I have a worry. | Autism PDD

I have an strange feeling that my 7 year old dd Zoe may be an Aspie. How can I find out for sure. She is going into the second grade in 9 days, so she is to old for the early childhood intervention. What testing can I do to find out for sure. Any suggestions and advice that you can give is much appreciated.

i would say she was AS

from my experiences

and the meds will be making her worse because they are for her adhd

if as is more dominant she will have to be treated as yu would autism child not adhd child there is a big differance

there is no medication going that is spercifically for autism

to be able to control something you have to know where the core is and nobody does

so any medications she is having will conflict with behaviours associated with AS

Many many kids with AS have huge sensory probs and anxiety problems myself and son included

my advice would be to see your gp asasp

get the ados and multy doscaplonary assessment sorted quick

you may find if she is moving up in class that her behaviors worsen that is just fear of the unkown if you try to expalin what moving up class means she will a a little understanding of what to expect

predictability is paramaount to a child and adult with AS without it is chaos

hope this helps

love shell

Shell, thanks a bunch. She goes back to see her psychiatrist in 3 weeks. He is the same doc that dxd Skylar with HFA/Severe ADHD and Zoe with ADD/Anxiety. I really trust him, so I am going to sit him down and just plainly tell him that I want her tested, if for no other reason, but to ease my mind and reassure me that I am not overlooking something with her. Skylar's issues takes so much out of me and so much of my time, that I cannot ignore her well being. Thanks so much for the advice. You ROCK!!

when you go in

dont ask them if she has AS tell them she has AS

they will then look directly at autism instead of working there through the spectrum and getting down to the nearest disoder

keep a diary from now of all her behaviours and routines

everything conversations with you and herself

if possible video her

but take your video camers with you because they try to say they have no player to play it lol

they were shocked when mine came out of my bag i refused to move untill they watched it

it was taken differant days over a two week period

a good pattern by then wii have formed and they wil pick up on repetative behaviors that are going on

you shout hun as loud as you can but be polite lol

love shell

Hi, I going throught the same thing with my 5 yo. It can be hard for someone unfamilar with asperger's to notice. You can have her assessed by a knowledgeable about autism child psychologist (Some psychs have little experience with ASD). Some professionals think a kid with any eye contact is not ASD or concrete play skills are pretend play. It's very frustrating.

I'm working on assessing my dd through SLP. Initially, they only tested her expressive/receptive (mostly through simple labelling or pointing to objects) as well as articulation of single words. She did fairly well.

I have written a request to SLP for pragmatic language testing, semantic language in sentences testing. She also has a high pitch fast moving voice and mumbles when she's answering a more complicated or conversational question. Just to make you aware that if you see a standard SLP through school or wherever they may not being testing where needed and you have to request it.

All autisms share a pragmatic deficit. There's more about pragmatic language here: http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/Pragmatics.htm

As well I'm looking to have her seen by an "autism experienced" psychologist. Our dev.ped. sucks and would be a waste of time and gas.

You may also want to consider having her tested for APD if she's had her hearing tested and it's fine and she seems inattentive or struggles at school.

hi hun

go see your gp

alarm bells should ring anyway

she can then refer you to sit the A.D.O.S assessment

this works very well with HF children and AS

i have four on the spectrum and my aspie was not diagnosed untill after my son with severe autism i ignored the signs he was screaming because i paid to much attention to sams probs how sorry i am for that.

trust your instinct and ask for referal dont leave it

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html

online aspergers test

love shell

spectrummum39312.6009722222
Diagnostic criteria for Asperger syndrome taken from ICD-10

(a) There is no clinically significant general delay in spoken or receptive language or

cognitive development. Diagnosis requires that single words should have developed by

2 years of age or earlier and that communicative phrases be used by 3 years of age or

earlier. Self-help skills, adaptive behaviour and curiosity about the environment during

the first 3 years should be at a level consistent with normal intellectual development.

However, motor milestones may be somewhat delayed and motor clumsiness is usual

(although not a necessary diagnostic feature). Isolated special skills, often related to

abnormal preoccupations, are common, but are not required for diagnosis.

(b) There are qualitative abnormalities in reciprocal social interaction (criteria as for

autism).

repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behaviour interests and activities (criteria as for

autism; however, it would be less usual for these to include either motor mannerisms or

preoccupations with part-objects or non-functional elements of play materials).

