ASD - Help feeling very confused

[claw3]

Ds definately has sensory issues. He has been seeing OT weekly since October 2008 and she suspects he has Sensory Modulation Disorder and that ds is gifted (apparently gifted kids are often over responsive).

We have also been seeing comm Paed for the last 2 years (4 visits) but we have never seen the same PAED twice. He was tested for autism about a year ago and ruled out.

We went to visit senior Paed last week (1st time we have seen her) and she is disagreeing with OT's DX. She suspects he has autism and referred for him to be tested again.

My ds's behaviour in general is that he is compliant, kind, helpful, very polite, he has an extremely high attention span. What are the behavioural signs of ASD?

I dont really care whether ds is gifted, as im sure this will become more apparent as he gets older, but i dont want him to be misdisagnosed because of it.

What do you think?

I take 75% of what my son's OT says with a grain of salt.

She makes much of the fact that he hates to get wet. Well, if I sat on a wet chair, I wouldn't like it. She gives this a fancy label when applying it to a 3 yr old though. I'm an adult and I hate sitting on a wet chair or spilling my tea on my clothes, durr but if he hates the same thing he has issues with sensory defenciveness or something like that.

what age is your son?

He doesn't sound like he is on the ASd.

If no experts had identified issues, what would your gut instinct be???

How do you mean, tested for autism? was this done in 1 visit? ASD is generally dx over a period of time, observations etc need to be done. DS was dx with AS after 3 years of observations, reports etc.

How old is your ds?

Definately agree with that, a lot of behaviour is just normal behaviour.

He will be 5 next month. His main sensory issues involving eating, his diet is extremely limited and he is anaemic. This is how the whole testing thing started 3 and half years ago and im still no closer to having any clarity!

Fussy eating is often a symtom of ASD, however there are also another million reasons for fussy eating.

whoingod - Well, its kinda been done over 4 visits to paed's (even though we havent seen the same one twice) and a developmental check.

Whoingod - It goes way beyond fussy, he has basically eaten chocolate spread sandwiches for the last 4 and half years. He finds bright light annoying, loud noises, no messy hands etc, etc. There is no doubt in my mind that he has sensory issues.

But the experts are telling me that children do not just have sensory issues without there being an underlying problem. Thats the bit im confused about.

The signs and symptoms of ASD widely vary, these are my ds attributes.............

extreme fussy eating.

lack of socail and communication skills.

upset by slight change in routine.

sufers incontenence when anxious.

rocking back and forth

hand/finger flapping

flcking his eyes with fingers

very litural (sp) for example. if I told him we werre going to take the bus home, he thinks we are actually going to take the bus home.

has obsessive interest which most of change regualry.

Has unusual rituals, for example, ds will only ever take his socks off to have a bath, and when changing into clean socks it has to be done fast.

ASD children/people ofen have talents, most commonly for example, computers, maths, map reading, astrology. They also often have an almost photographic memory.

Thefirstlifey - My gut instict was that he doesnt have autism, but they are linking all kinds of things.

My brother had severe disablities caused by German Measles (when my mum was preg)and may well have had autism, it was hard to tell. This is seen as a strong link.

My dad was a Proffesor of Math - this is linked to aspergers apparently.

The fact that my ds spends hours, doing quiet activities such as 200 piece jigsaw puzzles, drawing, problem solving games, makes complex models from lego, etc, etc. Apparently this is seen as limited interests.

DS also has sensory issues, hates loud noise and bright lights, not sure if there is always an underlying issue sorry.

Excuse my terrible typos

Whoingod - Has your ds been DX's with any other disorders etc?

He was DX with Aspergers Syndrome, and a severe speech disorder, though the speech has sorted itself out in the last year with SALT.

Whoingod - extreme fussy eating. tick.

lack of socail and communication skills. not sure, other than he plays alone because he tries to direct other children into following his more complex rules.

upset by slight change in routine. no tick.

sufers incontenence when anxious. no tick.

rocking back and forth. no tick.

hand/finger flapping. no tick.

flcking his eyes with fingers. no tick.

very litural (sp) for example. if I told him we werre going to take the bus home, he thinks we are actually going to take the bus home. no tick, quite the opposite.

has obsessive interest which most of change regualry. not sure, his interests seem to be learning if you know what i mean, he doesnt play with toys, evertyhing must have a purpose and an end result.

Has unusual rituals, for example, ds will only ever take his socks off to have a bath, and when changing into clean socks it has to be done fast. no tick.

ASD children/people ofen have talents, most commonly for example, computers, maths, map reading, astrology. They also often have an almost photographic memory. definate tick.

who - How was your ds tested for dx?

Is he at school? do they have any concerns?

H e was tested in lots of ways.............hold on I will get his notes.

who - He only started school less than a month ago, a January intake, so early days.

So far school have told me he has settled in well (in fact a lot better than others). Other than not eating at lunch time, not wanting to wear pants on PE days.

He was DX mainly through observations at school, called a, Multi-disciplinary assessment, carried out by, Educational Psychologist, specialist teacher, Consultant Clinical Phychologist.

Tjey were mainly observing his, social skills, play and imaginary play, concentration etc.

They each observed him regualry throughout the whole day and wrote lenghly reports, over a space of 2-3 years these were put together and a dx was made with the findings.

My DS was diagnosed with an ASD at 5. He was diagnosed by multidisciplinary assessment - an educational Psychologist, Speech Therapist, and a Paediatrician. Although most of his development was within normal range, so superficially ok, it was the discrepancies in the assessments that set off alarm bells eg. vocabulary, 90th centile, comprehension 20th centile. very typical ASD pattern, good expressive language but poor receptive language. Educational psychologist noted an unusual learning style, and the paediatrician focussed on repetitive behaviours, play, social interaction etc.
FWIW a need to control play with others can be an ASD trait, and a lack of 'imaginary play' in that his play may be rigid with strict rules that others must follow.

Mmmm. So your son may have some traits, but it doesn't sound clear cut.

What is his language like?

Thanks Who, i have made a note of that, very helpful.

In nursery he had problems fitting in, because during imaginary play he would want to implement complex rules and would get upset if others didnt follow them. He has a vivid imagination and others would laugh at his imaginary friends.

His concentration is brilliant, he can spend hours on one subject, but he doesnt like working in groups.

I just feel its taken me 3 years to get this far, only to be back at where i started again.

Oh, ds also has delayed co-ordination and motor skills.

Claw3,your family sounds a bit like mine. All very mathsy, musicky, and the younger ones computery. WEll that is the men anyway. The women in my family (inc aunts) seem to think a lot of these behaviours 'are just boys'.

MY gut instinct is that my son has a severe speech delay, and some autistic behaviours.

I'll let you know if my gut instinct turns out to be right, at the end of feb!!! We're about half way through the autism screening!

Hmmm, yes, sd also struggles to play with others, he has to be the leader, not the follower.

Claw, does your son ever turn a jigsaw upsidedown to do it? to hide the picture? my son does this and I have to admit that is one of the less explainable as 'just boys' things that he does.