Reply to Possible ADHD, ASD and anxiety -- how to evaluate?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Did you post elsewhere? My similar kid ended up with a diagnosis of generalized anxiety and severe adhd.  There were a lot of red flags for autism--I would say at 4 my child was more rigid than a couple kids we know with autism--but when evaluated, he showed some "strengths" that ruled out autism. In sum, diagnosing at that age is very tricky. (It becomes a lot more obvious as kids get older.) Try to find someone really strong so that you can support your child's deficits appropriately. [/quote]

This. We have had the same experience. Some days I still wonder if we are really looking at ASD but mostly the pieces are all falling into place for us.[/quote]

This is the OP.  Really appreciate the input.  I’m curious if either of you feel like ADHD or anxiety meds helped with the rigidity and inflexibility?

Thanks so much[/quote]

OP, I am the first PP. My son took an SSRI for anxiety for about two years. It was life-changing. Absolutely beyond my expectations. He started to talk himself into doing things that before he had flat-out refused to do without explanation. He was able to go with the flow and able to handle little things not going his way. We also worked with a wonderful child psych for years, 4 or 5. There were many other parts to our interventions but those were two key pieces. He was still the same intense kid, with the same strong likes and dislikes, but so much more able to rationalize and think things through.

We stopped the medication after a couple of years and he has been doing okay without it for many years. He is still anxious but can use strategies he learned in therapy. I would not be surprised if at some point in his life he took an SSRI again--I wouldn't wait so long next time. Medicating for the ADHD has been much trickier because of the side effects. But, to answer your questions, for us the rigidity was very clearly tied to the anxiety. I wouldn't say that now, at age 13, he is the model of flexibility ... he still likes consistency and structure. But he can handle change and absolutely is willing to take input from others and is generally a very respectful considerate kid. [/quote]

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