16 year old with ADHD, now possibly HFA?
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Anonymous
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My son has long been diagnosed with ADHD and is seeing a psychologist. The psychologist spoke with me privately and said he thinks ds should be assessed for HFA. I did have ds assessed twice when he was younger and they said it's just ADHD and social anxiety.
I was asking what the benefit of another label would be and the psychologist said it's better to know. No real definitive answer. I'm just worried ds will be upset about another label as he hates feeling different. The psychologist said I need to stop protecting him. I like this guy but am wondering of anyone had BTDT. |
Anonymous
| Who is the psychologist? |
Anonymous
Why? |
Anonymous
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Has he ever had a Neuropsych eval? If you want him to have accommodations for the SATs, etc you need testing done within 3 yrs so you may want to get it done anyway.
Highly recommend Dr. David Black. He was with NIH and Stixrud but now has his own private practice. He is great with the nuances between HFA and ADHD. |
Anonymous
He doesn't need accommodations. I'm not in DC. |
Anonymous
What r the issues that he is seeing a psychologist for? If your son has HFA, he has HFA. Not knowing he has it (if he has it) isn't going to help him in the long run. |
Anonymous
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Issues related to ADHD and to learn coping skills.
Will knowing actually help? |
Anonymous
Is your child on meds for the ADHD? My child is younger, has both HFA/Asperger's and ADHD, combined type, and it has been very helpful. He has an IEP. Honestly, his ADHD causes him more issues than the HFA ever did but yes, he knows as does his school, and it is helpful. |
Anonymous
Thanks for the reply. He started back on meds in June but then went off for the summer as he usually does. I am okay with that. He will be going back in meds on school days. Meds make a big difference. |
Anonymous
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If you anticipate that he will receive any kind of accommodations in college, such as scheduling priority, extended time on tests, opportunity to test in a quiet location, a notetaker, or a single room (just some examples), he'll need an evaluation done after his 16th birthday. It might be worth having them look at the possibility of HFA.
If he truly needs no accommodations, at school (no 504?) or in college, then I would question the need to explore an HFA diagnosis. One of the criteria for autism is that you have to be disabled by it, that is, there need to be at least some activities that you find challenging, or areas in which you need support. If that isn't true of him then he might be quirky, and he might share a lot of characteristics with Autistic people, but he doesn't have it. |
Anonymous
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Why does the psychologist think he should be evaluated? What issues is he having?
Your local children's hospital could presumably do it. |
Anonymous
20:48 here I disagree. It is a question of whether they meet the clinical criteria not whether someone is "disabled" by it. DS finds reading body language and social cues difficult but bc he has had a lot of supports/social skills training, it is hard to tell that he had this issue. He still has autism, however, and doesn't just "share a lot of characteristics with autistic people." |
Anonymous
He doesn't have a lot of friends. He used to have friends but he switched schools and now has friends at the school but none that he hangs out with away from school. He is overly into an activity. Perhaps he thinks he is obssessed. |
Anonymous
| The big difference with autism and therapies is ABA. Insurance and other places will not pay for ABA without the golden autism diagnosis. It also can pay for other therapies that they may not cover with other issues. Otherwise, if he doesn't need accommodations, it makes no difference. Its about services. |
Anonymous
OP here again, i think his lack of friends is related to his social anxiety. He wants friends but is scared of being rejected. So he never initiates get togethers. |