dx and regular pediatrican

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As a school psychologist, doctors listen to me. As a parent, they don't. Very interesting to be in this situation.

I want my child to have his dx confirmed and have a full neuropsychological evaluation. I brought my son into the doctors office today and the doctor said, "Do you think there is anything else going on other than Autism?" I knew he was going to throw the A- bomb (ADHD) dx at us as a lot of Asperger's or HFA children are first misdx or given a secondary dx of ADHD. The doctor said "other than" Autism. I told the doctor that he has to consider Nate's history as well as ALL information not just a "feeling" or how my son seems to interact with him during a ten minute period.

Nate can interact with people and seem normal for a period of time. That is the reason why I have gone back and forth the past two years from denial to acceptance over him being on the spectrum. My husband and I are so convinced now and I don't have time convincing a regular pediatrician who knows less about Autism than I do. I could tell that he was feeling uncomfortable. I told him that I just want someone who is more qualified than me and who has a lot of experience with people on the spectrum providing the dx. That is the reason why I would like you to make a referral. I have private insurance but certain doctors still like referrals.

Has anyone else experienced the whole "Your child is just ADHD and that is the reason why he is overstimulated and it's not Autism" stuff? I found that in my profession it is common to see a child initially dx with ADHD just to be dx with Aspergers later.

I have worked with Nathan on Social Skills and Language all of his life. He has come a long way and that could be the reason why he doesn't present like others might at this age.

If he is evaluated by someone who is highly qualified and that person tells me that he is no longer on the spectrum, then that would carry a little more weight.

I had the same problem getting a referral from my GP. She actually got angry when I persisted instead of just "taking her word for it", that I wasn't AS....seems to be some kind of "ego dysfunction" of people in the medical profession I do wonder if there are some negative consequences for DRs who make to many referals that insurence companies don't want to pay for ? I hate to sound paranoid but it just doesn't seem logical that a GP would be so resistent to just write a little note to allow you to see an expert in another field. I switched GP's but even this one refuses to do a thyroid test reccomended by the college of endocronologist...she just keeps retesting me with a test that is considered out dated, (but cheaper) and increasing my meds. I'm afraid to even ask for a referal to a specialist after my last GP freaked out on me.

I would keep pressing him until you get the referal you know to be correct.

Thanks for responding. I told my mother about "ego dysfunction" and she has since quoted you to three other people. She loved that phrase!!

I may change doctors. It depends on how this all turns out.

I really worry about all the adults who have been misDXed before AS was known and the kids who have gotten DXed with ADD/ADHD, which are generally just treated with medication. I think AS and ADHD should be considered neurological and not chemical, personality disorder or psychological issue. You can't get the proper treatment when you are starting with the wrong DX.

I really do question if some people, (who are supposed to be "normal or NT"), don't actually suffer from some disorder/syndrome that is so prelevant that it is not seen as a disorder ? I see a lot of examples of many people in society having difficulty grasping very simple processes of logic. Our DRs would just be two examples of persons, who know themselves not to be neurological experts, yet do not seem able to grasp why we sholdl go see such experts....?

Good lcuk to you both and stay strong in your mothers intuition and your ability to use logic.

it's terribly frustrating dealing with a dr who thinks you're nuts for wanting a more in-depth eval.....our doc was not happy that we went for a more in-depth eval of our daughter.............doc felt that he knew daughter better than some doc who only interacted with her for a short period of time over several weeks..........

I didn't need a referral from the pediatrician for the neuropsych evaluation. After the evaluation, I told the pediatrician the diagnosis and he wrote it into my son's chart. That was the extent of my interaction with the pediatrician. He did ask me if I wanted a prescription for ritalin or something like that, since my son was bouncing off the walls in the doctor's office at that time. I said, "No thank-you." and that ended the ADHD conversation.

I think pediatricians are comfortable prescribing meds for ADHD or ADD and that's why they bring it up with parents. I oppose these drugs for my son and would not consider them.