Reply to Does anyone get defensive when it is suggested SOME kids with language disorders MAY have ADHD too?

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Reply to "Does anyone get defensive when it is suggested SOME kids with language disorders MAY have ADHD too?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Kids with language disorders, e.g., receptive and/or expressive delays are more at risk for ADHD, however it doesn't automatically mean they have ADHD.  They are also more at risk for learning disabilities, e.g., dyslexia.  I'm not sure what there is to get defensive about.  Parents usually learn these things if they get a comprehensive evaluation.  However, OP, I don't think YOU should be suggesting these things to parents.  Then yes, I could see where they would be defensive.[/quote]

This thread is a spin off from the MERLD/ASD thread where a lot of people got defensive. [b]Nobody said anybody's kid had ASD[/b], but the implication that some kids with the mERLD presentation may have ASD set off a firestorm that likely would not have occured if you inserted ADHD for ASD.[/quote]

Not true. Reread that thread. [b]There are definitely people out there that think MERLD is an "autism light" or "soft landing" for autism Dx[/b].

Frankly, people don't view ASD and ADHD equally.  If you did a survey of which Dx they'd rather be dealing with, ASD or ADHD, which do you think a parent would choose? (Besides neither one, of course.) [/quote]

I don't think it's so much that people view MERLD as an "autism light" as that there are quite a few private practitioners who give that diagnosis when there's more involved. It may help some parents feel better to not get the ASD diagnosis or have to share with school personnel; but a child will still present as he is, regardless of the diagnosis. Quite often, we see children in the schools whose parents are reluctant to share the ASD diagnosis; however, when there are attention issues, fine-motor weaknesses, language delays (especially in the area of pragmatics), anxiety/OCD behaviors, and concerns regarding social interactions, we can recognize that there's more going on than MERLD. [/quote]

Again, MERLD often presents with several issues that make it seem like ASD, including fine motor weakness (they are located in the same area of the brain) and of course anxiety, social issues and attention issues. Anyone giving a moment's thought to how a young child might react when they can't understand what's being said -- while all their peers can -- should be able to see this clearly.. This is the dangerous "checklist" mentality that causes so many children to be mislabeled.

Once a MERLD child's language starts to catch up, these symptoms start to fade out. The problem if you've tagged a MERLD child with ASD is that the language treatments are NOT the same for them, and the approach tends to be all wrong. BEEN THERE, DONE THAT![/quote]

I'm the PP. I've been in the special ed field for years and would never knowingly make a diagnosis prematurely. I should have been more clear, but I was thinking of older children--around 11 and older. When I see these same characteristics in a middle schooler, yet they're carrying only a speech/lang eligibility, I often think there's "more going on. I share my concerns with parents and try to get more services for these students.[/quote]

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