Re: Autism VS. other spectrum diagnosis'

[Guest guest]

Amen!!!! It took me a year to get my son correctly diagnosed and I cry about

all of the time that was lost that he should have been receiving more therapy

(that I was fighting for) and they wonder why so many people resort to

lawsuits!

Lucy mom of Billy, 5 yr. ASD

[Guest guest]

& Melinda

This email thread makes me crazy. I have heard this time and time again.

(and and Melinda you do not make me crazy...SOME PARTS of the medical

community does this to me!)

It is amazing that Doctors think that hearing a " lesser " diagnosis can help

the parents and the child in question. It does not. Here are my biased,

harsh feelings on the topic (THIS MEANS I AM GOING TO OFFEND SOMEONE and for

that, I am sorry!):

1) A diagnosis OTHER than Autism will net the child very little services.

We fight for the little we get and a lesser diagnosis gets you VERY LITTLE

and in some cases NOTHING.

2) Easing the blow to the parents now does not help the child today or

tomorrow. Early intervention is the key.

3) Parents know their children and very few of us have been in denial

(ok... some!) Here is the issue, we basically listen to the professionals

that our children are OK and to stop being over protective. When the reality

is our children are AUTISTIC and they are not doing us a favor by calling

time out and delaying the inevitable.

4) Folks, we are in an epidemic. I spoke to a neurologist in my area (who

asked NOT to be quoted). He was asked to " ease up on the autism diagnosis

while they caught up with the current case load. " I am not kidding here.

The entire school district, early start and medical services are overwhelmed

with new cases.

5) And for the most offensive thing ever, PDD stands for PEDIATRICIAN DID

NOT DECIDE. We need to push for clear, concise decisions for our children

and unfortunately the many other children who will get a diagnosis.

Bottom line, anyone you know or come in contact with that THINKS their child

has a development delay our jobs are to HELP EDUCATE THEM on what a

development delay is. Push parents for the correct label and push them to

accept the label for the benefit of their child to get intervention

necessary for a more productive life LATER.

Sorry to be Dennis and rant here but If I had a DOLLAR for every

child that was diagnosed PDD in my small neck of the woods that was 100%

autistic I would have a lot of DOLLARS. These poor families need to get a

proper diagnosis and get on with 100% services available EARLY not later!

A few web sites to make note of for diagnostic criteria are (these are just

a few, there are more!):

Diagnosing Autism - The Criteria

www.niu.edu/acad/psych/ISPA/Aut.pdf University of Illinois - Assessment

study

www.firstsigns.org First Signs - developmental

milestones

http://www.devdelay.org/ Developmental Delay

Resources

[Guest guest]

My son was just diagnosed yesterday the diagnosis : Autism.....well i think

i knew this 6 mnths ago so i wasn't shocked however, the diagnosing Dr. told

me the reason she did not go for the PDD label was because he did't show us

thing or attenpt to bring us into his world, is this what is the difference?

I never read anything about this being the deciding factor on the most part i

think autism is autism and some just have different behaviors, some more

servere some less...and so on...all i know was at first i was upset because i

think i wanted to hear PDD because it sounds better, but then i was glad that

he will be elibale for lot's of services, and he's doing better every day so

i guess what i'm saying is i don't give a hoot what they call it my son is my

son and he's doing his best and we're all working hard along with him to help

him be his best!!! just venting a bit i guess... thanks Sharon

[Guest guest]

Sharon - Go to http://www.autism.com/ari/editorials/pdd.html It is

an article by Dr. Bernard Rimland called Plain Talk About PDD and the

Diagnosis of Autism. This will help you understand why some doctors

use the term PDD. It was certainly true in my case.

> My son was just diagnosed yesterday the diagnosis :

Autism.....well i think

> i knew this 6 mnths ago so i wasn't shocked however, the diagnosing

Dr. told

> me the reason she did not go for the PDD label was because he did't

show us

> thing or attenpt to bring us into his world, is this what is the

difference?

> I never read anything about this being the deciding factor on the

most part i

> think autism is autism and some just have different behaviors, some

more

> servere some less...and so on...all i know was at first i was upset

because i

> think i wanted to hear PDD because it sounds better, but then i was

glad that

> he will be elibale for lot's of services, and he's doing better

every day so

> i guess what i'm saying is i don't give a hoot what they call it my

son is my

> son and he's doing his best and we're all working hard along with

him to help

> him be his best!!! just venting a bit i guess... thanks Sharon

[Guest guest]

I just want to say that this post couldn't have come up at a better

time for me. My son was diagnosed by a neurologist about a month ago

with PDD, yet he wrote autism on a piece of paper which would " help

to get services " . On Monday he was diagnosed by a psychologist with

moderate autism. Needless to say, I felt hopeless again which is

silly. I've been told by new found friends that there really isn't

much difference between PDD and Autism. Yet, I was discouraged.

After reading the article link below (Dr. Rimland) I feel much

better. My child hasn't changed any, just the label. I have to

remember his chances haven't changed either. I just wanted to say

thank you for posting this link and encourage others to read if they

are as confused as I am.

Kim

> Sharon - Go to http://www.autism.com/ari/editorials/pdd.html It is

> an article by Dr. Bernard Rimland called Plain Talk About PDD and

the

> Diagnosis of Autism. This will help you understand why some

doctors

> use the term PDD. It was certainly true in my case.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

My son was said to have PDD...but not officially declared as such. It

was more a matter of what he didn't have: Not complete autism, not

complete ADD, not complete seizures, not complete auditory

processing, not completely depression, not complete anything. So,

yes, my son does has PDD - Pediatrician Didn't Decide.

So we flailed around in waffling-land doing this and that, but it

wasn't until I quit the children's psychiatric hospital and found a

great neurologist for my own chronic migraines that we got the

substantial direction we needed. She didn't seem surprised when I

vented about all the time lost and " why didn't someone tell me "

because she explained that doctors are lost in their own specialties

and the disciplines are more segregated that most people know or

doctors would like to admit. She treats neurology as a medical

condition BUT she feels that " alternative medicine " like dietary

changes and herbs and such are just as valid options. She prescribed

both meds and alternative things (magnesium, diet changes, sensory

exercises) at the first appointment.

Another problem is there is no one test that determines it, and the

autistic spectrum is full of people who have very different symptoms

and issues. I see it as sort of like saying you have cancer - there

are a multitude of types of cancer and appropriate treatments for

each...and still not a completely certain outcome for any particular

individual. My boys " were born that way " and definitely pattern

myself so it is an inherited whatever in my case - and we love each

other all the same.

.