difficult child 2's first psychiatrist appointment: ADHD and Asperger's

Californiablonde

Well-Known Member
I feel as if we are finally making progress. difficult child was given another computer test for ADHD and this time he failed miserably. He is definitely ADHD like we thought. Shame on his former therapist for saying it was "all in his head" and if he really WANTED to he could focus just fine. Luckily we didn't waste too much time on her.

Anyway, he prescribed a medication I've never heard of. It's called Intutiv. It is not a stimulant, as I did not want him to be placed on one of those. I researched Intutiv online. It says it usually takes up to two weeks before it starts working, so we shall see. psychiatrist gave us some questionaires for his teacher to fill out weekly so he can monitor his progress. One side effect I read about kinda freaked me out a lil bit. It can cause a dangerously slow heart rate. This has me worried a little bit, but I am going to try my hardest not to think of the worst possible scenerio.

psychiatrist also highly suspects Asperger's and he even went as far as writing down the diagnostic code on piece of paper to give to the school. He has recommended an IEP and I emailed the school psychiatric today asking if they would begin the process. She emailed me back and said they would begin the testing as soon as they received the report, which his teacher will be getting tomorrow.

I have to say although I'm a little surprised at the autism diagnosis, I'm not really all that shocked (I thought if he had it they would have caught it earlier) but he seems to have many of the signs. psychiatrist gave me an Asperger's questionaire to fill out, and I was surprised at how many of the symptoms fit difficult child to a T.

Some of his teachers in the past have suggested that he may be on the autistic spectrum, but I wouldn't allow myself to believe it. I guess I was in denial. I was surprised when difficult child admitted that he is very awkward in social situations and he has a hard time with friends. I didn't really think he had that much insight to his behavior. He surprises me all the time. Anyway, I feel like we are finally making progress and that is a good thing.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
The higher functioning they are, the greater the chances of the diagnosis being missed... "it can't be THAT bad", right? It's not just the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)-type dxes either. Lots of stuff works that way.

Look at it another way... if your sig is up to date, he's 11. Wow. You're at least 3 years faster than we were at getting accurate dxes...
 

Californiablonde

Well-Known Member
Yes my signature is up to date. He will be 12 in October. I should have listened to his preschool teachers a little harder when they told me he was probably autistic. I got him evaluated by the county and all they did was tell me he had a very high IQ and was not autistic because he played with the toys they gave him. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20 as they say. At least we caught it before middle school. I have a feeling his issues are going to escalate tremendously next year.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
They wouldn't necessarily have caught it back then, even if you HAD pushed. Don't beat yourself up over it. Yes, starting middle school is a challenge... but when our kids are fairly self-aware, it helps when they get accurate dxes that make sense. It takes away the power of a teacher with the "bad student" labels... "lazy", "bad attitude", etc. - because the difficult child knows what the real labels are.

The biggest single difference for our difficult child was when he got dxes that matched up with his own internal compass - the list of problems HE knew had been there since K, and which we were unable to get help for. HE was right. "THEY" were wrong.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
My son's high functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) was not caught until he was 11. It is hard to diagnose in a very young child because very poor social skills is one of the main symptoms and many younger Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) kids can "pass" for socializing when they run around and laugh with other kids and get silly. Only when they are older and have to engage in normal give-and-take conversations, interests and correct social protocol do many of the kids finally get caught. The getting too close to other kids, pushing when they are displeased, hyperness, and anal behavior about how things HAVE to be ONE exact way can pass in a seven year old, but not in a twelve year old. Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) kid's quirks often do not start bothering other kids until they hit the pre-teens.

At the same time, often good work becomes a struggle for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) kids in fifth grade and up. My son was tested while young and although the team found Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) traits they diagnosed him with ADHD. It takes time sometimes.

I'm glad you are on board with them and keep us updated :)
 
T

TeDo

Guest
Anyway, he prescribed a medication I've never heard of. It's called Intutiv. . . One side effect I read about kinda freaked me out a lil bit. It can cause a dangerously slow heart rate. This has me worried a little bit, but I am going to try my hardest not to think of the worst possible scenerio.
difficult child 1 is on the short-acting form of Intuniv. It's called Tenex and was created to control high blood pressure. Off-label, as in difficult child 1's case, it helps with his "impulsiveness". It does seem to be helping and we have had NO problems with his blood pressure. I really wouldn't worry too much about it. Our psychiatrist checks his blood pressure at every visit and it has remained stable. As our pharmacist says, "If it happens to 1 person out of 2000, they have to include it in the side effects."

Some of his teachers in the past have suggested that he may be on the autistic spectrum, but I wouldn't allow myself to believe it. I guess I was in denial.
I wish someone had suggested it to me before I read about it myself a year ago. It sure sould have saved us a LOT of problems over the years. Especially when it came to consequences and school issues.

Glad you are getting some answers. Research Asperger's. Things get much better once YOU know how he THINKS.
 

SocRocks

New Member
I can not image what you are dealing with. GGF3 is only 4. He was just diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) high functioning just a couple weeks ago. I agree with the others my sons pre-k teacher thinks he socializes fine. What is funny though she doesn't live with him, and doesn't see the same things we see. Like at a birthday party when its time to sing happy birthday my son is in the corner by himself. Things will get better.
 

Ktllc

New Member
I am glad you have some answers you fill comfortable with. It does not happen everyday! And the self-awarness is really good I would think. He can learn, read about his issues. Realize he is not the only one and learn to cope. I believe closure brings peace. Yes: it is progress.
 

buddy

New Member
AWWWW I posted from my phone earlier and I see it did not go through! Poo-poo!

Ok, so you got the message, it is just not that easy to pick out when kids are little.... there are just too many folks who think that kids are NOT social at all or dont play with toys at all and they dont fully understand the SPECTRUM part of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). You did what you thought was best and it is not like you have ignored him all this time! Even with the diagnosis, we just have to do our best to deal with issues as they come up. Now that you know, one thing that may happen is that with the right interventions the ADHD types of symptoms may improve (that is if they are more Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) related rather than a chemical or structural brain area as in primary ADHD...but of course some of our lucky kids do have both).... so it may be something to look forward to.

You are doing awesome. It is just kind of sad to hear even if it helps to hear the answer. Yet we soldier on. He is the same kid, just have more opportunities to fight for more services now.... make sure you come back and vent. (Dont be surprised if your emotions are all over the place on this...it is an adjustment to realize the reality of it, I promise more than a few of us her know how that feels!)
 
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