We got an official diagnosis of Aspergers on Friday but

[yawningmonster]

with an atypical presentation. Has anyone else had this? Basically they said that he fit enough of the criteria for the diagnosis but that the way he presented in general was not typical of Aspergers??? We have decided at this stage not to do anything further until we see how he copes at school as we seem to be slowly working out what works for him and what doesn't on the home front.

Bumping for you.

I wouldn't worry. Aspergers is Aspergers is Aspergers! No autistic children are the same anyway, so there is no typical! If he meets the criteria, the dx stands.

Hi, dd1 got her dx in november, she only shows a few AS traits but to most people is just a normal 5 year old, she gets on well at school and so far has needed no help.

Hiya, we're having our assessment next week and if we get a diagnosis then I think it will be atypical as the GP has said as much though he was unsure whether it was asperger's at all. DS doesn't fit enough of the criteria either but critically what he does fit is quite pronounced. He is almost 6.

I flit between being absolutely sure it is AS to thinking it's something else so I'm hoping for some clarity.

YM, can I ask which bits your DS fits and which he doesn't? My DS's problems almost all centre around social interaction.

Marne, can I ask, if your DD is also mild, what set alarm bells with you?

Hi

Just setting off down the diagnosis route.

And yes nearly all DS (age 5) problems are social. They are improving with a lot of school support. He also does a lot of hand flapping. I dont really know what to expect re diagnosis but it is a wide spectrum!

Thanks for all the responses. DS has definate difficulty with the social interaction side of things...he particularly doesn't manage very well with other children as he can get adults to pretty much indulge him in his idiosyncricies but cannot understand why other children are not on his wave length. He does have obsessions but not typical so instead of being obsessed with trains for example he has everyday for the last 2 years played a very scripted game of "It's your birthday", the presents change but the script is the same every time and happens sometime during the day every day. He has not managed to grasp the idea that I am not an extension of him yet so gets extremely agitated when I get a "script" wrong or won't do something for him etc as he can't quite see that I have my own mind and body outside of his direct control. He is extremely capable verbally but is very, very literal so doesn't cope well with statements like "Oh you are being a frog" if he is jumping like one and will have a meltdown shouting "Im not a frog, Im a boy" He doesn't understand turns of phrase such as "I'd give my left arm to be able to do such and such" He would be very distressed about how said arm would be detached, if it would hurt, who it would be given to and what they would do with it. He has extreme hyper sensitivity issues also.

Which bits of his behaviour didn't fit with an Asperger syndrome diagnosis, yawningmonster?

He has some imaginative play emerging though not role play so he will use objects to represent other things but never himself, he is able to articulate empathy in some situations quite well, his expressive communication both verbal and non verbal is excellent but has trouble with interpreting communication from others especially non verbal. He actively tries to engage other people, points things out, shows them things etc...anyway this is what the assessor said were not typical of aspergers.

Thanks, Yawningmonster. You see we don't have any repetitive behaviour and we have clear imaginative play. He dresses up and pretends to be allsorts of things. These things are original rather that scripted or copied from TV or books. I'm so confused.

He is practically non-verbal in school when in a whole class situation though much better one to one with his teacher. He's interested in everything and doesn'thave a favourite topic.

No obsessions or sensory issues though he is highly emotionaly sensitive. He is also extremely bright.

It's interesting what you say about the showing and pointing. DS was pointing by 1yr and has always had excellent joint attention,'look at that dog mum!' etc Also likes to paly games with us at home, board games and snap etc.

We all think there's clearly a problem but don't know what. The not knowing is the most stressful part of it.

How are you adjusting to the diagnosis?

ok, just had quite a dramatic display of handflapping because DD1 stole what he was playing with. Just when I'm not sure something else shows itself.

in all honesty I am relieved as I had almost convinced myself that I had somehow gone completely wrong in my parenting, hadn't given him enough attention here or enough stimulation there or handled this or that situation in the right way fundamentally effecting his personality. At least I now know that while I may be getting things wrong there actually isn't always a right way with him, some things will help on some days and they won't on others and that is not necessarily about me.

We were told that when we first saw the paed that if ds is on the spectrum, it is high functioning and also atypical. I was also confused!

ds has only very mild traits which affect his language and social interaction, nothing typically "autistic" iyswim so we're in the grey area between language disorder and ASD at the moment.

When does handflapping typically start? No sign of that at 3.5 - did anyone's dc start later?

yawningmonster, it's so difficult not to blame yourself, even when you know it's irrational. I now have ds2 and the two of them are developing completely differently from one another, that for me is conclusive proof that ds1's speech problems aren't because I've neglected him or done anything wrong.
It's taken a fair while to get to that point though!