Finally got the diagnosis
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| Fri, 04-28-2006 - 7:12pm |
Hi,
I am not new to this board. My name is Anandhi and my son, Sravan, will be 9 yrs on June 5th. Yesterday, we went for the diagnosis. It was a very long day but Sravan handled it very well. The physciatrist did confirm that he was on the high end of the spectrum and it is Asperger. The test showed that Sravan lacked dealing social situation in a major way. We have to find programs to help him. ANy idea how to go about for this? I want to make use of the summer months. In one of the area, he was at 3 yrs and 11 months and others showed any were from 5 yrs to 7 yrs. Is this the pattern you all see? This is scary. Do ASD kids catch up?
We also had his IEP meeting on the same day. The school phsycologist came with "possibly" and AS and said that unless Sravan gets a medical diagnosis, he will not be eligible for IEP or 504. My husband and I were so glad we had the diagnosis before the meeting. They were pushing for ADHD meds and thought he might have OCD (due to his tantrums that happened 3 times so far this year). I think the school physcologist has only best interests of the district. Also the physciatrist mentioned that if proper accomodation is not in place, then AS behavior can look like behavior issue. Things gets pretty escalated and overwhelming for these children. They are so burnt in class that homework can be overwhelming. Do you see all this with older children? Sravan doesn't have too much homework and he is doing fine so far.
ANyway the Pricipal was very nice and said we should have another IEP and look to make all the accomodations and recommendation that this Physciatrist is going to spell out in her diagnostic report. Also we found out the she is very famous in her area and the school speech pathologist is very eager to get a copy of the report. My DH and I were clueless when we went in and were absolutely glad that the school is going to respect her report.
THe speech pathologist mentioned that Sravan doesn't come out as AS and he is interacting with kids well for most part. But my daughter and I have put in a lot of effort and we have come a long way. I told her if you were to give this test few years back, he probably would have come out as AS very clearly. Then I did not know about AS and I took the general test for autism and Sravan did not seem to fit in.
He has a major delay in pragmatic speech. Are there any programs in place for this? All inputs appreciated. Once I get the report, I will list out the recommendation/accomadations.
thank you so much for reading such a long post,
Anandhi

Hi Anandhi!
Thank you Debbie,
Yes the physciatrist did mention a case manager who will be working with her. I am waiting for the list from her. In the meantime, I will to the autism websited and did a whole lot of browsing. Ordered few books on Amazon. This summer is going to be whole lot of learning and therapy. I have confidence that I can make Sravan function near normal and I would do what ever it takes. I live in Northern CA. It looks like San Diego seems to have lot more support due a research center. I have to look into it more. I can go up there or my friend can help Sravan if he might benefit any service. I haven't looked into. Renee, if you are reading this, please do give some input.
thank you all , I am really greatful to have such a support,
Anandhi
Anandhi,
I wanted to welcome you and Sravan (great names! What is the origin?) as 'official' members of the board.
For most of us, the initial diagnosis was a big shock, no matter how long we "knew" beforehand, or how well-reseached we were. It is a quantum shift to officially become the mom of a child with a "disability". Please feel free to stick around here and vent/ ask as many questions as you need to.
This is a safe place.
-Paula
visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
Wow, you are really headed into this full force!
There are actually some fabulous things about northern CA too that make me jealous. San Diego is not all that great in many respects though I have to say we are luckier than many parts of the country where there isn't as much. I always thought it would be great to move here for services, but our services were better in Massachusettes. There are some good points like we have an awesome ASA.
In N. California, first you have the UC Davis Mind Institutes. One of the worlds formost centers for autism research, education, etc. I would totally check out their website and see what is available to you there.
Next, Check out Michelle Garcia Winner. Her website I believe is socialthinking.com. You can do a search on her name. She is an SLP with some great approaches for high functioning kids with "social cognitive deficits" as she calls them. Because she is up there many of the SLP's and schools use her approaches which I feel are perfect for our kids. I can't even get my SLP to borrow my book down here. I keep trying though, lol.
There was a mom here years ago that used to live up there and she had some great supports. She moved closer to here (orange county) for a short time and had to move back up because they just didn't have appropriate services for her son and he was having a really hard time of it.
Renee
Thank you Renee,
I spoke Michelle Garcia about 3 months back. I was suspecting of the AS diagnosis. It just took so long to get everything done. I will fill out the forms and see what kind of therapy I should look into. Currently the whole thing seems overwhelming. I question myself about the "time lost". But I also believe in "things are meant to happen in a certain way". But inner me says I could have avoided certain school situation which put my son thru very difficult times if I had known earlier. I think I am ranting here.
take care,
Anandhi