ASD/Autism

[misscutandstick]

we just had an appt with Cons Paed and got a verbal Dx. However throughout the 3.5min consultation he kept swapping from saying he had ASD to Autism and back again. Is there any difference? if there is, is it more to do with severity? Perhaps he might have thought that i wouldnt know what ASD was? any thoughts?

This confuses me as well MCAS. Some of DS2's reports say autism, others say ASD. Someone did explain it to me once on here, but I forgot

It differs from area to area and doctor to doctor.

Here, they use the term ASD to mean anyone with any dx on the autistic spectrum, no matter if it's low-functioning or high functioning. Even, sometimes, for Aspergers, though they usually dx that separately with the specfic name, followed by the words 'a mild and subtle form of autism'...which is so not what Aspergers officially is, but hey!

It gets more complicated, because on the ADOS test (a play based assessment commonly used to assess), they use the term ASD to mean mild and the term autism to mean severe.

So my J scored in the autistic range (nearly 100%) on the ADOS test and the official dx came through as ASD...psych said, that's what we say for everyone unless iit's Aspergers. Why didn't he have Aspergers, I asked. She said, because it's too severe.

This is not what the diagnostic criteria says!

So, here's my summary, but your area might not follow the 'rules' - mine doesn't!

ASD is the umbrella term for anything on the spectrum.

Autism (LFA or HFA) is a person who meets the criteria for the triad of impairments.
A dx of autism usually means that there must have been a language impairment before the age of 3.

A dx of Aspergers usually means that there was no problem with language, but problems can still be severe.

I hope I've got this right.

So ASD and autism are used pretty much interchangably here - people tend to understand the latter one better though.

3.5 min consultation I hope that's a typo?

nope not a typo!

however he did see DS4 for about an hour or so in the previous appt - complete with my 2page booklet of concerns .

I too have my concerns that he hasnt observed DS4 nearly long enough to Dx ASD, but TBH i was sure that what was going on even before we stepped in his office. there was no mention of further testing, but to see him again in 6mths.

I think if it's clear, it's clear, I guess. I would just hope that you had some option of asking questions...it's not the type of news you can (or should) just chuck and people and then say bye!

I must admit i am confused, initial meet the paed said ASD, last meet (last month), he said aspergers, but ds only started saying words 2y9m, his lang is much improved for someone who's only been talking 9m. but I assumed he was HFA due to lang delay. I sometimes feel people think aspergers is on the mild end of the spectrum, but it can still severe as givemeskeeporgivememech says.

misscutandstick - think you are best off phoning up paed or his secretary and asking what the paed meant, and whether he was using ASD and autism interchangably.

jasdox -when looking for info online I've seen different interpretations of the no significant language delay at 3 rule - some seem to think of it as meaning a child is verbal at all by 3, rather than speaking at an age appropriate level by 3.

I think in UK doctors just mean somewhere on the spectrum and use asd and autism fairly interchangeably; in US they seem to be more specific to the diagnostic criteria and have more PDD-NOS type diagnoses. I have also read in Tony Attwood book about Aspergers that one route to being diagnosed is to be diagnosed as autistic when young (because lang delay) but then if language catches up (which is often does around 4-5) reclassified as Aspergers, which again seems to go against the DSV!

I'm confused by this too.

When we talked about my son's diagnosis, the psychiatrist (who did the DISCO with me) said he met the cut off for ASD, but not autism. The educationalist said he met the cut off for ASD and autism.

I asked them what the difference was but didn't get a satisfactory answer.

Btw, is PDD what americans call ASD?

although he offered nothing at the appt, the paed said that if i had questions or worries or wanted to ask him something, or wanted something else to organise another appt. Perhaps he was letting the news sink in before he offered more info? after all when you get a Dx like that its difficult not to go numb in the head, and stop hearing anything else. i suppose.

plus maybe the letter from the appointment will say more?

will ring his secretary tomorrow and ask for a recap of the appt - and see what it says on there

We've had a dx of ASD, but the paed said it is now not their (NHS? this particular NHS centre?) policy to say where they are on the spectrum because as they grow they change so much. Which, with my typical optimism, I took to mean "your son might regress yet"

LOL MY dd's paed report said Autism and Aspergers on it

it is all so confusing. My DS had the ADIR test and ADOS test, he scored highly on ados and met all criteria highly for autism but underscored on one section on the ADIR and was diagnosed as atypical autism, before the autistic diagnosis we were told he had ODD and fully expected it to be taken off once the DX for Autism came but it has been left on.

SC13 - J's psych said something similar. She was always very reluctant to specify and says that she feels that putting an exact label implies it's an exact science, whereas a child can change and also an observer would just be putting a subjective label on it.

She's not even the ADOS etc. which are scored mathematically and as scientifically as you can get in something as uncategorisable as behaviour. Well, not not keen, but she doesn't give scores out to parents any more because she says it isn't helpful for people. She thinks that it's better to just say on the spectrum so that it doesn't sound like a fixed thing.

Hope that makes sense!

She only (reluctantly) categorised J because it was so vital for LEA and DLA purposes.

not even keen on the ADOS

well rang his secretary - and TBH didnt get much more sense out of her:
"...I was wondering what the Dx was, ..."
"...well it says ASD, Autism and SLI..."
"...as he said ASD and Austism so was wondering if they were interchangeable or if it was one or the other.."
"...he has both. Hes also written letters to the GP and school to let them know..."

Ive asked for a copy of both letters to see what hes said on them, but perhaps she meant "asd/autism & SLI"?

Talking to the SALT, apparently DS4's paed hands out labels like Post-Its .

Can I just ask what SLI stands for?

I just assumed that ASD and autism were the same thing. God, it's just all so confusing isn' it?

SLI = speech and language impairment. a kid can have language delay/disorder without having Autism.

misscut - oh dear, my suggestion seems to have made things worse. how strange for all these dx's to be stated separately.

I always assumed that ASD kinda meant that lots of 'traits' were present but in differing severity. Whereas {i thought} that Autism was meant more of the classic symptoms and more severe... thats why i was mystified when the Paed said both.

Thanks for clarifying that misscut

I hope you get the answers you want x

hi i have a little boy and he is autistic or asd it stands for, autistic spectrum disorder,or autism thay all mean the same

misscutandstick- we had a verbal dx of ASD from the pead last week, we were only in the room for a few minutes so i was shocked that she could say 'yes she clearly has Autism' from just looking at dd2. We have had many verbal dx's whilst being asessed (from SALT and peads), i have been told she may have classic Autism, language disorder ,High functioning Autism or even Aspergers (even though she's non-verbal). Now we have been told to expect a dx of ASD but they will not put in writing where she is on the spectrum until she is 5 .

So i think the term ASD is more general (on the spectrum somewhere) rather than stating High functioning, low functioning ,Aspergers or classic Autism.

i'm new here i'm looking for a secondary school with langauge unit in kent or london. my son has asd with speech language communication difficulties. can anybody recommend any good schools? he is clever academically..