ASD question

When my child was younger, I was told that she was developing normally and that she was fine. As she got older her behaviour became more bizarre, and we were told she had ADHD. A couple of years later she finally had a diagnosis of ASD. I didn't suspect ASD until she was 8 years old. She was my first child, I accepted her for who she is, and that was that. But as she got older it became more apparent, and by the time she was diagnosed we were desperate for help.

No worries!

Have you just seen a GP? You need to ask for a referral to see CDC (child development center) for an initial assessment. My son was diagnosed with a high functioning ASD when he was 4. I knew he had one from the age of about 18 months but everyone thought I was nuts and he would be fine, GP didn't really see my concern but he didn't really see my real son iykwim. It wasn't until he started kindy at 3 years 8 months and his ECE teachers shared the same concerns as me that the process of getting a diagnoses was put into action. On his initial assessment (they do some basic development tests for about 1 hour) his results came back well below average in the areas that signal an ASD. 3 months later he had a full assessment done over a few hours with about 4 different professionals (child psycologists, occupational therapists, diveresional therapists ect.) and they have a priliminary diagnoses of a high functioning ASD with possible ADHD. 3 months later we saw a pediatrician who went over everything and checked him out and have the end official diagnoses of a high functioning ASD (he did not feel he was ADHD but may have some of the tendancys). If you have any questions I may be of help with ask away, it's a long trip but well worth it. My son is now 5 years 7 months and thanks to the diagnoses got much needed help and now most of the time it's barely noticeable unless you are with him a lot or he's having a 'break down'.

Oh just saw your in Australia i'm not sure what the process is there, I would guess it's a similar thing.

Higher functioning kids are often not picked up until pre-school entry, when their kinder teacher notices signs and refers them for testing, although often the parents have noticed their child is different. That's one of the reasons the 3 1/2 year child health check is being so heavily promoted at the moment smile

I was told for nearly a year by my GP and child health nurse that my DS did not have an ASD. They were wrong, I was right, and he does smile