What sorts of things would a ed psycologist be looking at/for when a child is referred?

[tiredandwornoutmum]

Ds 3.3 is being referred by nursery and is on the sen reg now for poor social skills/aggression etc

It's just a bit frightening really and I can't help thinking it's because of us and our parenting skills

Also I'm wondering if anyone could tell me any asd signs that there children have, as ds (I think) has a few..including poor social skills, aggression, tantrums triggered by the most obscure reasons or if things are just not 'so', poor speach etc

TIA

Oh dear please excuse spelling as I'm a bit upset!

some basic info about signs of ASD from NAS website:-

www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=211

There can be a very fine line between language problems and ASD - as language problems will have a knock on effect on social skills and behaviour (kids may become frustrated easily if not understanding what people are saying or may appear disobedient when they haven't understood the instructions). So as your boy's language improves other areas should hopefully improve too.

Please don't blame yourself.

When DS saw the ed psych last year, it was as part of a joint clinic assessment (so there was a SALT and a paediatrician). The ed psych seemd to be there primarily to do non-verbal intelligence tests on him (she did some tests with getting him to copy patterns and to pick out similar objects).

Just wanted to say Hi, cos I totally sympathise with you. My DD (8.5) is currently on school action plus and has been assessed by Ed Pysch who did series of tests to assess reading, writing and numeracy levels and also visual recognition. She is now in the process of being Statemented. I agree it is all very frightening and quite stressful. DD also has signs of ASD, so I have found out after posting my concerns on here. Please DON'T blame yourself, although I'm a fine one to talk because that's what I do all the time! Try and get your Ds seen by a paediatrician if you're really concerned about his behaviour.

EPs can't diagnose anything, though can refer to CAMHS or paeds if they think there is something like ASD.

They will do some or all of these:

talk to the child
talk to the parents/ nursery people
assess vocabulary, non-verbal and verbal intelligence, visual spatial skills and general intelligence with standardised tests (J had these at age 3 so they do have a range of tests they can do)

and then when J was being assessed for his Statement, she also came to the house and did a long observation at nursery.

Thank you everyone, I took it to mean he was emotionaly disturbed and it was therefore a reflection on us as parents and his own environment (which is a good, stable environment.)

Oh, I see! No no no. Not at all

Thank you for the link totalchaos, that was really interesting as I was always under the impression that children with asd didn't have any imagination at all, where ds has it in spades, but he always role plays the same thing and it is repetitive.

Hmmm you've given me lots to think about.

givemesleeporchocolate (what a fab name!) I was so scared!!!! Feel much better now thank you!

Cheers

I understand why you were worried. It's the unknown stuff that's scary, isn't it?

Hope you gt a good EP that is actually helpful!