This will be our 4th year having this done. In a way I am interested to see how his testing goes...they use the same tests every year so I can get a really good idea of how well he is progressing. At the same time I am completely scared! And still a little annoyed that I have to have yet another evaluation done.
When Mason had his first seizure his neurologist recommended the neuropsychologist to us for an autism evaluation. The dr felt that she couldn't diagnose Mason as autistic because he has brain damage, but sent us to a different dr for further eval...this dr came back with the same dx. So we have been doing this "routine" for the last 3 years! Last year she sent us to a psychiatrist for further testing and in turn this psychiatrist sent us to a local psychologist (all the other dr's and evals have been out of town) and he is the one that gave us the autism diagnosis. He said it's time to start treating symptoms rather than worry about a label.
So now I need to go back to this original neuro who has never wanted to label him with autism. I have spoken to her on the phone and she had me send her his eval from this new psychologist and also his newest IEP.
I guess in a way, I am curious to see what she has to say, but at the same time I am scared that I am going to get conflicting information.
As of right now, having this autism dx hasn't done anything except put us on a waiting list for more therapies, ABA included. But it did seem to wake up the school and when we did his IEP in May, it was huge. Before this it seemed like I struggled a lot with getting the school to listen to me. So I'm very excited to see if this is going to be a better school year for Mason.
So what do I do if this neuropsych comes back and says she doesn't agree with the last eval? Do I try to hide that from the school? I'm sure they are expecting it because we have used it in the past to try to get additional help from them. Is there anything I should specifically be talking to the neuropsych about? Do I try to push her to dx him with autism too, or should I just go in and let her do what she always does, and just get her honest opinion?
Sorry this is so long...I'm just really nervous about this and I'm just not sure what to be expecting...in all honesty when we got the actual autism dx I was shocked!! I just figured it would be the same thing it has always been. I don't know if I should be putting so much into a label, but it seems like this is the first time I feel like there is hope, well at least a waiting list for hope, lol. I used to second guess myself about this all the time, but since I have come here and talked to all of you, and can relate to sooooo much, I guess I started putting the idea that it ISN'T autism in the back of my mind. So I'm scared that if she comes back again and says she doesn't agree, all of my anxiety and questions are going to start again.
Anyway, thanks for listening and thanks for any help you can offer!
Hello!
I know I can't be much help about answering your questions. I am really new at this and still learning about autism.
My advice is just follow your heart and I hope your son gets what he needs. Hopefully, the neuropsych will take the other's dx into consideration and observe more closely or look for more that they may have missed before.
I'm sure it must be a very stressful time in your life, but it will be ok. Just keep posting and we'll try to help you the best we can!!!!! There are some really great people who have really great advice in this forum-- I have benifited from it so much!!!
p.s. sorry i wasn't much help
She is a great lady and Mason has worked well with her in the past. She has always tried to give us lots of recommendations for at home and school. But they haven't always helped so I'm hoping she will take that into consideration too. That maybe it's time to look pass the brain damage as being the only problem he has. I will definitely update after it's done...thanks for the support guys!!
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