Likelyhood of Aspergers??? | Autism PDD

My son recently had a 3 year reeval for his IEP. I had him independently tested and a test called the Gilliam Aspergers Disorder Scale was used. It had some subtest scores and then it said the Aspergers Disorder Quotient score was 92 with a probability Descriptor as High/Probable. Is anyone familer with this probabiltiy scale? What does this mean???? he had a full evaluation with everything you can possibly think of. My son is 16. The doc told us he had Aspergers and my son became very upset. He wants to go into the Air Force to become an areonotical engineer. He was afraid this would prevent him from entering. When I got the results back the doc diagonsised his with PDD-NOS I think becuase of my sons reaction and me not wanting the label on him. I was just wondering if that was a high score. Thanks for the replies.Slightly off topic question, but my AS son has expressed an interest in a military career, and I was wondering if anyone knows what the military's position on acceptiing people with AS might be? Obviously they couldn't be considered for fighting (thank God), but what about Venus or my son, who want to work for the military in some kind of engineering or computer oriented capacity?

It means that there is a high probability that he has Asperger's.

GADS is an OK instrument, many professionals seem to be moving away from using it- at least here in MN. The problem I see with it is that it asks the rater to tell how frequently a behavior is occurring, which, is not necessarily an accurate indicator of if a person does or does not have ASD. I prefer the ASDS which asks more simply if the behavior is observed or not.

Regardless, the GADS like EVERY test for ASD should not be used in isolation. It should be used with a combination of other instruments, particularly observations, social skills inventories, and interviews. I posted a template we use for evaluations if you would like more information about these. I believe the scores for the GADS is explained there as well.

If you want to see the official criteria used by physicians in dx'ing Asperger Syndrome, look at a copy of the DSM-IV. Asperger's, like all ASD's, is diagnosed clinically, which means by observation only. Karolysgirl makes the good point that observation can be tainted. However, it's the ONLY tool we have. That is why it's VITAL to get a medical diagnosis thru a physician who is an expert in autism. You don't need a medical dx for school, but getting one can help head off problems in the later school years and also qualify your child for civil rights protections in life.As far as I know the military can't accept anyone with a disability, I would call a local recruiter and ask them what there policies are about AS and Aspergers.Military rules prohibit enlisting anyone with a mental disorder that interferes with school or employment, unless a recruit can show he or she hasn't required special academic or job accommodations for 12 months.

I also found this on the web, hope it helps some.The rules relax as the military needs more recruits. Ask the guys who went to Viet Nam. If your son leaves school and gets a job and succeeds in it for 12 months, any accommodations he got in HS will be moot. If he goes to college, there are very few accommodations most colleges are willing to make in the academic area. It varies by college. It might not be worth registering as disabled in college. If your son takes psychiatric meds, though (even Ritalin), it will be hard to hide the fact that he is disabled. Asperger Syndrome does not have to rise to the level of disability. It's only a disability if it's disabling. Many people on this board claim to be married to working men who have Asperger's. If your son can function and only his social skills are affected, it may be possible for him to not be considered disabled. After all, the military has a policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." And that can apply to more than sexual orientation.PS -- What will prevent him from being successful in the military is the sort of reaction he had at the doctor's office to the news. Even if he enters the military, if he give his superior officers the same sort of reaction, he'll be OUT. I'd steer him toward engineering in another way. JMHOThe untrained eye or just someone that did not know him would never know he got upset. He made no facial expressions, no comments, or any body language to indicate that he was upset. I am his mother and knew immeadity he was upset about the dx. His IQ is 130 with his acdemic testing concluded that he never reached a ceiling ( in other words he answered all the items on the test) except in writing, He was 11th grade or on grade level for that. He has been in the Junior AF ROTC program at school for 2 years and his ROTC teacher told me that Michael would go far in the military. He has never exibited any type of behavior problem. Follows orders well, is psychially fit, and even the specialist I took him to said that the Military would be a perfect setting. I found a website for my son after we were told about the Aspergers and I believe everyone on that site is within the Autistic realm. There were people on there in the military their only limitation was they could not be deployed. That site is www.wrongplanet.com. It has really helped my son and he able to communicate with others that are alot like him and now he accepts it as a gift instead of a curse. I believe that he can get in or should I say that I continue to have hope that he will.

sakura,

Thank you. I have no doubts that my son would go far in his choice to be in the Air Force. His ROTC person at school told us that he would not get in with a Aspergers diagonsis. My son was devestated. The doctor(private) did tell us he had Aspergers. Which is something I had known for a long time. I just never took him to the doctor for a dx. The reason I didnt is because at the time he was already dx with epilespy (junivelle kind) and I know for a fact you cant get in with that. Not in the Air Force. I dont know about the others. He lost his dx of epilespy, his doctor wrote that he had outgrew it and was no longer considered to have any type of medical problem. This happened at the same time the school was giving him a 3 year re evaluation for school. First they sent me a report saying he was LD and then when I sent the school the doctors letter about the epilespy, they sent me another amended evalution report, in this one it said he had no SLD, they did not do any additional tests. Which is why I went for an outside evaluation. When the results came back I was expecting it but my son was not. When he was told he had Aspergers he got upset. If you didnt know him you would never know he got upset but I know him well. When we got the written report it said PDD-NOS, I had talked to the doctor and explained how my son felt and why. He did a lot of research on it and he decided to just dx him with PDD-NOS and LD-NOS, he felt like that would be less troublesome when my son tries to enroll in the military. It is something he wants(being in the AF) and I can have his EC educational records destoryed. Which I plan on doing. Even his ROTC LT. and Col. says my son is perfectly suited to the military and they do not give comments like that often. So I will just remain hopeful. To the untrained eye you would never know my son has Aspergers unless you know what it is and live with him. He wants to go into arenotical(spelling it wrong) engenieering.

I just have faith that things will go the way they are meant too. Ihave not given up hope and I made sure my son knows as much as I do about the possibility of the military turning him down. But, Both my son and I are very optomistic about it.

Thanks so much for your post.

2 of My sons uncles have Aspergers (not dx'ed) and they both went into the military. One was given a medical discharge because of asthma, he went into the AF. The other uncle done about 2-4 years, whatever the requirement is and didnt go back, he went into the Army.

Thanks Again

Venus

VBaity1,

I am not in the military, but I am: an adult on the Spectrum, live near several bases, and know about five Spectrum adults who presently are, or were in the military. I personally believe that many adults with Asperger's find the military a good field to work in -- obviously, not every field in the military will suit, but there are many choices. For some reason, most of the Asperger adults I know who are/ were in the military seem to have worked in the Airforce. I am sure that there is a significant presence in other branches, but those are the people that I know.

If you type in "Asperger'" and "military" on Google, you will several articles about people on the Spectrum who enjoyed their military service.

There is no one personality that is best suited for the military, and there are so many choices in the military that you son is sure to find something that he will enjoy. Best Wishes!