a few ques about Asperger's

[blessedwithboys]

A good friend of mine has a 21mo ds. He had a very rough start in life, for a variety of reasons...they found a brain tumor in mama during the pg and she ended up having a failed induction at 36 weeks. Her little man has never really made eye contact and has some pretty wicked sensory issues. He is just now starting EI.

She just texted me to say that his OT advised her her ds may have Asperger's. Besides the fact that the dx is being absorbed into ASD, can that even be identified in such a young baby?

FWIW, not only is he NOT precociously (sp?) verbal, he still babbles like an 8mo. What few words he had, he lost after an episode a few months ago where he stopped breathing and spent several minutes unconscious and was rushed to the hospital by ambulance.

So, ques1 is: can Asperger's be dx in a toddler, and ques2 is: in view of the DSM revisions, is the dx of AS still being given at all?

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by blessedwithboys

So, ques1 is: can Asperger's be dx in a toddler,

no. It's isn't dx'ed until kids are school aged, and it isn't dx'ed by OTs.

He might have PDD-NOS, which is a vague dx that is sometimes changed to something more specific as kids get older.

As far as the speech thing, people with Asperger's sometimes have speech delays or issues if there is another reason for them. For example, a child with Asperger's who also has constant ear infections could have speech delays that don't have anything to do with the Asperger's. If there is no other cause of the speech issues other than an ASD, Asperger's is not generally considered to be the right DX.

and ques2 is: in view of the DSM revisions, is the dx of AS still being given at all?

yes.

[Rose-Roget]

With his history, it seems too early to make an official dx. And it shouldn't be made by an OT, regardless. Developmentally Delayed may just cover the bill and get him services at the moment. Asperger's is dx'd later. PDD-NOs or High Functioning Autism are other possibilities, as Linda on the Move said. Or, again, none of the above given his complicated history.

The deal with the DSM revisions is complicated. There may be one dx, but the treatment of the disorder obviously needs to be individualized. It's important in the real world to understand the difference between High Functioning Autism, Asperger's, and PDD-NOS (although the latter has less specific features).

[LynnS6]

Her child should be seen by a developmental pediatrician. They're the only ones who can give an Autism diagnosis. (OK, a developmental psychologist might be able to as well, but definitely not the OT.)

The diagnosis of Asperger's is usually given to children who are verbal before age 3, but on the autism spectrum, and generally with less severely affected that 'traditional' autism.

My understanding of the changes in the DSM is that Asperger's, PDD-NOS, Autism, High Functioning Autism will all be lumped under "Autism Spectrum Disorders". So they will be classified, but not differently as they are now.