A 6 Year Olds Diagnosis..

Watch this video http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/medicating/ It is educational for you and shows that the psychologist isn't the right person to diagnose a child.

I have several friends with children with Asperger's and a couple of them were misdiagnosed at first. Get a second opinion.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/aspergers-syndrome/DS00551

The link above might help. Good luck!

Hi Juanita,

The best way to get a proper diagnosis is make sure he is at a baseline of good health. When my daughter was diagnosed with ADHD she was full of toxic chemicals. She ingested them in her foods, she inhaled them when she helped me clean and she absorbed them through her skin when she bathed. I simply used what I bought at Walmart. I wasn't running a chemical lab....When I detoxed my house and got her nutrition right, all her symptoms disappeared. Her doctor removed her diagnosis.

I'm not saying that your son doesn't have an issue but misdiagnosis is so common today because we have so much outside stimuli that we didn't have 50 years ago. Asperger's, Autism, OCD, ADD/ADHD have all exploded as far as diagnoses. There is no other reason for that than our toxic world. We have to live in it but we don't have to overexpose ourselves to it if we can help it. If we get rid of the toxins in our home, our immune systems are usually strong enough to fight them off outside our home.

Get in touch with me if you'd like to talk. I'll be glad to help!

Regards,

M.

Take your son to a developmental pediatrician. My son aged 3 was misdiagnosed with SID and possible mental retardation at a year old but upon taking him to the developmental pediatrician who can give a diagnosis noticed exactly what I did: my son is autistic. You are his mom and you know what you see don't take one diagnosis as the end all say all.

Hi Juanita,

I have an aspie, and sometimes it can take a while to get a good diagnosis. I have some advice for you. First, you need to see a Developmental Pediatrician. A phsychologist is not a medical doctor, and though they can do testing and find that the results are consistent with ADHD (or asperger, for that matter) they are not qualified to make the diagnosis. A Developmental Pediatrician will give you a full evaluation, with all the educational, psychological, nuerological, language, motor, genetic, audiological, phsycial, and behavioral factors spelled out, and will put the whole picture into one comprehensive report for you with a treatment plan that will include how much speech and langauge, how much OT, how much cognative behaviroal therapy (what you are looking for) how many social skills classes, what kinds of educational interventions, etc, so that you are no longer guessing about any of it. Then, what has worked best for us, is to find a highly accessable Board Certified Child psychiatrist to be the case and medical manager, who will give you referals to all the other professionals that you need. You can find Develpmental Pediatricians at children's hospital, and it may take several months before they can see you, but you will not be disapointed.

Next, try not to obssess about the diagnosis. Easy to say, hard to do. I really matters very little if you have a comprehensive evaluation that has identified all his needs. If you don't have all of his needs identifed, that is a different story, and you really need more evlauation, however, for theraputic intervention and school intervention if the data has exposed all of the therapies and interventions he needs, regardless of the diagnosis, he will progress. In school especially, you should know that it does not matter one bit if they give him an IEP under OHI or AU, IF you are advocating well, based on the data, for him to have all the services he needs. Once he is qualified for special education, he gets all the services he needs based on the data, NOT the category he qualifies under. School districts win if they can get you to argue about this, because they can delay service, and keep you arguing on a string, instead of coughing up the services he needs. If you get right down to it, the evaluation data of a child with ADHD or Asperger may call for exactly the same program, all but the name you call the diagnosis and the OHI vs AU on one little line of the IEP.

For medical intervention, the therapy will also be based on his symptoms, not the diagnosis, so he is really losing little while you work to get a more accurate diagnosis. Get him a cognative behavioral therapist, who will work with the child they see before them, which will not change with the diagnosis. Speech therapy will not change, neither will OT. A social skills class with have both kids with ADHD and Asperger most probably, so little will change for his therapy at all.

Know that Asperger totally includes every aspect of the ADHD diagnosis, so if he meets the standard for Asperger, he also meets ADHD, so a psycholgist is not wrong that he meets all the diagnostic criteria for ADHD, so even a treatment plan based on an ADHD diagnosis will garner him good and necessary therapy, but I have never known a thearpist who did not deal with the issues they see before them and insisted on dealing with items that seemed more consistnet with a particular diagnosis.

