Update on DS - confirmed diagnosis Aspergers/adhd but told no need for asd assessment - advice appreciated please.

[rmls09]

Hi, I haven't been on here for a little while as not a lot was happening in the way of progress for DS...Might be a bit long winded, sorry!

Two different types of appointment had been organised for ds.
The first, which we went to on Tuesday was with a paediatric specialist consultant - I assume of children with special needs(sorry I can't be more specific, we've seen so many people I get a bit lost with who's who), a child psychologist and a child psychiatrist. Bsically a very similar appointment to the one we went to three years ago when ds was diagnosed with adhd.

The second type was a full asd assessment consisiting of three different appointmets due to start on the 5th October.

However, this morning I had a phone call off the consultant telling me that based on what they have already seen of ds and information collected from us and his school, they feel a full asd assessment is not required as they are happy to diagnose aspergers with adhd at this point.

Has anyone else experienced this?

To be honest although it's a relief (we are in no doubt that the assessment is correct) it's come as a bit of a suprise - we were all geared up for the big assesment next week... and now I'm not sure how I feel, a bit flat I suppose.
They also want us to consider (well tbh more like told us we should) medicating the adhd. Has anyone got any experience of a combined diagnosis of aspergers/adhd and medication??
Any advice would be appreciated - sorry it's such a long post.

I don't know rmls...how do you feel about it? Do you yourselves feel like you would like the full assessment? For instance, in our case i wanted it for dh and pils to see. As near as proof in black and white as we could get iykwim.
If that doesn't worry you though, then as long as he's got the dx and can access exactly the same services anyway, then it doesn't matter i guess. (if it had just been me i wouldn't have been fussed )
Perhaps you could phone and discuss this with the consultant.

Sorry can't help you with the medication question...i'm sure someone else will be along in a moment who can

Ps...glad you had relief of dx.

Hi troutpout, thanks for replying,
We are happy to go with the diagnosis without the full assessment - mainly because it's what we expected. I think if it had been different we would have insisted on the full one but it all has the same conclusion I guess.
We do have an appointment next week with the Dr who wouold have carried out the asd assessment, in order to discuss what to expect with ds in regard to schooling etc so I intentd to talk it through with them then.

I guess because I wasn't expecting it, it just seemed a bit sudden, almost like we'd cut half the process out?!?

rmls09

I would hope that they will advise you to apply for a Statement of Special Needs from your LEA with regards to his schooling and also that they will encourage you to apply. If the word "Statement" is not mentioned by them, bring this word into the conversation.

rmls09 we got a dx last year of aspergers for ds 7 now with no assenments only a few with different doctors ds very good in school but at home and when they have seen him at clinic ds can not sit still sort og hyperactive so didnt think we would get a dx of adhd but they now think he as both and talking of medicating him with a non stimulant waiting for info to come through post..

i thought if you had adhd you could not control to sit still and i questioned this when they said but they say now they can control some times but explode like ds when he comes home from school. hope this makes sence

Hi AttilatheMeercat,

Yeah a statement has been mentioned but not in any great depth at the moment. I had a quick meeting with the SEN co-ordinator at his school today and she assured me that as soon as written conformation of the diagnosis comes through we can set up a meeting outlining a plan of action for the school. So fingers crossed!

trace2
Yeah that makes a lot of sense. ds had his adhd reassessed about 6 months ago and we were told he no longer met the 'criteria' for it. However at this latest appointment they said that it was clear it was causing a lot of problems for him and therefore it would be included in his diagnosis. Apparently it's at their discretion to diagnose and they consider a 'working diagnosis' preferable to a 'clinical (ticks all the boxes') diagnosis in some situations.
It sounds like my ds is similar to yours in the way that he does ok at school - still fidgits,gets out of chair, shouts out, interrups etc but is manageable. But once at home he is off the wall a lot of the time. I think the effort of controlling himself at school is what leads to a lot of his big tantrums at home too.

This is roughly what happened to ds - dxed ADHD with GDD on his 5th birthday and autism with MLD 2 years later without a full multi day asd assessment but with a whole group of experts present. My only problem is that we did not have any breakdown of where he was on the spectrum at the time or what his strengths and needs were which I think can be a useful consequence of the full assessment.