Reply to Loaded question: MERLD and autism

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Reply to "Loaded question: MERLD and autism "

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We have a diagnosis of MERLD for our child from a dev pediatrician. I am wondering if any of you, whose child has the same diagnosis,  have faced what we are facing. Some preschool teachers and a psychologist have suggested that our child may have autism even though they know our child has a MERLD diagnosis. Anyone faced this? I know this topic is a sensitive one on this forum. 
 [/quote]

Yes, I've faced this with our MERLD child. People don't understand language disorders, and since the symptoms can appear similar and EVERYBODY seems to know about autism, that's the leap they make.  Is it the school psychologist suggesting autism? They are total hacks. [/quote]

My oldest started out with a MERLD diagnosis and later got an ADHD/anxiety diagnosis (he's now in HS).  My youngest started out with MERLD/coordination diagnoses and later got an Apraxia/ADHD/anxiety/language & communication disorder diagnoses.  No one ever suggested my oldest had ASD.  Many school staff pushed for my youngest to be categorized with an ASD.  I have to agree with the above poster that it was usually the school psychologist.  It didn't end until DS was in 5th grade and after we had multiple IEEs.  FWIW - DS was evaluated for the first time for ASD at age 2 in an NIH research study.  He'd had multiple private evaluations over the next 8 years and each time the private evaluators (including by neuropsychologists) found he did not meet the criteria for ASD.

I get why people who had little knowledge might think he has ASD.  He presents with a number of the same symptom.  The big difference is that his are a result of language difficulties and inattention.  In the beginning, the interventions were the same, as he got older, his needs were different.  That's when we encountered the most difficulties with the school.  He needed more intensive language support than they expected a kid with ASD to need.   :roll:

[/quote]

The NIH studies are supposed to be very good.  This poster has posted this before and I looked for some but I couldn't find any at the time for our child but we don't have dual diagnosis either.  However, don't feel pressured to think your child has more than MERLD going on if the evaluators and you don't feel your child has more than language.[/quote]

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