testing for asd. 4 year old.

[DCS]

Hoping someone can help. DS seems to struggle with anxiety. He likes his routine to be the same, if it changes even slightly he gets very upset. This happens with food aswell. If I do a jacket potato without cheese and beans he freaks out. His dietition suggest getting him " checked " his health visitor agreed. She isn't sure how to go about it though.
He also struggles with his emotions. He can't seem to figure them out or control them. He hits and throws when he doesn't get his way.
This may well all be typical 4 year old behaviour, with starting school full time and being poorly but since they mentioned asd It's been playing on my mind.

Does anyone have any experience with this? The process , who to contact, what we need to do etc. His he is away from next week so I'm assuming we won't hear back for atleast 2 week.

Thanks in advance.

 

[alibaba24]

I'm not sure where you are but I went to my GP and asked for a referral to the child development clinic x

 

[AP]

Surprised at your HV not knowing tbh, but yes, your GP is where to start

 

[DCS]

Thanks. She popped round today. We are seeing a family support person who is hopefully going help us deal with his behaviour. She said they might be able to help but I might just book a drs app for him to speed things up.

 

[k4th]

It depends by area. For you to take change, go to your Gp and ask for a referral to a paediatrician & they will be able to start the ball rolling in most areas. Nobody is likely to do asd testing without a paediatrician ruling out other things (ADHD, genetic factors etc). You will probably also need an assessment by a speech therapist who should look specifically at social skills even if your ds has good language skills, so it's probably worth asking for a referral to them at the same time when you see the gp. The faster you can see everyone, the faster the process will be. Hth

 

[DCS]

Thanks ladies. Iv booked him in to see the good Dr next week. Hopefully get the ball rolling. Do you have any idea how the process goes or how long it takes? For some reason iv got into my head it will atleast take a year.

 

[AP]

You could well be looking at that that timescale, but of course areas are all different. Its certainly not a quick process and your LO will need to be seen by different therapists.
A speech therapist may require several sessions with your LO, which in itself can take weeks. If your LO has these interventions already, it may not take as long.

Should your paeditrician agree there is a a potential concern, they will get you to fill out a questionairre, which will help them piece things together. Sometimes based on this questionnaire, they may not take things further.

Where I am, the waiting list from referral(after the questionnaire) to the actual appointment is 3-6 months.

 

[DCS]

Thanks atomic. Realy helps to have some sort of an idea as to what happens. He doesn't see a speech therapist. So I'm expecting now for it to take a while. He is seeing a Dr this morning because he isn't feeling to good so might be able to get her to do the referrals today. Thanks again. Much appreciated.