Diagnosing autism

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-30-2008
Diagnosing autism
5
Thu, 04-03-2008 - 3:02pm

Next Monday my 4 year old son has a doctor's appointment to start evaluating him for autism.

Kim

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-28-2008
Thu, 04-03-2008 - 7:01pm

Welcome Kim,

You don't say what kind of doctor you are seeing so I can't be really specific about what the doctor will do exactly, but you'll be answering a lot of questions about your son's behavior and interests. Particularly about how he relates to other people. There isn't a blood test for autism or anything like that. The doctor will also talk and interact with your son. He/She will be looking for certain characteristics that indicate possible autism. There may be an IQ test given. Mostly it'll be talking about your son. Pretty innocuous stuff.

While you go through this process of evaluating and possibly coping with a diagnosis, this is a great place to hang out with some BT/DT moms
Feel free to post any specific questions or fears that you have and I'm sure someone will have advice or a story to tell you that will help you. The women here are warm and helpful.

In the meantime, {{{hugs}}} Things will be ok and he'll be the same son you had and loved before all this evaluating started. You'll just have a little more information about him.

Drea

Andrea, mom to

Graham
Miles
Anson
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Thu, 04-03-2008 - 8:45pm

Hello and welcome to the board.

Autism can be difficult to diagnose in a child so young. My son was evaluated several times, but although they found delays and deficits, they weren't willing to call it autism until he was 5½. However, the evaluations were still useful because they definitaly identified stuff like his IQ, his language and communication skills and any areas in which he needed help.

If it is a psychological or neuropsychological eval, *you* will probably need to fill out a lot of forms and answer a lot of questions (milestones etc) the doc should spend a lot of time with your son, playing with him, doign puzzles and games and asking questions. (I remember one question they asked my daughter at 4yo was "what are your feet for?" that stumped her!)

If it is a neurologist, they wil do a physical exam too, (stand on one foot, hop, touch my finger then your nose etc) and less of the puzzles. I prefer a psychologist, pwrsonally.

I hope this helps some. Please don't stress too much about the test. I know it is hard not to, but even if he does have Autism, it won't be a new thing, you know? And knowing the "enemy" gives you a lot more power over it.

-Paula


visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com

-Paula

visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 04-04-2008 - 7:02am

Welcome to the board! As PPs have said, there is no one 'test' for autism. Your doctor will probably do a range of psychological and neurological tests, and a lot of these will be about ruling out other things as much as coming up with a definitive diagnosis. So you will get asked a *lot* of questions - about his medical history, social history, behaviours etc. They may do different kinds of IQ and social functioning and skills tests, and these may involved observing him in various different settings doing various different things. None of it should be distressing for him - although it might make him, and you, tired!! And don't stress about 'passing' or 'failing' any element of it.


The key, when you get the results, is to get them to explain *everything* that you don't understand. Don't be afraid to ask questions, even stupid sounding ones (the only stupid question is the one you don't ask....) And try not to be nervous about a diagnosis - the diagnosis (or lack of diagnosis) will not change your DS one iota.


Good luck and keep us posted


Kirsty, mum to Euan (9, Asperger's) Rohan (5, NT) and Maeve (2, NT)

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-07-2003
Fri, 04-04-2008 - 10:29am
Because you will be answering a lot of questions about your ds behaviors/quirks, you might find it helpful to write down in advance a running list of ds behaviors/quirks that you can refer to at the doctor's appt (you can give the docs a copy, too). When I was asked on-the-spot questions about my kids, I would often draw a blank but think of several examples on the way home from the appt. Since a lot of the diagnosis will rest on what the docs learn from you, you'll want to provide as accurate a picture as possible in order to get a good diagnosis. I did have a short list of my kids behaviors/quirks with me, but when I was at the doc appt, I wished I had had more things written down to refer to. Without my list, I'd even forget my kids' behaviors that were so obvious and drove me crazy.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 04-04-2008 - 10:42am

For us, we got our dx from a school district pysch (and later had it confirmed by a p-doc).