AtSouthDam - I'm in a hurry at the moment so don't have time to write out a well thought out reply, but fwiw, my neuropsych sees it a bit the opposite (inverse maybe) of CCN's description of one big house with different rooms - she would tell you there are a few big houses (ASD spectrum, ADHD, Dyspraxia) with some shared types of rooms and some rooms very individualized (think one house has a movie screening room, one house has a workout room, one house has a parlor for the dog... but all the houses have a kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom). It's not easy to tease out what's up with our 2e kids when they are really young, but the answers come with time, with evaluations, and with observations. The other advice our neuropsych gave us was that each specialist who does an evaluation is going to see (or not see) what they are looking for or what they are familiar with - but they aren't necessarily going to see the big picture - that's where having a neurospych evaluation is really *really* helpful, and also where you as the parent also become the expert in your particular child.
A real life example for you - we had no clue our ds had any kind of challenge other than being cute, quirky and amazingly intelligent when he was little. His K/1 teacher thought we were overestimating his abilities because he "sounds so smart when he talks." His 2nd grade teacher was convinced he was low IQ and had ADHD. We were convinced he was going to end up in a psych ward by the end of 2nd grade. That's when a neuropsych diagnosed dyspraxia. A few years later a counselor was convinced we should have him evaluated for ASD, but a follow-up neuropsych ruled out ASD. He also has an expressive language disorder diagnosed by an SLP. I feel confident, today, now that he's in middle school, that we have the correct diagnoses (dyspraxia and expressive language disorder) - but it took quite a few years to figure it all out. In the meantime, we plugged away as DeeDee mentions - one thing at a time, and he's made great progress.
I'll also add that the actual therapies he's had are targeted at specific skills, so at that level, it doesn't always differentially matter is the overall diagnosis dyspraxia or autism or whatever... the therapy needs to target the skill that's a challenge. OTOH, it's extremely helpful to understand the overall diagnosis too - because that helps you put the pieces of the puzzle together in a meaningful way.
Best wishes,
polarbear
