Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional What tests/tester to sort out Aspergers,Gifted,An

What tests/tester to sort out Aspergers,Gifted,Anxiety,SPD, ADHD?

I have a 4 year old that is just wired a little differently. It's starting to be a problem at preschool with rigidness, social situations, Sensory issues. What kind of tester and what kind of tests should I look for to sort out and find the root of these problems? I don't even know where to start. My ped told me my son is just spoiled and that's why he vomits things like jello, and refuses cotton candy. I don't want to go back there for advice. Where and with whom do I begin?

Everything Portia said, especially this part:

Welcome! There was a recent thread on finding testers (link). Posts on that thread included links to other threads, which may also be helpful.

There was also recently an article posted about 2e, which may be of interest (link)

Hi Pranava,

Yes, dump that pediatrician. People like that shouldn't be practicing medicine.

If you are in the US the links on the left side of this page have a good number of qualified testers. http://www.aspergersyndrome.org/

Some people, including some testers, find it hard to believe that a very verbal and/or gifted child can be on the autism spectrum-- but they can. (I have one.) For that reason, I'd recommend finding a tester who's seen a TON of kids on the spectrum-- they are more likely to have a grasp of the range of what's possible. We found ours at the autism center of a major children's hospital.

You will want a complete neuropsychological workup, which typically includes direct observation, teacher and parent rating scales, IQ and achievement testing, interview with the clinician, lots of different things. Ours was about 6 hours of testing.

I think you're right to look into this-- having good information at that age can make an enormous difference in later quality of life and educational planning.

DeeDee

I would find a neuropscyh, but also be careful. When I took DS for a neuropsych eval at the university, the doc said if I had taken him elsewhere he may very well have had a bogus ASD label slapped on him. He has some odd mannerisms and behaviors (like hand flapping when he's excited), an odd voice prosody, etc. But he did just fine on the inventories we filled out like the ASDS. There is a lot of overlap with symptoms and various disoders. DS was diagnosed with Developmental Coordination Disorder and some of the symptoms mimic those of ASD. For instance people with DCD may toe walk because of sensory issues, and those sensory issues may look like those seen in ASD but they are not the same disorder.

Technically any psychologist should be capable of evaluating for an autism spectrum disorder. However, ideally you'd want an eval by a neuropsychologist, or a developmental pediatrician. They are more capable of sorting out any physical issues in addition to any emotional/mental issues going on.