Confused?

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-10-2003
Confused?
3
Tue, 07-12-2005 - 8:01pm

My 6 1/2 yrs old ds went to the pediatrician today. We live in Canada and the ped said that he could give my son a dx's of AS. I thought that he would send him to a specialist or something. Maybe things are different here. I don;t know. Anyway, the doc told us to go home and monitor our son over the summer. He said we need to consider the negative effects of having our ds dx'd with AS. He said it will effect his school placement and will effect our insurance? What does that mean effect our insurance? Does anyone know? He also said this will be a life long change for our son if he dx's with AS. He basically said it seems as though our ds has AS but to come back at the end of the summer.

Wow! Am I confused. Any thoughts on this?

Karen:)

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: karen555552000
Tue, 07-12-2005 - 9:08pm

Well, I can't speak to Canadian insurance or any of the specifics up there, but in general I will say that just because you don't get the AS diagnosis won't mean that he doesn't have it. Isn't going to make it go away.

Often a diagnosis will help get services and therapies that are going to be needed for him that aren't accessable without the diagnosis. That is a big consideration. Early intervention is very important and helpful so delaying a diagnosis isn't helpful there.

If a child moves off the spectrum, there is always the possibility of removing it later as well. then those won't be an issue either. Thing is, if he is AS and needs the help, you won't be doing him a service by not diagnosing it. Read the thread about telling kids when they have AS. There are some responses that would be a good there for you too.

Like I said, I am not in Canada, but an AS diagnosis hasn't been an issue with my insurance here in the states. Have my kids lives been changed because of a diagnosis. Well my kids lives have been changed but it is because they HAVE AS, not because of the actual label attached to it. Had we decided not to seek a diagnosis, it would not have changed the fact that my kids are wired different and require more supports. What the label does do is help us understand them and why they do certain things and how to help them.

There is my 2 copper disks on the matter.

Renee

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-03-2004
In reply to: karen555552000
Wed, 07-13-2005 - 2:50pm

Dear Karen,

Well, I also can't speak to why not get the dx, but I WOULD read your insurance policy before informing them of the dx if your son gets it. Ours doesn't cover any neurological disorders, and we didn't know that and filed to have our evaluations covered. They aren't. No therapy for Malcolm's dx is covered on our policy. And we are just hosed, and paying for everything out of pocket that isn't provided through our Board of Ed. Many I know have filed for services without mentioned autism or spectrum, and then they can get covered. Like for OT, speech, psychotherapy, etc. Although they are usually only covered for a little while, then not. Go figure.

It is, however, completely confusing to me that you should wait the summer to get a dx. To me, this is a bad idea, and I also might question whether your pediatrician is qualified to make a dx. of Asperger's or any other spectrum. Waiting to start therapy for a spectrum child is wasting time, also what would happen by end of summer that couldn't be dx'ed now? If I would you, I would go looking for neuro psychologist or developmental pedicatrician with experience in autism dx'ing and get a full eval now, not later. A truly indepth evaluation by anexpert is worth every dime, even if the end result is that your child is NOT on the spectrum.

Also just my 2 centses.

yours,

Sara
ilovemalcolm

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-02-2004
In reply to: karen555552000
Thu, 07-14-2005 - 2:20am

hi.. I live in BC...
My ds(then 5yrs) was tested for Autism last summer, it was in Kelowna BC.(an 8 hour drive away:(
(The Okanagan Ability Centre)referred by the Northern Health Autism Assessement Team

It was 2 full days,of testing;
ADI-R,
ADOS:(module2)
BASC(parent form,teacher form)
Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales(survey form)
WIAT-II
WPPSL-III
plus a full physical by the pediatrician.... after all that... he didn't meet the criteria(??)... so we are trying to get him help from the school... who is now trying to say that he's ADHD, and needs to be on Ritalin(don't thing sooooooooo, but that's another story, and fight!!!)...
I know that in BC... parents of AS kids get money from the gov't,$20,000.00.-$25,000.00/year... this is to help pay for services,you have to summit reciepts,( to make sure the money is used appropriatly)I think you can get more... if you qualify or something like that.
Phone your local Health office... someone there should be able to send you in the right direction, or check out if there are any AS support groups, talk to other parents ect...

as for the insurance... depends on who your coverage is with... as for the school.. if your child as this Dx, then you will qualify for services(thru the school), T.A.,S.L.,O.T
ect..

my cousin lives in Manitoba(outside Brandon)... her ds has been dx with PDD-NOS and the service's/support he gets is incrediable!!! each province is different...

good luck... and I know how confusing it is
Chevee