bowl of autism wisdom #1

november 20 2009

Because he needed support at school, we decided that son nr 3 who was already diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia would be officially diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

I either expected asperger disorder or PDD-NOS and didn't worry a bit about the outcome.
With a family with so many autistic people he was just one more who fitted in the picture. One characteristic showed a bit more, and another a bit less.

We thought it best that he would be diagnosed by the child and young people psychiatrist, instead of by the adult psychiatrist. (He's 18) At the organization they work so much more efficient and they're very kind and are used to parents who want to be involved.

We were surprised that they'd changed the efficient protocol and talked to the parents after seeing him and testing him.
I was even more surprised when they fired a whole bunch of questions to me during a session of more than 3 hours!! I was exhausted!!

The result took a lot longer than with the other children and when we asked we were told they had a few difficulties deciding because his thinking seemed to be so chaotic.

The normal meeting in which parents and child hear the diagnosis was skipped and today I got the concept of the diagnosis in the mail.

It's OK with me to do it that way, so I sat down with a cup of coffee and started to read.

I was surprised by some findings.
"no impulsivity"... if anyone is impulsive it's this young man...
etc etc.

And the diagnosis: schizoid characteristics

You should have seen my face!!

Maybe the woman who'd done the tests used the DSM III, instead of DSM IV-TR, to check her findings, maybe she forgot to read the chapter about autism, or maybe she wanted a change in our family.
I just don't know.

But I don't agree at all.

Isn't it great to be a psychologist myself? LOL!
Wish I was just a stupid human being accepting everything I'm told.

Instead I mailed the professor that I didn't agree at all and wanted the testresults so I could have a look myself and give a scientific basis for my rejection.

So here we go again with another series of posts about autism, called: bowl of autism wisdom.

I hope to get things settled well soon, so my son gets the support he needs in the right setting instead of the fear of his life to have the genetical make-up of someone with schizoid traits.