Re: need recommendation for autism diagnosis

[Guest guest]

We were diagnosed by a Neuro developmental Doctor. I'd ask the local pediatrician to refer me to one. It took several times seeing her before she thought it was more than ADHD. When the ADHD meds failed him she figured it could be aspergers then referred him for further testing.

I would also call an autism support group closest to you and ask if they know of a good doctor or a family that might be willing to talk with you ( then ask that family what local doctor has helped them).

Just a few ideas.

Sandy

In a message dated 1/3/2011 6:29:18 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, kwanding@... writes:

Hi, I am at NJ. I would like to ask for recommendation for a good place to get a comprehensive evaluation of autism for my son who is 5. We went to Children Specialized hospital when he was 4, they concluded all his symptoms were sensory driven. But it seems to me is more than that. His symptoms are more matched with Aspergers with high sensory needs. I would like to bring him to get the right diagnosis and request IEP for school in the coming year. Any suggestion is welcome. ThanksKwan

[Guest guest]

Also, you may want to call back the doctor you originally saw and ask for further help, sometimes it does take them awhile to get to know our kids to diagnose other issues.

In a message dated 1/3/2011 6:29:18 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, kwanding@... writes:

Hi, I am at NJ. I would like to ask for recommendation for a good place to get a comprehensive evaluation of autism for my son who is 5. We went to Children Specialized hospital when he was 4, they concluded all his symptoms were sensory driven. But it seems to me is more than that. His symptoms are more matched with Aspergers with high sensory needs. I would like to bring him to get the right diagnosis and request IEP for school in the coming year. Any suggestion is welcome. ThanksKwan

[Guest guest]

I am in NJ too. We took our son to the Child Development Center at town

Memorial Hospital and saw a Developemental Pediatrician (Dr. Kathleen

Selvaggi-Fadden). We also saw 2 ped. neuro's prior to this appt. One was at

the Goryeb Center at the same hospital. We sent a letter to our town's school

district requesting a Child Study Team Evaluation while he was still in

pre-school. They observed him and then made a decision to further eval him.

Across the board- all 5 professionals were seeing signs of Asperger's and

recommended furhter eval. Hence the appts with the ped. neuro;s and Dev Ped.

The hardest part is that these drs are so booked that it takes an avg of 6

months to get an appt. You can also look into St. ph's Childrens Hospital

in NJ. I have heard great things about them as well. Good luck to you and

remember to be persistent. YOU are your child's advocate and as parents we have

to fight for our children. Many school sytems have faced so many budget cuts so

they are so unwilling to even evaluate a child. Document everything, keep a

daily journal so you can show them why you believe he has AS. Also- hopefully

you have a great pediatrician who is willing to help you. My pediatrician knows

that I am my childrens mother first and foremost and my 'Mothers Instinct' is

very very important!

Also- get a 2nd opinion if you need to. Our first ped. neuro. based his eval of

our son on nothing more than a report he read at that moment in the office from

the schools child study team. It reported an inaccurate IQ test result and we

tried to point it out and he wouldn't discuss it. he simply said " your son's IQ

is not high enough to have Asperger's and he seems to make eye contact ok. "

huh? He can't even keep eye contact for more than 2 seconds. And this dr never

even did any other test on my son, never asked any other questions or has us

fill out any questionnaires. So, we went to another ped neuro. for a 2nd

opinion. This dr did a bunch of tests and then did another IQ test. My son did

so well on that IQ test- his score was very high. The dr also looked at a bunch

of other reports and concluded that yes in fact our son does have Asperger's.

>

> Hi, I am at NJ. I would like to ask for recommendation for a good place to get

a comprehensive evaluation of autism for my son who is 5. We went to Children

Specialized hospital when he was 4, they concluded all his symptoms were sensory

driven. But it seems to me is more than that. His symptoms are more matched with

Aspergers with high sensory needs. I would like to bring him to get the right

diagnosis and request IEP for school in the coming year. Any suggestion is

welcome.

>

> Thanks

> Kwan

>

[Guest guest]

Where in NJ are you? Are you close to NYC? I was very happy with the NYU Child

Study Center in Manhattan. Dr. Carolyn Kessler evaluated my son a few months

ago. He is eight years old.

