Eligibility next week: Possible Asperger's diagnosis

[Anonymous]

Hi all-

hoping for some insight. my ds is 5. We have had some behavior, social issues for a few years now at home and at school. Ds has been in preschool for 3 years now. At 2, things went fairly well. Last year, we began to pick up on some social issues, as well as some self-stim behaviors. In fact, a social worker visiting ds's class suggested to our teacher that we have ds observed. We approved this, as well as S/L testing. We did not make it past local screening. They said that although there were some social issues, at that time, they were not interfering with his "learning". Fast forward to this fall, and within a few weeks, our school suggested we get the ball rolling again. I was in total agreement. We went through the arduously long process. In addition, we have been working with a private LCSW/play therapist for a number of months. I had the review with the county person on our case yesterday. It seems that she feels there is about a 99% chance ds will be found eligible for special ed services. In particular, the following flags exist

difficulty maintaining gaze
rigid play, inability to take the suggestions of others, remains "stuck" on his ideas very often, always trys to tell others "how" to play
bowel difficulties
not socially aware, does not often read cues of others
recovering from distress is difficult
difficulty differenting between socially acceptable, and unacceptable behavior
difficulty with reciprocal peer interaction
severe difficulties with changes in routines


As I suspected, he passed all cognitive/speech/language testing, in fact was above average in many areas.

The manager of our case is 99% certain he will be found eligible next week. Both she and our private LCSW were in agreement, and both mentioned Asperger's, though neither is confident in that seeing as he is onlu 5. We will continue to work with our social worker in the meantime.Thoughts. Where to go from here? Do we need to see a developmental pediatrician?

[Anonymous]

OP, would you say your son has any of the following traits, which would be necessary for a Asperger's Dx? You didn't mention this piece of the disorder so I wasn't sure:


(II) Restricted repetitive & stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:

(A) encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus
(B) apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals
(C) stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g. hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)
(D) persistent preoccupation with parts of objects

[Anonymous]

Yes, find a developmental pediatrician. Ours has been invaluable in guiding us toward the right supports.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Well, this is the part that is a bit gray.

A few things that may fall into the categories you mention, not sure exactly where.

-this entire school year he has insisted everyone calls him by his made up Superhero name.
-does tend to bounce, when excited, sometimes with hand flapping
-has a tendency to lay down/tune out at home and school. we have realized that this is a self stim behavior

The intense interests is a tricky one. He does tend to go through long phases of obsession with different objects/themes, but the themes have varied. Was dinosaurs, now animals/environment.

The inflexibility is a big one....he is VERY VERY inflexible.

Just figuring all this out.

[Anonymous]

Dev peds recs in NoVA area? I understand there are long waits.

I guess specifically, I was wondering, if we have found an LCSW we like, who has helped a great deal, and we are deemed eligible for services through FCPS next week as we suspect we will, is that enough for now? We have been having some improvement since starting with the LCSW/play therapist back in December.

Part of me feels that we are working on the "symptoms" now with some success. I feel intervention at school (if we get some preschool help before school is out, and if not, we will be set up for K with an IEP) will add to this success.

I surely want what is best for my son, but, I also do not want to be constantly bringing him into new doctors/specialists, which in and of itself creates a great deal of anxiety for him.

But, if that will help us come up with a concrete plan, we can certainly investigate. So far, our plan is to continue with the LCSW/play therapist, and continue to pursue the county intervention. We may be able to sneak in a few weeks before school is out...

Cost is also a concern. Our LCSW participates with our insurance, though we do have limits for the mental health portion of our policy.

[Anonymous]

OP, it is typical for kids with AS to change their special interests.

You may not need a developmental ped right now since you seem to have things under control. Ours has been invaluable (I'm PP) for (1) suggesting interventions, practitioners and sorting out -- this is big -- the therapies that have no science behind them and those that do. (2) trouble shooting when problems arise, including classroom visits. I can't tell you the number of times something came up, I felt overwhelmed, and our developmental ped had a solution. (3) meds. Like many kids with AS, my DS has co-morbid ADHD. This wasn't apparent until later, after we got some of the AS behaviors under control and when the classroom demands increased. Medication has been a huge help.

[Anonymous]

PP thanks so much. You know, you are right, things fluctuate so much. Some days are good, and others, not so much. Our preschool teacher said he had such a "good" day the day the county psychologist observed him, and when I looked at her report, which brought up so many issues, I could not imagine what a "bad" day would have looked like. Our preschool has been amazing through all of this. I think we got really lucky that our LCSW worked well with our personalities, and that ds responded well to her, I know that is not always the case, but our needs may change.

I am actually grateful to have some possible diagnosis, so we can move forward with working on helping ds. Dh is struggling, and does not want me to mention Asperger's to anyone who might benefit from the knowledge (like a coach) as he feels it is not concrete yet. The developmental ped might be able to give us the more concrete diagnosis? That said, having had the LCSW and the school psychologist come to the exact same conclusion and make the same observation is enough for me....I have worked with young children for 15 years, and I had a strong suspicion anyway.

Might be time to do research into peds. Especially if we have a long wait anyway.

[Anonymous]

I would also advise you to contact the school's special ed coodinator to schedule an IEP meeting to make sure he gets the appropriate accomadations.

[Anonymous]

If I understand right that you're having an eligibility meeting for an IEP next week, and if you're like us they'll do the IEP in the same meeting, then I'd suggest: Ask for a draft fo the IEP (and all the assessments they've done) before the meeting. And if they don't give it to you before the meeting, decline to sign the IEP at the meeting--say you want to think about it. It's just really hard to read the IEP at the meeting, think everything through, and then sign it. I wish we'd taken it home and slept on it for a couple days and then asked more questions (or that we'd gotten it ahead of time).