Who do we go to for help?
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Who do we go to for help?
| Wed, 03-29-2006 - 8:13pm |
I have a 4.5 son who started a new preschool 2 months ago. His teacher suggested we get him tested by the county for a possible "social delay" (not making eye contact with other kids, mostly paralell play, protests transition of activities) which we did. The testing resulted in "no findings" for any delay. The teacher then asks if we had ever considered Asperger's. This was such a shock. Since then I have read everything I can about Asperger's and found this board. I need to know what to do. I do not know if she is right or not but I owe it to my son to find out. What type of doctor is best to see for testing? I called my insurance company and they said that behavioral health problems are not covered. Has the testing been a covered expense by most ppo plans?
Any help is appreciated!
Thanks so much.
Any help is appreciated!
Thanks so much.

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How is your pediatrician?
Go to your pediatrician and ask for a referral. They will know how to word it so your insurance will cover it. They may say that they are testing for neurological problems or something like that and will get it covered. There are a few different types of professionals to go to. I would call your local Autism Society or America (you can find your local chapter at the main website) and ask them who they recomend in your area. They will know who specializes.
Also, most insurances do have a behavioral health component. So your regular insurance may not cover behavioral health but most likely you do have a behavioral health insurance part that would cover psychologists and such. Also, check with your or your spouses employer about employee assistance programs. Many companies have these where you will have a certain number of visits covered to a psychologist or what not. Often family members are covered as well. I know my DH's company covered my kids under employee assistance for 6 visits each prior to their insurance kicking in.
The testing through the county? Was that through the school district? Did they do a complete evaluation? It can be hard to get a child covered in early intervention who is Aspergers unless you get them qualified under autism for which you may need the help of a medical diagnosis.
HTH
Renee
We have moved around quite a bit and are new to this area (San Antonio, TX). We do not yet have a pediatrician. I did not know if I should skip that step since we can go to specialist without a referral (given that so many posts indicate that the pediatrician was not much help). I will contact the Autism Society and see if there are any matches with my insurance.
He was given the Dial-3 Assessment through the school system. He scored >99 verbal >75 cognitive and “no findings” in social. No fine motor delay, not need to test Gross Motor. In my opinion the social part of the inventory was really weak. He also walked right up to the other kids and introduced himself (they were eating cookies :) And sat on one testers lap to get closer to a toy he wanted to reach on the table. He is very social but overbearing.
Thanks again for the feedback; I cannot tell you how much it means to be able to reach out to someone.
p.s. Renee, your posting “He Blends” really warmed my heart, all the best to your son.
Just wanted to say Hi and Welcome! We had a similar situation happen with our son. At 4.5 his first preschool (which he was kicked out of - oh excuse me - asked to leave) said they thought he was developmentally delayed.....so at the next preschool, I had them do a MFE (multifactured eval) - it came back with no delays/issues. The behavior/social problems continued into school - had him evaluated by a pediatric neurologist.....diagnosed aspergers (December 2005).
Our pediatrician recommended to see a pediatric neurologist or a neuropsychologist (our insurance did not cover neuropsych) - also we do not have a developmental ped in our area (another professional who could diagnose).
I think there are a couple ladies from Texas on this board......they may be able to give you actual referrals......good luck!
Again, Welcome,
Christie (SAHWife and Mom in Ohio - two boys: Vaughn (7.5 AS) and Jack (20 mo)
We got alot of the same from the district about delays. Mike didn't have cognitive delays. His langauge was 6months delayed with alot of scatter which at the time wasn't sufficient. His behavior and social delays were extreme and his SID was moderate/severe. However, at the time we were told he had to have language or cognitive delays to qualify. His sister had been more delayed and we really didn't want to admit we had 2 with that level of trouble so I think we let them get away with it too easily. He also would have qualified with an ASD diagnosis but we were reluctant to go that route. In fact we were in pure denial because of his older sis.
Mike started testing at age 3. One neurologist said he displayed many PDD behaviors but due to parent report (can you say denial) she thought auditory processing and sensory integration disorder. He continued testing for the next few years. Qualifying on and off for special ed (for about a month at a time) but he wasn't clear cut because he wasn't delayed in the magic areas. He wasn't correctly diagnosed until 7 and we really missed out on alot of time with him.
Even when diagnosed at 7, we were told he was too advanced academically for an IEP but I pushed it with the help of his teacher.
Currently, his sister is much more able than he is. She began special education at 3 yo. He didn't fully qualify until 2nd grade. By the end of 2nd he was placed in a day class where he still is and it is better for him. Cait has been mainstreamed her entire school career. I can't help but wonder if I should have pushed harder in preschool for a diagnosis and services.
Renee
Thanks again for the help.
It is good to be investigating diagnosis early!
We did not start testing for Joel until 1st grade, even though he had lots of signs before then. Our kids are tricky, especially if they have a high IQ and good verbal skills. I got no help from my pediatrician. I went to a developmental pediatrician who diagnosed ADHD with social thinking deficits (2nd grade), had an OT diagnose Sensory Intergration Disorder, then had a school psychologist suggest Autism spectrum PDD-NOS(3rd grade), and finally a neuropsych, education specialist and speech/langauge pathologist concur on the diagnosis of Aspergers (4th grade).
I kept my son back a year at the Kindergarten level. He is older than most of his classmates and that has proved helpful.
If I were you I would walk into your public school with a written letter requesting a complete psychoeducational eval. Note all the areas he struggles with, and keep a copy of the letter.
You can get evals privately too. I have found I needed both my own reports plus the school specialists reports in order to get the school services my son needs.
Good luck! If you do get a diagnosis of Aspergers, there are lots of great new books out. My favorite right now is Parenting your Asperger Child by Alan Sohn and Cathy Grayson.
Paula G.