(d) The disorder is not attributable to other varieties of pervasive developmental

disorder; simple schizophrenia schizotypal disorder; obsessive-compulsive disorder;

anakastic personality disorder; reactive and disinhibited attachment disorders of

childhood.

if i can help any more please ask

love shell

spectrummum39312.6039351852I had her do that test yesterday and she scored a 35. My ds only scored a 32 on the CARS test. Zoe is very intelligent, but has severe anxiety disorder, and does not do well under pressure (in class, she gets very distracted from what she is doing when there is a lot of noise around her). They have already diagnosed her with ADD, but the meds seem to make the anxiety worse. Her doctor doesn't think its the meds that are making her this way. She has been a very anxious child since about 7 months old, and over the last two years, it has gotten unbearable for her and I both. She stays a nervous wreck, is afraid of everything and especially social situations.
She walked, talked and did everything at a very early age and has never had any type of developmental problems.

Here's the link to the article rubyruby mentioned. You might have to register with the NY Times to read it, but it's free.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/05/magazine/05autism-t.html?e x=1187668800&en=66edd743788b8ae2&ei=5070

Below are a few more diagnostic checklists for kids with Aspergers. They might help you make the observations you need to get correct results at the evaluation. Good luck with everything.

http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/aspergerscaleAttwood.htm l - Australian Scale for Asperger Syndrome, for primary school children

Diagnostic checklists from the book "Parenting Your Asperger Child":

http://printables.familyeducation.com/forms-and-charts/skill -builder/51750.html - Part 1, Difficulty with Reciprocal Social Interactions

http://printables.familyeducation.com/forms-and-charts/skill -builder/51751.html - Part 2, Impairments in Language Skills

http://printables.familyeducation.com/forms-and-charts/skill -builder/51755.html - Part 3, Sensory Sensitivities

http://printables.familyeducation.com/forms-and-charts/skill -builder/51752.html - Part 4, Narrow range of interests and insistence on set routines

http://printables.familyeducation.com/forms-and-charts/skill -builder/51754.html - Part 5 - Cognitive Issues (including mind-blindness)

becaause only autism has the triad of impaimnets

any of the other disorder can have a mixture of the triad autism has the full triad with the acception of no peech delay in AS

Thanks for the links Norwaymom, I have found some useful info on those site. I know I can always count on you for awesome links. We just had a visit with her psych. this past Wed. about her anxiety. He wants to get her into therapy with a doctor that specializes in anxiety disorders. But that isnt until sometime in Sept. I explained ALL of what she has been doing just since our last visit a month ago, and he did she that it was getting a bit worse. And went over this chart with me, and explained that some of it is hereditary, (i have anxiety disorder myself and am on meds for it). Also said that she picks up alot of the anxiety from ME (so which made me feel like its my fault). This is a child that is afraid of everything, I leave the room, and she cant see me, she goes into hysterics, if it gets cloudy outside or rains, thunder or lightening, she cowers down in a corner shaking all over and crying her eyes out in absolute fear.(This stems from Hurricane Rita two years ago. We were hit pretty hard. And here we are in Texas (southeast) and a cat. 4 hurricane headed right our way. She isn't aware of the hurricanes existance yet, due to the fact I don't want to throw her into shock. I literally hurt for her, I cry at the very thought of what another storm is gonna put her through. She still has not emotionally recovered from the one two years ago. I feel helpless.

But I am going to take your advice, and go in to the office and say "look, she has AS, you and I both know it, now please, lets just test her and get her what she needs. I went through sheer hell going through all of this for Skylar, and she is no different. I NEED to know if this is what is causing all of this, and how can I help her if I don't have a DEFINITE answer? Ya know?

i know hun i know

let me know if you need anything

love shell

Thanks, its just nice to know that its not all in my head (as my mom would say) and that I am not make a mountain out of a mole hill.

No one WANTS their children to have ANY types of problems. But she was my first born, and my second born came into this world with autism and adhd.

Coincidence? I think not.

you know when something is wrong

have trust in yourself because your children will depnd on it

hugs my friend on your journey

shell

Thanks again Shell!

my son is an aspie, we took him to a child psychiatrist. Then we saw another child psychiatrist for a second opinion just to make sure. Try to find a Doc that knows all of the spectrum. [QUOTE=spectrummum]
Diagnostic criteria for Asperger syndrome taken from ICD-10