Shocked to hear my SON has Aspergers......

[tazza]

My Son will turn 3 in Aug. We were just concerned about his speech as sometimes he mumbles words in a sentence , he has a vocablary of approx 600-700 words . he knows where the bin and throws stuff if we tell him.

After we gave all the history of our son to the speech therapist she said our son has Aspergers... When the therapist played with him
and told us to play with him. she said he doesn't make eye contact.

We feel he makes eye contact plays with diff toys cars planes train soft toys . makes 24-32 pce puzzles by himself once shown how to. he has been going to kinder since he was 1.5 yrs old.
Is always on the run and never is one place.
we actually have to put cartoons for him to make him sit and eat.

none of our friends have kids but he plays with all our friends. but we have noticed that he usually doesn't interact with other kids on the road(like in a shopping center when kids come near him he usually hides behind me or his mom.) he has his tanturms but they don't go for long.

Just Confused how to take it. he looks like a normal kid but feel he just a bit too active.....
Could the diagnose be not right and its just the way he is....

[smog]

:hugs: what a shock! my ds is almost 7 and he was diagnosed with aspergers and oppositional defiance disorder about 2 yrs ago. ti too was shocked, i had no idea he might have aspergers syndrome. i knew something was wrong with him and i was quite sure he probably had ODD but yeah was blown away by the aspergers diagnosis.
sometimes i believe its the right diagnosis and sometimes i dont. he has a lot of the little lesser known quirks of an aspie kid but some of the bigger stuff he doesnt seem to have. i dont know if its just coincidental that he has some of those little things or not.

with my son we took because we were concerned about his behavoiur. he is constantly aggressive and violent. his speech is good, he does make eye contact, he does have friends, his obsessions are not life consuming, he doesnt have issues with routine. he just puches, kicks attacks people all the time for no reason. his dr keeps trying to tell me that every aspie kid is different. lots will have the more typical symptoms but not all will. apparently mine is much much more aggressive than is usually seen but more social than is usually seen.

id say read as much as u can and see if any of what u read resembles your child:hugs: seek a second opinion

[MummaBear03]

My daughter is nearly 7 and has Asperger's Syndrome and OCD, and also diagnosed with ADHD. I agree, read as much as you possibly can. DD interacts with older children and adults, and can "mother" babies but doesn't interact or play with kids from toddler to about 11 years of age. Of course, she has her friends at school her own age, but she doesn't know how to play with those kids and ends up annoying them. They'll play make believe and she won't understand their play because she sees everything as being so literal. They played a game once that involved a whale shark eating people, and all she could do was turn into a little encyclopaedia about whale sharks, demonstrating why they can't eat people.

[Miss_N]

As far as I know the speech therapist isn't qualified to make that diagnoses! Only a paed is! I would be asking for a diagnoses from a paed. :)

[MummaBear03]

As far as I know the speech therapist isn't qualified to make that diagnoses! Only a paed is! I would be asking for a diagnoses from a paed. :)

Yeah that's mostly true. The speechie DD saw is a Paed/speech therapist/Occupational therapist but works as a Speechie now and nothing else. So as far as qualifications go, she's qualified, but not working as one. Although it was a psychiatrist that diagnosed DD with Asperger's and OCD and a paed who diagnosed her with ADHD. I don't trust the paed and don't see her anymore, the knew one said they'll test again but asked me not to rule it out. So yes, normally if a person is only qualified as a speech therapist, that person is not qualified to diagnose an Aspie child.

[smog]

true miss n!

i had first diagnosis from a child pyscologist specialising in behavioural issues.
then had to have a secondary diagnosis made by a paediatrician. who then had to have speech pathologists reports to back it as well.

those 3 were needed to obtain an official diagnosis

[pinkandblue]

As far as I know the speech therapist isn't qualified to make that diagnoses! Only a paed is! I would be asking for a diagnoses from a paed. :)

:iagree: A speech pathologist cannot make a diagnosis like that. If you think your DS has Aspergers please go and see a paed and get him diagnosed correctly.

[Nowhere]

Hey there

Your speechy is WAY out of line, she is not qualitifed to DX any of the autistic spectrum disorders, if she feels that he needs to be assesed and mort importanty if YOU feel he needs to be then she can refer him to the appropriate specialists, Its not really something that should or can be DX after a short history and a little play and therapy sesions.

There is a ASD board that asses all the children with possible ASD and they consist of a speech therapist, OT, phycologist, peadiatrician and a developement pead.

I would be asking her to refer on to the appropriate teams

HUGS

[Bel1978]

Speech therapist are not qualified to diagnose only a paed or phyc or autism assessment which can be done by a hospital or aspect here....

Speak to your local community nurses too are they passing most milestones?

