throat is dry is a request for a drink but apparently DS only got 3 out of 7 of these correct! All this is in the report yet they still say he is not ASD.

They are not getting the spectrum thing - that could be why you need to get a far more experienced person to diagnose, as they will have more insight into HFA or aspergers. Did he have speech delay? If not, he could be aspergers?

This must be very frustrating for you all and I really feel for you! To be honest on reading your post my first thought (well after a ruder version of 'that cant be right!') was get a private opinion from an asd friendly expert who doesnt have any funding issues to inhibit them! Can the NAS helpline suggest anyone? Have they actually ruled out asd/as? or deferred till the anxiety is lower?
An easter break away from all the worry and fighting may be nice perhaps?

The report says DS did not meet the full criteria for Autistic Spectrum Disorder and that there is not sifficient level of difficulty with attention, hyperactivity or impulsivity to suggest ADHD! So i presume they have ruled it out completely.
I really dont know where to go from here TBH. CAMHS was built up to be the be all and end all in our area and have been told that CAMHS specialise in these types of problems so if they didnt see it then im must be making it up i suppose along with all the teachers and other people who know DS well.!.

Your ds sounds so like my ds bonkerz. I don't know if he'll get a dx of AS or HFA although its seems likely at the moment that he'll get one of ADHD. ADHD isn't the whole story with him though and he responds far better to strategies designed for use with children with AS than those designed for use with ADHD. Luckily for ds he is now getting a really good level of support although that may change in sept when he goes to middle school

I thought the same about the MIMs thing - it does sort of seem like they are trying to palm his behaviour off on family dynamics. I think Attila is right and you should push for a second opinion although i can completely understand that the idea of another battle must feel overwhelming Hold onto what was said before though - you've been assessed by several professionals already and they've said that you are doing things right so its not down to you.