I think my son has AS but CAMHS unit say not. Advice?

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thanks Smithie - I at least feel like I have a clear route in front of me - and crucially, that I'm not imagining the issues I have with what has occurred so far.

camhs can be a little unproffessional sometimes get a second opinion. and remember it doesn't matter so much that yuo get the diagnosis it matter that you do the right thing with the knowledge.

We have problems with CAHMS in our lower hemisphere country as well. I went through the public system at first and only saw a social worker who taught my son how to "tap" himself "to emotional freedom." This is when I did whatever it took to get a private diagnosis. Best of luck.

this really made me laugh =) my 5 yo autie's meltdowns result in him either collapsing into a puddle on the floor, or doing the turtle thing =) and of course, at the same time, wailing like someone just stabbed him in the eye with a pencil.

i have found the ignorance about autism is no less within the school or medical systems, which makes getting diagnosis and treatment difficult. this is often compounded when you have a child who is highly intelligent. even those who deal with autism regularly, or should be educated about it, often cant recognize it when it co-exists within a smart child. like the general population, they are often looking for the child flapping and rocking in the corner. of the 16 general criteria for classic autism, my son hits 15 of them, the only exception being the significant speech delay as he was delayed but not reaching the significant mark, and he has a "profoundly severe" rated impairment in speech intelligibility. despite all his traits, he was still misdiagnosed by the first psych we saw, and both the school psych and social worker his first year of school refused to give him an autism diagnosis in school.

the vast majority of parents on this board know more about how autism presents than do the medical or school professionals ive had to deal with. sad, but true.

If you think your son has AS then don't give up. Ever. CAHMS is not infallible. The whole process of diagnosis can be derailed by one person missing something, or being lousy at their job. If you feel you are getting nowhere go back to your GP, explain the situation, they may be able to suggest an alternative. Please, stick with it, I'm glad he's got you on his side.

CAHMS are a bunch of worthless incompetents, in my fairly sizable experience with them.
The NHS cares more for arbitary rules than people, and that strangles the few good people in it.

Hi hrhpod

I feel your pain I am from Ireland and we also have C.A.M.H.S I have been trying to get services for my son since 2006. I met them in 2008 and their clinical judgement which nobody can argue with was that he had an emotional insecure attachement of an ambelvant relation to me I research what this meant. I shouldnt really been reponding to your message I should have a needle stuck in my arm!

What you need to do is go private meet with a physiatrist privately and get the diagnosis then you can get the resource from the department of education and the school will have to implement them and what you need for your son and whatever financial support from the state. If you get a second opinion no one can dispute this not even the arrogant very stupid people at CAMHS here in Ireland the suicide rate for young people is very high it is very evident why? stupid arrogant so called professonials they have a criteria and if you child doesnt fit it exactly they are incapable of using their so call brain. As we know every child presents differently with AS so to speak. My son who is 12 has just been diagnosed privately with AS he had been diagnosises with ADHD, ODD so I was able to get him resources CAMHS disagreed with that diagnoses also.

As you can tell I am very angry you will have to fight fight!! go private!!

I havent read all the responses you recieved so maybe you got the same advice!!


Good Luck

Annmaria

Hi, your post is a few months old now so I don't know if things have moved on for you since then. I work for the Lothian CAMHS service and was disheartened to read that you did not feel that you received a satisfactory service. The ADOS (which is not infallible) should only form a small part of the assessment, along with detailed information gathering about the child's functioning at home and school, developmental history and direct observation.

One of the options open to you would be to go back to your GP and ask him/her to request a second opinion from CAMHS, which the NHS is entitled to provide. This happens relatively infrequently but can be helpful, and there have been instances in my experience where the original view has been challenged. Normally this would be provided by a different outpatient team, e.g. East or Midlothian CAMHS team.

Having said this, I am surprised that you were not offered any support from CAMHS for your son's difficulties, even though he was not given a diagnosis. We do see many children who do not 'tick all the boxes', for ASD, as well as other conditions like ADHD, but they still are offered support. I'm not sure which area of Edinburgh you are in but if he is having difficulty accessing learning for whatever reason, the school have a responsibility to provide additional support, with or without a diagnosis. It might be helpful to request a consultation/ assessment from the local authority educational psychologist.

Good luck!