Autism Testing Part 2

Kind of a LONG and lengthy post, but a GREAT post...there are also a lot of links in this post to explain the different terms...

WOW...what a LONG DAY!!!  Today, I took Hunter to Richfield to the Children with special Needs Health Clinic, a clinic associated with the Utah Department of Health and the University of Utah, for his Autism Evaluation/Testing.  We met with 4 different doctors specializing in "children", who evaluated and tested Hunter.  The findings of the evals/testing are as follows:

Audiology - We first met with the Audiologist.  They first tested his left ear and wasn't getting the "sound movement" he was looking for.  After testing his right ear and getting 98% "speech hearing", he used another testing device hooked up to a laptop to re-test his left ear.  He was still only able to produce a result of 78% in the left ear.  He said the hearing loss is due to a deformed ear canal or ear drum.  Most kids ear canals are in an "S" shape, he said Hunters is more of a "Z" shape...kind of interesting...

Speech/Language Therapist - Next we met with the Speech Therapist.  Hunter did exceptionally well with most of the pictures, questions and scenarios the ST asked him.  After about 5 minutes, he completely lost his focus...from then on, it was almost impossible to finish the test.  She was doing EVERYTHING possible to regain his focus.  Nothing worked.  She finally gave up and started asking me a bazillion questions..."How long has he been speaking?"  "When did he say his first word?"  "How has he progressed since starting school?"...just a small sampling of questions asked.  She finally told me she believed Hunter is functioning on a 2 to 2 1/2 year old level...not really surprised there and I don't mean that in a mean way.

Pediatrics - Third, we met with the pediatrician.  I really liked this doctor.  He asked me a bunch of questions, asked Hunter a bunch of questions, which I had to do a lot of translation, then did an A.MAZING series of puzzles, build this with the blocks or that with the blocks, draw this shape or that shape, write your name...Hunter did really good, but had a really hard time concentrating/keeping his focus.  Not really surprised there, he almost ALWAYS has a difficult time with concentration/focus.  Once he was done with this tests, he proceeds to tell me he believes Hunter has ADHD and has Sensory Processing Disorder.  The pediatrician told me he didn't want to treat Hunter with medication unless he gets worse.

Psychology - Last we met with the Pediatric Psychologist.  I liked the psychologist more than I like the pediatrician, although he was a little difficult to take or follow.  After asking me a series of questions, he evaluated Hunter for about an hour and fifteen minutes.  The PP isn't really convinced that Hunter has ADHD as the pediatrician thinks.  He believes Hunter does have the Sensory Processing Disorder as well.  But, instead of the ADHD, he is convinced Hunter has either Asperger's Syndrome or PDD-NOS.  The difference between AS and PDD-NOS:  With AS, a child's speech starts being audible at 3 years.  By the time they are 3 years and 3 months, the child's speech is "full-blown", meaning, they are speaking 100% and every word they speak is clear and understandable.  With PDD-NOS, a child's speech starts at 3 years, but doesn't "fully develop" until the child is 8.  Also, with PDD-NOS, the child is "very possessive of children they want to play with.  Basically, if another child doesn't want to play, the PDD-NOS child is "all over" the other child and can't understand why the other child doesn't want to play.  PDD-NOS fits Hunter to a "T".  Not just according to me, but also with the PP.  He is almost certain Hunter has PDD-NOS.

So, what do we do from here?  The pediatric psychologist was going to try to convince the pediatrician to give Hunter some medication, either Adderall or Ridalin, to see if we can rule out PDD-NOS and Asperger's Syndrome.  The way one of these two medications will rule those out, is if the medication makes him calm and relaxed.  If it makes him "ping" more, then it will rule out ADHD.  The medication SHOULD be in his system about 5 days after he starts taking it, so we should know within a week after starting it, what the answer will be.  Once we can rule out one or the other, we will know if we need to go back up to the University of Utah for the ADOS.  If we have to go back up for that, they won't be able to get Hunter in until the end of August or the beginning of September.  The doctors are also recommending that our family doctor give a recommendation to the school to get Hunter into a 4 day school week, instead of a 2-day school week, like he did from February-May of this year.

All-in-all, I believe we had a VERY positive appointment today.  Hunter did A.MAZING, considering he was there ALL DAY and he isn't used to that much stimulation in such a short amount of time.  I am so incredibly proud of my Hunter.  He was such a trooper today.  Hopefully within the next week or two, we can have one answer or another.
You can read about Part 1 of The "A" Word, by clicking here.