Does my son really need to see Neurolgst? | Autism PDD

About 6 months ago our ECI speech therapist recommended that we take our son to the Neurology Dept of TExas Children's Hospital because he never made any progress over a year (in fact it declined) working with her.  I made the appointment which is in August.  Meanwhile, I became aware that he had the warning signs of Autism.  I had him evaluated by a Clinical Psychologist who diagnosed him with Pdd-Nos.  I also sent in an E-2 form to the Autism Research Institute and it came back as "Autistic".  I've done a few other checklists online and read a lot and do feel confident that he's been correctly diagnosed.

But does he still need to see the Neurologist?  Is this necessary to rule out physical problems?  If he doesn't need it I don't want to do it, but of course I will if he needs it. 

Thanks!

IMHO FWIW - i say no!I'm not sure, because we see a neuro for Mason's seizures and that came before the autism...but I can tell you Mason's neuro has very little to do with his autism, and usually when she is seeing problems with autistic type things she refers us to someone else...so I too am thinking no.

Yes, you should see the neurologist because, remember, autism is just a label for a set of behaviors - as a diagnosis, it means, "we don't know why your kid is exhibiting these behaviors". 

There are known disorders that can lead to developmental delays and thus autistic behaviors - there are a couple of known, genetic syndromes, metabolic or hormonal disorders, brain damage, etc.  You would want to rule out all known causes of developmental delays because some of the known causes are treatable.  The chances that anything will show up are pretty small, but you should check nonetheless, especially if no progress is being made.

fred39275.3071296296that's true Fred!  I suppose in our case they ruled out other things by the time he was dx'd with Autism...very good point!nothing wrong with having a neurologist on your medical team

LI took my son to a neuro for his initial appt, which was just to "seal the deal" so to speak.  He went again twice, at quarterly intervals, for follow up.  It was helpful, because she gave me a report to present at the CSE meeting, which helped to get the max in services, and for an EEG.  He hasn't been back in about 6 months, and I think I'll continue with a developmental pediatrician instead.

We've never seen a neuro. He has had an EEG before (ordered by the psychiatrist), but it was normal and we never saw a neuro.

Our main dr is our psychiatrist.

we took our son to one. . .they did some bloodwork and stuff just to rule out anything physical.  They sent us but eve nthe Nuero. himself said it was purely a formality - however it would not hurt if your insurance covers it - except it being another appointment!Ours did a MRI and she had delayed Myelin which explained some of her sx for us.  Some kids have silent seizures that we cant notice so it good to rule out..the more info you can get on your son the bigger picture of what is going on with him will be:) knowlege is power!  A developmental pediatrician can do a full evaluation on him and tell you what strengths he has and what needs addressing..they are experts in autism. IMHO:)
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