My best advice to you for his feeling like an odd ball is to really look deep. Is he feeling that way, or do you? From my experience, the kids handle it much better than we do, they are not hurting nearly as much as we thing that they are. Find him a social skills group with other kids who are like he is, and you will see that he will find all the companionship he needs from his peer group. You need not worry about him being lonley for the rest of his life, there are very many people out there whom he will find much in common, albeit a little different than what we invision for them to be happy, but it is out there. A true aspie can sniff out the one other aspie in a crowd of 100 kids in minutes. Find him another aspie or two, and he will be fine.

It took us until age 10 to get a good diagnosis. It is a journey sometimes, but it will be fine. Just be certain that every area of his disablity has been measured, that you understand the data so that you can advocate for the services he needs (go to www.wrightslaw.com and read "Understanding Tests and Measurements for Parents and Advocates") and make sure that he always has what he needs from the public school, then supplement what he does not get with private services, as the public school will never provide everything.

As for dealing with it on a daily basis, it gets better over time, but it also changes as they change. I won't lie, puberty is hell, so be ready for that. Have a very accessable psychiatrist who can see you as quickly and as often as you need it once he hits that stage, even if you have to pay out of pocket for that service. THAT is essential. Know that as soon as you think you have it all figured out, it will change and that you will never be able to get completely ahead of all of it, so cut yourself some slack. If you start to feel guilty or depressed, get help for yourself. Almost 100% of primary caregivers will need psychiatric care too, neither be ashamed nor surprised and don't wait to take care of yourself. Don't judege your effort based on the outcome, and learn to come to terms with small successes. Above all, mean what you say and say what you mean, exactly, completely, and without any euphamism at all, if you say "you are not listening" he heard "you cannot hear" and if the teacher says to do your homwork "tonght" yes, you do have to wait until the sun goes down before he gets started, and when you say "wash your hair" you better say "wash the skin on your scalp where the hair grows out of" or you will have a kid washing the hair, but never getting clean (trust me.) Fewer words are always better. Tell him what to do instead of what to stop doing. Make a list for him if you are mad and can't deal with it any more, and let him do it himself (even if you know he will do it wrong) and get away when you are about to blow, because once he grows up, you want to have a relationship left to have.

If anyone suggests to you that you wait to either teach him something, send him to a grade level, or give him a therapy, laugh and do the opposite. He will surprise you everytime. He will never seem ready, but he will sail through with your help, and waiting is time lost. He has not one second extra to waste. Get more therapy rather than less, get an dyslexia intervention program if he has even one little sign of trouble, do the social skills class even if they are starting over with skills you think he already knows. More is better, and he will need more reminders than there are grains of sand in the sea, so get used to reppetition, he will either forget what you said, or fail to remember where he filed that item of information in his brain. Don't be fooled by a child who can do calculus, he really cannot figure out the microwave by himself, and if he does not want to do something, you can almost forget it (though you have to try) he really will be the imovable object. I could go on and on. Mine is 18, so we are just entering what we thought would be the end of the road. Its not. She will need a group home some day, and we are now facing gaurdianship so that we can continue her care. Some are more independent than our daughter is, that is the luck of the draw I guess, but all in all, she has done well. Most of all, she is happy.

I am here if you want more!

M.

I understand where you are coming from. I would take him to a developmental pediatrician to have him evaluated and diagnosed. If your son has Aspergers, you'll see that he has social difficulties like, for example:

* He may stand too close to people when they are talking -- all the time, not just once in a while;

* He may talk about one subject and one subject only most of the time and when people try to steer the conversation in another direction, he'll always some how manage to steer the conversation back to his favorite subject although people are clearly bored with it;

* He may be more of a literal thinker (when you say, "It's raining cats and dogs," he's looking for the cats and dogs) and probably won't understand certain social and communication nuances that other kids just seem to pick up naturally.

My son has some ADHD children in his class and, although they have difficulty focusing and staying on-task, they are very sociable and can talk about a variety of subjects and participate in the give and take of a conversation for the most part (they are still 7-year old boys after all).