>

> Hi, I am at NJ. I would like to ask for recommendation for a good place to get

a comprehensive evaluation of autism for my son who is 5. We went to Children

Specialized hospital when he was 4, they concluded all his symptoms were sensory

driven. But it seems to me is more than that. His symptoms are more matched with

Aspergers with high sensory needs. I would like to bring him to get the right

diagnosis and request IEP for school in the coming year. Any suggestion is

welcome.

>

> Thanks

> Kwan

>

[Guest guest]

Hi, Thanks for your sharing of experience. How was your experience with

towm Hospital? Was it a comprehensive evaluation? I would like to try it,

as I am planning to relocate, thinking among Montville or Edison. Montville will

be close to town. The evaluation my son did at Childdren hospital was a

comprehensive evaluation, it had a team of psychologist, neurodevelopmentalist,

OT and ST. Well, my son had all the symptoms of autism, but the team thought he

had serious sensory problems, so they concluded all those symptoms were sensory

driven. But as you said, my mom instinct told me more than that. I hope to get a

right diagnosis before school starts, so that I can bring the report to request

the IEP.

My friends at Montville work very well with schools. They brought their private

reports to the CST, the school provides OT, ST and social group based on the

private reports. The school OT even provides deep compression to her son before

recess to help self-regulation.

Kwan

> >

> > Hi, I am at NJ. I would like to ask for recommendation for a good place to

get a comprehensive evaluation of autism for my son who is 5. We went to

Children Specialized hospital when he was 4, they concluded all his symptoms

were sensory driven. But it seems to me is more than that. His symptoms are more

matched with Aspergers with high sensory needs. I would like to bring him to get

the right diagnosis and request IEP for school in the coming year. Any

suggestion is welcome.

> >

> > Thanks

> > Kwan

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi, I am at Central Jersey. I'll take a look into that. Thanks for the info. Was

it a comprehensive evaluation involving OT and ST?

Thanks

Kwan

> >

> > Hi, I am at NJ. I would like to ask for recommendation for a good place to

get a comprehensive evaluation of autism for my son who is 5. We went to

Children Specialized hospital when he was 4, they concluded all his symptoms

were sensory driven. But it seems to me is more than that. His symptoms are more

matched with Aspergers with high sensory needs. I would like to bring him to get

the right diagnosis and request IEP for school in the coming year. Any

suggestion is welcome.

> >

> > Thanks

> > Kwan

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi, I'm in NJ as well. If you are near Vorhees, you may want to try CNNH. They

have some conprehensive programs. My son was dx there but the doctor we saw is

no longer with them.

Bobbie

> > >

> > > Hi, I am at NJ. I would like to ask for recommendation for a good place to

get a comprehensive evaluation of autism for my son who is 5. We went to

Children Specialized hospital when he was 4, they concluded all his symptoms

were sensory driven. But it seems to me is more than that. His symptoms are more

matched with Aspergers with high sensory needs. I would like to bring him to get

the right diagnosis and request IEP for school in the coming year. Any

suggestion is welcome.

> > >

> > > Thanks

> > > Kwan

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

He was administered the ADOS Module 3 (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule),

which is used to obtain information about social, communication, and play

behaviors in children with fluent speech. There was no evaluation involving OT

or ST, but I think the evaluation is tailored to the kid. My husband, my son's

teacher, and I had to fill out many forms and I was interviewed on the phone for

40 minutes before an appropriate match with an evaluator was made. Then Dr.

Kessler interviewed my husband and me for an hour and observed my son for about

two hours. She met with us for a two-hour followup visit a week later. We

received a written report about a month after that.

> > >

> > > Hi, I am at NJ. I would like to ask for recommendation for a good place to

get a comprehensive evaluation of autism for my son who is 5. We went to

Children Specialized hospital when he was 4, they concluded all his symptoms

were sensory driven. But it seems to me is more than that. His symptoms are more

matched with Aspergers with high sensory needs. I would like to bring him to get

the right diagnosis and request IEP for school in the coming year. Any

suggestion is welcome.

> > >

> > > Thanks

> > > Kwan

> > >

> >

>