ASD (mis) diagnosis vent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a child diagnosed with asd, and whose diagnosis has been concurred with every professional we've seen, I think there is perhaps some denial going on in this thread. Just saying.

(I say this gently) I concur. ASD and ADHD absolutely do not look the same. I was one of those parents that really hoped it was "only" ADHD and convinced myself that the two are so similar as to be almost interchangeable. Nope. Any parent who has a kid on the spectrum that was diagnosed early can spot ASD a mile away. A kid with ADHD having trouble in social situations looks very different from an ASD kid.

The evaluator did not see my kid in social situations and did not mention social situations in the report.

[Anonymous]

Following because these struggles are familiar. Highschooler diagnosed with adhd but we think is more asd or combo/ overlap. Which test is better to confirm? I have been calling numerous places to get on the year plus waiting list and was initially requesting a neuropsych evaluation but on one of the more recent calls, the scheduler said I needed a specific autism test. Is this true. Do I need to call back and get on different waitlists now??

Trying to resove mostly because I worry we will need to request a single room in college due to anxiety and rigidity. not sure what to do??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Following because these struggles are familiar. Highschooler diagnosed with adhd but we think is more asd or combo/ overlap. Which test is better to confirm? I have been calling numerous places to get on the year plus waiting list and was initially requesting a neuropsych evaluation but on one of the more recent calls, the scheduler said I needed a specific autism test. Is this true. Do I need to call back and get on different waitlists now??

Trying to resove mostly because I worry we will need to request a single room in college due to anxiety and rigidity. not sure what to do??

What are you talking about??? There is the ADOS for autism, and that is about it. Everything else is incredibly subjective and skewed by the prejudices of the evaluator.

And given your concerns, why do you think getting an ASD label is going to help your kid thru college? Calling it ASD won't make your child's anxiety or rigidity go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please be kind.
We re-tested our (textbook) ADHD-c middle schooler and during the intake expressed his therapists' concerns that he may be on the spectrum. I now feel that putting it out there was a mistake because every little behavior was interpreted as a sign of autism by the evaluator (e.g., fidgeting was seen as stimming). I don't want to question the AuDHD, but at the same time have a hard time seeing it. DC has rejection sensitivity and anxiety but I am afraid his ASD diagnosis will bias the providers towards recommending suboptimal supports designed for ASD and not ADHD and anxiety. E.g., we were being encouraged to attend social skills groups, but the one he tried had kids with much more pronounced ASD issues and it was unclear how the group would benefit him. I am also afraid to mess up by following my gut and not getting him the services he needs. The absence of a clear ASD presentation is driving me crazy and makes me question the diagnosis.

Same op.
I come back to this all the time:
- either Autism even in an older child or teen or adult is so subtle as to only be perceptible to a skilled evaluator - in which case, autism needs a full rebrand, relaunch and associated marketing and awareness social media campaign. Or the dsm is leading evaluators really really astray.

[Anonymous]

I’ll share a different perspective.

My kid definitely has autism and I stay far away from the social skills groups for the same reason: The other kids there needed much more support than he does. He’s able to make friends and interact in age appropriate ways.

My kid does stimm and I stay away from ABA. I don’t want him to mask, I just want my kid to find socially acceptable workarounds. If he’s feeling disregulated while we’re in church he knows he can tap my arm and I’ll take him outside so he can run around the trees and rebalance.

What I do a lot of is speech therapy and occupational therapy. OTs are great at helping kids figure out strategies for how to engage more with the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a child diagnosed with asd, and whose diagnosis has been concurred with every professional we've seen, I think there is perhaps some denial going on in this thread. Just saying.

(I say this gently) I concur. ASD and ADHD absolutely do not look the same. I was one of those parents that really hoped it was "only" ADHD and convinced myself that the two are so similar as to be almost interchangeable. Nope. Any parent who has a kid on the spectrum that was diagnosed early can spot ASD a mile away. A kid with ADHD having trouble in social situations looks very different from an ASD kid.

The evaluator did not see my kid in social situations and did not mention social situations in the report.

That's why the testers ask for input by reports from your kids' doctors, teachers, parents and tutors - to flesh out what the kid is experiencing in the world

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Following because these struggles are familiar. Highschooler diagnosed with adhd but we think is more asd or combo/ overlap. Which test is better to confirm? I have been calling numerous places to get on the year plus waiting list and was initially requesting a neuropsych evaluation but on one of the more recent calls, the scheduler said I needed a specific autism test. Is this true. Do I need to call back and get on different waitlists now??

Trying to resove mostly because I worry we will need to request a single room in college due to anxiety and rigidity. not sure what to do??

Parent of ADHD/Aspergers (yeah I know)/Anxiety kids here. You almost always will need to get a full neuropsych done to fulfill what the schools want. I don't know of a tester who gives a "specific autism" test. The full neuropsych usually takes two half days of testing and runs $6K. Colleges often want to see that testing refreshed after three years. GMU asked that our DD retest because hers was four years old when she applied and was accepted. She had by then the autism diagnosis (aspergers but it was correct) for four years. She tested again between acceptance and enrollment and because of the autism diagnosis was given priority for a single room. That was probably our fifth round of testing so, yes, this is all very expensive. The testing for our UVA kid, however, was not challenged even though it was three years old at the time of acceptance. We didn't ask for a single room for him, however and he dealt well with the environment. As a general observation, if you get an autism diagnosis, there is much more leeway for the college to give you accommodations. My DD needed them at GMu. Best of luck!