I'll give you an example of what Aspergers may look like. I have a cousin by marriage who came out to visit the very first time a few years ago. He's a marine biologist -- a very smart, and very accomplished guy -- but he could go on for hours and hours about the migration of certain fish and whenever I tried to steer the conversation to other subjects like the weather or what is like living in Florida, he would always bring the subject back to fish (I'm not kidding or exaggerating). He wasn't picking up on the social clues that everyone else in the room was bored and frustrated with him and, now that I look back, I don't think he really could because he had never been diagnosed with Aspergers so he never was taught how the proper conversation protocol that comes naturally to other people, and he was never taught how to read body language, facial expressions or the tone of other people's voices, and he couldn't understand other people's perspective or theory of mind. I didn't know it then, but I do now, he has Aspergers.

Hope this helps give you a clearer picture of what may be going on with your son. Hope that whatever diagnosis you do or do not receive, you and your son will do well.

I know exactly what you are going through. I have always known that my 8 year old son was different, but could not get anyone to listen. Now, at 8, we are finally going through the process of getting him an Aspbergers diagnosis. Like your son, he was diagnosed with ADD/ADHD at 6 (almost 7). We have had him on meds since then and they have helped with some things, but he still has most all the Aspberger symptoms also. We have been told all along (since he was 4) that they will not give an Aspberger diagnosis until age 7-8.

Here are his symptoms:
Has one main interest (computers), talks about it all the time, often in long monologues.

Doesn't get social cues. Will keep talking even when someone walks away. Doesn't "fit in" with the other kids socially. He's behind socially and doesn't have the same interests.

Very poor motor control and handwriting.

Doesn't like change in routine. It really throws him off, especially at school.

Has tantrums that are not age appropriate (better after therapy)

Talks using "big" words. Words that most 8 year olds don't use.

Sensory problems with sound. Doesn't like being in loud places, especially when there is talking.

That's all I can think of right now. Don't give up, as your mother you know what you see and you know your son. I'll let you know how the evaluation through the school district goes in the next month or so. It sounds like it will be much more comprehensive than anything else we have done (but I'm not holding my breath)

One more thing. I was thinking today about socializing for Asp. kids or other kids with social issues. We have done the whole social group thing with the psychologist with success, but I was thinking about starting a social group for just that, doing social things. I read about a group down in Waco that started one and they said how great it was for the kids to have a "safe" group to play with, that understand their children. As a mom of one of these children do you think you would be interested in such a thing? That way they could have kids to do activities with who understand them. Just a thought!

Anyway, please feel free to ask me any more questions. Good luck and NEVER give up!

A behavioral therapist can't diagnose. Ours just helps us manage behavior issues resulting from our son's ADHD and OCD. But he never diagnosed anything ... when it was time, he referred us to a psychiatrist for a diagnosis.

If you aren't confident in the diagnosis (and honestly, if you are dealing with these conditions, it should feel like an accurate diagnosis), then I would get in with a neuropsychologist or developmental pediatrician for a full evaluation.

Hi Juanita,

Aspergers can be a tricky diagnosis, as can trying to effetively diagnose younger children. Sure. Get a seond opinion. Find a clinician that specializes in young children and PDD's (Pervasive Developemental Disorders). Good luck. S. A. K., MFT

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Chino-CA/S.-A-K...

Hi Juanita,

Did you have your get son diagnosed at a children's hospital or through the school district?I believe Dallas does have a children's hospital with an autism center. If you are going to have a second opinion try going through an autism center at the children's hospital as they see this everyday and work with all kids on the spectrum. When my son was diagnosed with high functioning aspergers (he is barely on the spectrum) the school district did not see a problem because he could easily pass all their testing (in our school district it seemed it came down with what the school district was willing to pay for special services). I took him to our local children's hospital and through the psychologist there he saw what we saw and my son did test on the spectrum with him. Remember every kid with Aspergers has different symptoms and no two are alike. Its been almost two years now and my son is doing great because he has been attending behavariol therapy and social skills classes and he is in private school now with a teacher that cares about him and helps him. My son has lots of friends. Although he still has his few oddities he is able to accept who he is and is learning to work around it. I think it is important to get the right diagnosis because early intervention is the key to helping him function in a normal life and way beyond his school years. Helping your son now will give him so many opportunities for later. Also, meeting other mothers/fathers with kids on the spectrum will help you immensely too. Sometimes Aspergers can mimic ADHD/OCD so if your gut is telling you that the diagnosis doesn't sound right go with that and find a specialist (psychologist) in autism to rule it out once and for all. Also I would recommend getting some books at your local library or book store on Aspergers/Autism for your own knowledge. Good luck Juanita.

