difficult child in action - what do YOU see...

SRL

Active Member
Also worth mentioning is that eye contact issues can some of the time be resolved so the fact that it isn't presently an issue isn't as important as the fact that it once was.

One thing I can tell you from having rubbed shoulders with a lot of parents of kids in the realm of spectrumy traits is that if they go strictly by the criteria on a day when the doctor is seeing them in the office, a lot of kids would slip under the radar. Being able to engage *appropriately* is as important of an assessment clue as being able to engage.

Did that neuropsychologist do any of the parent questionaire diagnostic screening tools for Autism or Asperger's?
 

Shari

IsItFridayYet?
You know, I don't recall if he had the questionaires or not. I know I filled them out, but I don't recall for who. I will have to look.

And actually, this makes me recall, the neuropsychologist's report (but this is long after the devped said "not autistic") said they could see where we were getting autistic traits from, but they beleived it was due to his activity level. They weren't able to test him thoroughly because they couldn't keep up with him. I would argue they couldn't keep up with him because after a short while, he became so anxious about where I was (which is noted in the report), to the point of excluding and ignoring anything they were trying to do. Ignoring this, the testers then got the hyper reaction of him under the table/on the table/under the chairs/making noise, etc (which is also noted in the report). They deduced his inability to socialize was more aptly caused by his inabliity to sit still.

Yet I can't tell you how many times I would take difficult child to the park, where he LOVED to be, and there would be groups of 4 or 5 kids roughly his age there, and if they attempted to play with him, 9 times out of 10 he would spit on them - even if they just asked him to play. If they pursued it, he became physically violent towards them. Those kids were running around playing the same things as difficult child, but he wanted no part of participation WITH them, tho he usually stayed relatively close to their group.

Which we thought was parallell play, but again, docs don't see this.

He rode his bike without training wheels right at 3 years of age, and he'd ride circles around the kids playing, and travel with them as they moved around the park, but rarely interacted with them until after he started at the early intervention school.

The first time he interacted with a boy at the park was when a boy we didn't know had a birthday party there and had a squish ball. It was flat and you threw it, then it popped open into a regular round ball shape. difficult child was amazed by the ball and played catch with this boy and another child, but it was because of the ball.

He can socialize and play with kids now, and is capable of it being appropriate, tho he really has to work on it.

You know, he also toe walked and hand-flapped down the hallway to the testing room, which is noted in the report...which makes me also remember that he used to hand flap all the time, which I've posted about here before, too. If he was excited or anxious, he would make his hands flap like you do if you're making your hands "talk" like a puppet. If he was mildy excited or anxious, he would do it to his sides, but the more excited he got, the higher his hands got. The day of testing, the flapping down the hall was above his head. Flapping decreased in early intervention preschool when we started making him aware of the position and actions of arms and legs, keeping them appropriate in prep for kindergarten (we asked all the time "Are your hands 'just right'?" meaning, are they in an acceptable position and doing acceptable things)
 

Shari

IsItFridayYet?
We are doing all this at the university here. But this thread really has me questioning again whether or not they've missed the autism diagnosis. I suppose I'd have to go to St Louis or KC to truly get a fresh set of eyes, but I'm thinking right now, that's probably worth it.
I also think I'll print out my posts in this thread to take to the psychiatric tomorrow. You guys are making me recall things I had written off as not important. THANKS!
 

trinityroyal

Well-Known Member
Shari, with difficult child it took until he was about 8 to get a diagnosis of autism, and then another few years until they said Aspergers. My diagnosis took until early adulthood (of course, when I was a child Aspergers wasn't part of the DSM).

The hyperactivity, social impairment and other behavioural issues are sometimes in such sharp focus that it makes it much harder to pin down the diagnosis.

I think a fresh set of eyes and a completely new neuropsychologist evaluation could pin it down for you.

Hope you find the answers you need soon.
Trinity
 
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