Can PCM do AS Eval?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
Can PCM do AS Eval?
6
Mon, 04-21-2008 - 8:52pm

I posted on the Autism Spectrum board that my son has a full physical on the 27th of May and when I asked about an evaluation for Asperger's the receptionist said they could do that then. She also said they could do a hearing test. I'm sure they can, but probably not as thorough as my son may need (he has mild hearing loss in one ear due to surgery to correct a hole a tube left). I question whether he'll get a complete eval for AS from the family doc in a 30 minute physical. Maybe she meant they'd do a quick one to see if he really needed a full one. Well, I'm the mom and I want one done! *sigh* I told dh if we meet with the doc (who's never met my son before, btw) for 30 minutes and he says, "Yep, he's an Aspie!" I'll flip.

A little about us. Robin's 14yo and has current dx's of ADHD and bipolar. It's been mentioned by several therapist and our current pdoc that he's probably OCD, ODD and AS as well. Our pdoc believes the bp encompasses everything and that any more formal dx's aren't necessary. Robin plans to attend public school this fall for high school (we homeschool at the moment because of horrible experiences with this district) so I want EVERYTHING documented. He needs all the help he can get. We also have a 12yo son, Randy, who is just as social as can be. Sometimes TOO social! lol He's probably ADD, but we're not medicating him for it because we tried a couple different meds and the side effects weren't worth it (besides one med didn't even work!). Dh is retired Air Force and works for the Department of Interior now, and I've been a family child care provider for 8 1/2 years (I knew Robin would never last in daycare and he needs me home just as much, if not more, now than when he was little). We've lived in Colorado for 7 years now and we love it. We've lived all over the US and spent 3 years in Panama. I'm originally from Michigan and dh is from North Carolina.

Thanx for reading. :)

Cathy

Meez 3D avatar avatars games




PhotobucketFree Graphics

Photobucket
siggy pink

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2007
Tue, 04-22-2008 - 4:49am
I'm a little skeptical that the family Doc can do it too. Is the Doc a developmental Ped? Our dx came from a neuropsych and the eval was about 4 hours long. The year before we tried to get him into a well known child study center and they did a short phone screening and announced without ever seeing the child that he absolutely does not have Asperger's. Well two years later that is exactly what he was diagnosed with. I think formal Dx's are pretty important when entering the public school system and in college as well. Good Luck.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 04-22-2008 - 7:02am

I know that more and more family doctors and pediatricians are screening little ones for signs of autism, learning the warning signs and that sort of thing.

                                

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
Tue, 04-22-2008 - 5:31pm

This doc is a family practice doc. I honestly don't know if we'll even see the doctor. Every time dh or I have been there we've see one of the nurse practitioners. We've only been with this doc's office for a couple months (dh is retired military and we had to find an off base doc). Hopefully they'll just refer us out to someone that knows what they're doing. I'm still thinking of just calling Robin's pdoc and getting him to do something. I'm just afraid with him, though, that he'll just do what he did when he dx'ed the bp--after talking with us for 30 minutes he said, "Yep. Sounds like he's bipolar." I really want a full eval, so if it's not AS we can figure out exactly what it *is*.

Cathy

Meez 3D avatar avatars games




PhotobucketFree Graphics

Photobucket
siggy pink

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
Tue, 04-22-2008 - 5:34pm

I know I can ask the school to do a full eval, but there's only a month left and I'm sure they'll put it off until August when school starts again. We don't see the pdoc again until July (he thinks everything is hunky-dorey, even when I tell him they're not). If I were starting from scratch, what would I do? Who would I call? I don't know if I were to call another pdoc or psychologist if that'd be stepping on our current pdoc's toes, ya know?

Ugh, I just don't know.

Cathy

Meez 3D avatar avatars games




PhotobucketFree Graphics

Photobucket
siggy pink

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-27-2007
Tue, 04-22-2008 - 6:22pm

Photobucket

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 04-22-2008 - 9:10pm

If you request an evaluation (preferably in writing, making sure to keep copies) that starts a clock running.