It is very hard to find a decent developmental Pediatrician. You may want to look at www.autismspot.com
The people (the Potter's) who started this site have a child with aspergers.
There is a lot of info on there and you can email them with questions. They are wonderful people and always willing to help. There is a yahoo group and I cannot remember the name I believe its called DANISH??.... Not sure but you may google yahoo grooups for aspergers. The moms on yahoo groups are the most helpful!!!
Hope this helps. You are a good mom to carry through and being so pro active!
L.

IMO you shoudl get at least 3 opinions. When my son, who was 4 at the time, was diagnosed on the spectrum, we saw 2 psychologists, and a developmental pediatrician. We were able to get feedback and resources from all 3 that helped us decide on a course of action. We utimately chose to do ABA therapy for 1 and a half years and he is not a thriving 8 year old. Your instinct is always right and you are smart to seek other opinions. I wish you the best in finding what is going to help your child.

G.

Take your son to SW Medical Center Autism clinic. Dr. Hoenig diagnosed my son at 3 and she was right on with everything she said. After a year of therapies he had recovered enough to be diagnosed with PDD-NOS. It's been 3 years now and he still has some Aspie in him, but a completely different child now and we never used drugs. Utilize your school district and their resources without our district we never would have made it this far. Good Luck.

You could both be right. OCD commonly occurs with autism/aspergers, so he could be both. I don't know how common ADHD would be in combination with aspergers. Regardless, I think it's a good idea to get a second opinion just to make sure. Another point of view never hurts!

These two resources changed my life:

#1 and what I would read first:

http://www.amazon.com/Kid-Friendly-ADHD-Autism-Cookbook-G...

It is NOT just a cookbook, the recipes start like on page 90, but it is full of reasons why it is our diet that is sabotaging out children's health.

#2 I would look into:

http://www.feingold.org/

Watch the videos! They are great.

I would not recommend something that we havent had success with. I have a daughter with ADHD and a son who was looking like he was on the Spectrum. We saw a quick change in our house when we removed the culprits triggering their minds.

Good luck with whatever you do!

Laura is right it is difficult to find a developmental ped with whom most people are happy in the DFW area. ADHD and OCD diagnosis are based on symptoms. Yes asperger's commonly have both types of behavior. I just spoke to a woman yesterday whose son had been diagnosed as ADHD, then at Brain Balance they told her he wasn't ADHD but had auditory processing problems. In any case, with whomever you see, you'll get their theory or their testing to determine a diagnosis. Regardless you need to get some help. Dr. Bock's book Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, Asthma, ADHD and Allergies may be helpful. I found it in my local library. An eval at the Plano Brain Balance Center may be helpful. An eval at mindmenders.com may be helpful. Or Rios in Lewisville is a developmental ped who some people liked, he may be helpful as well. The school probably won't be helpful but you may start there. They have autism eval teams so you might push for them to do an eval too. That one will be free if you can get them to agree to do it. Diet and supplements can help, social skills training can help. it just depends on his specific issues. Good luck.

I'd try talking with the folks on the Children with ASD message board http://childrenwithasd.proboards.com/index.cgi?
It's a board for parents whose children are anywhere on the autism spectrum, very supportive and helpful when you're looking for info on how to get the resources your child needs or if you just need to talk with other parents who 'get' what it's like to be parenting a child on the spectrum.

I can't help you other than to say, YOU are his mom and you do know him better than anyone else, SO yes, get a second opinion. Besides it never hurt to do so anyway.

Good Luck and good for you taking the initiative to keep up with his issues.

Good Luck and take care.