[1+1=5]

As far as I know the speech therapist isn't qualified to make that diagnoses!
yes this is true. I would be gettign a thorough assessment before accepting this diagnosis. A speech assessment is just a part of the assessment process, a psychologist is qualified to do the other assessments that are needed for such a diagnosis. some of the things you mentioned sounds like a highly intelligent, shy child who may be 'different' because they are highly functioning.

[Miss_N]

Hey there

Your speechy is WAY out of line, she is not qualitifed to DX any of the autistic spectrum disorders, if she feels that he needs to be assesed and mort importanty if YOU feel he needs to be then she can refer him to the appropriate specialists, Its not really something that should or can be DX after a short history and a little play and therapy sesions.

There is a ASD board that asses all the children with possible ASD and they consist of a speech therapist, OT, phycologist, peadiatrician and a developement pead.

I would be asking her to refer on to the appropriate teams

HUGS

I agree with the bolded bit! IMO it would be like a teacher trying to tell a parent their child has XYZ disorder. VERY unprofessional and unethical! :no:

[MegaGuts]

What other mothers on here have said is true, despite your speechy's past qualifications, only a pead (who is currently practising) can give you an official diagnoses, I'd be suggesting that you go to your gp and get a referal for one, and even ask your gp for their opinion.

It can be really daunting hearing that your child isn't of the "norm" but the sooner you start getting help, the better. DS was diagnosed with ADHD 2 1/2 yrs ago and in that time it's been thrown in the air that it could be aspbergers, or post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD- due to DS biological dad) or pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise stated (PDD-NOS it's on the spectrum of autism disorders, but the child doesn't have enough symptons to be diagnosed with autism or aspbergers).

He displays traits of ADHD, which are similar to PTSD, but he's doesn't come across as ADHD, people are always surprised to hear that diagnoses. And he does show traits of aspbergers, but not quite enough... so it's a bit of a merry-go-round :laughing: basically what is needed with my DS is time to figure out what exactly is going on :)

If you're looking for some great advice on what to do and where to go from here, look up autism spectrum australia on the net, you'll find them easily through google. Their website is full of useful information for families and people who have been diagnosed with an ASD.
Goodluck with everything and make sure to keep us posted on your progress :hugs:

p.s it can be a scary time, but you'll be ok, there's heaps of support out there :goodvibes:

[tazza]

thanx for all the answers ppl....

The Speechie we have has BSLT, MAppLing(Mgmt), MSPAA as qaulification
The first is Bachelor in Speach and Language Therapy. rest i am not sure.

I am trying to find a good development in pead for an second opinion in Melbourne.( docs are really booked out.)

The thing is the Speechie has told use to start group session for 1 hours each week for 4 weeks for evaluation and we are just not sure if we should go ahead with that. We don't wont DS to pick up any bad habits from there.

Our Daycare has never said anything about him and its been more than a year there. he is a bit stubburns but which 2-3 yrs old isn't. So we are just not sure

[aquarius]

Our Daycare has never said anything about him and its been more than a year there. he is a bit stubburns but which 2-3 yrs old isn't. So we are just not sure

i think it depends on the daycare centre. my DD was in a daycare centre for 18 mths and they didn't suggest that she had ASD altho they did mention some of the symptoms (no eye contact, not answering to her name, meltdowns, difficulty with transitions, etc). she was at her new daycare centre for just a few weeks when the carers started dropping tactful hints that they had concerns and perhaps she needed some help in some areas. i had no problem with the first daycare centre, they looked after DD well and were great with her, but it's interesting that they didn't seem to have any knowledge of ASD symptoms whereas the second daycare centre were right on top of it.

i agree to do as much reading as you can - DH and i were reluctant to think that DD had ASD but after we did reading on the internet we had to agree that lots of her symptoms were there. my parents have trouble accepting it, they firmly believe she's just different and doesn't have ASD (we are waiting on diagnosis) so i understand your need to get a second opinion. all the best xx

[mimsie]

The second one would be a Masters in Applied Linguistics and the third Member of Speech Pathologists Association of Australia :)

None of which make them a doctor. I agree with the others, if the speechie thinks that then they should have suggested it was an avenue worth exploring and to see your doctor. Just because they may have worked with other children with a similar issue and an ASD diagnosis does not mean your son has it, or that they know what they are talking about.

I have a g&t kid who had a school counsellor diagnose ASD before she met him. His teacher said no way, that kid is g&t not aspie, and we discovered the counsellor had just taken a year off to specialise in ASD and needed stats for her studies. No medical professional since has suggested ASD and all believe his quirks are g&t related (sometimes these mimic ASD but can be distinguished if you look into it further).

Anyway sorry to get sidetracked! Yep go to a doctor, for sure.

[lambjam]

In addition to what PP have said about the speech therapist's inability to diagnose ASDs is the fact that your son isn't even 3 yet. My understanding is that Asperger's is difficult to diagnose before school age, given that it is impossible to ascertain things like social skills before this age.