[Kismama]

Glad your GP was happy to refer you OP.

I found my GP had some very outdated info/beliefs about Aspergers - she completely missed the signs in my then-3-year-old and used a little checklist to rub my face in my wrong-ness.... (Meanwhile DD was wigging out at my feet!!)

Turns out, GP was wrong... and things are SO much easier around here now that I know what I'm dealing with.

Regardless of your outcome, I hope you can get to the bottom of why your daughter struggles with these things. It's such a load off when you realise what needs to happen to prevent things escalating!

[~Karla~]

My experience with my fabulous GP who I love was the same. Fact is, GP's are not qualified to diagnose (or not diagnose) things like Aspergers. That's why you need a good paed with a particular interest in ASD/Aspergers or a good Developmental paed.

Hopefully your psych has had some experience with ASD and can let you know if they see some red flags and think she does need the Dev Paed referral. Good luck. And feel free to pop into the SN board whenever you like.

[Mrs Optimus]

Hi ChunkyChook,

Im with Karla on this one... your DD also reminds me of my DS who has Aspergers... he is 9 now and we have had heaps of different therapies/social skills groups etc with him and - whilst he still sometimes struggles - he is MUCH better now.

One of the things that helped is some social stories/strip stories that were written by his psych, they are about how to play with others, how to behave/act if someone doesnt want to play with you, why its ok to lose sometimes etc.. they were great for him and even if your DD is ASD they might help her understand.

I remember before his disagnoses a massive birthday party meltdown - he was 4 at the time.. therefore he had to have everything as 4 and when he didnt get the number 4 in a game he just couldnt handle it and started screaming and crying.... and in kindy he had a friend and to him she could only be his friend.... he went nuts if she spoke or played with anyone else...

Good luck with the Psych... a diagnoses (if that is the case) is NOT a bad thing... in fact for my DS is the best thing that could ever have happened to him... he gets so much help now and I 100% believe that without everything we have done for him he would be a completely different person today.

[baddmammajamma]

Dr doesn't think it is Aspergers but wrote a referral for the child psych again to find out his perspective. So will make an appointment for her.

As the others have said, GPs are not in the position to rule in or rule out something like Aspergers or other related issues. I'm glad to hear that your GP was willing to refer you on -- points to him for that!

My only other pieces of advice is to make sure that you are seeing a GOOD psychologist, hopefully one with a lot of experience with behavioral and developmental challenges in young girls. As with any profession, there are some awesome psychs out there & some duds. Make sure yours is the former and really listens to your concerns & connects well with your daughter. (If you need any specific recs, you know that the SNs Mum gang in Melbourne would be happy to comply ). And if I were you, I'd still be booking in with a good developmental paed, just to cover the bases.

I hope you are able to get some answers soon. Regardless of the underlying cause, it can be such a relief to figure out what's going on & develop steps to improve the situation. Good luck!!!!

[ChunkyChook]

Thanks BMJ. I am a couple of hours from Melbourne but would be happy to travel down to see someone good.

[khunella]

Being a 'spectrum' makes ASD is tough to diagnose. Normal kids sometimes show ASD symptoms and ASD kids sometimes act completely normally, which is why the diagnosis is so difficult and even a bit subjective. There are even kids who display only a single ASD behaviour eg. pronoun reversal, and no others at all! The other aspect of ASD I find really strange is that while its incidence has been steadily rising in the west, no-one knows whether this is because there's more of it around, or its just being measured better now. I read the other day that DSM (the manual of mental illness) is taking 'autism' and Asperger's Syndrome out and replacing them with ASD. It's certainly an evolving part of medicine! Thankfully there's so much more support now - can you imagine how hard it must have been 20 years ago, when the disorder was barely recognised?

This post has been edited by khunella: 19/01/2013, 01:51 PM