texasmama Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 I am tired, as I attended a funeral after the feedback session today, so I will bottom line it. Diagnoses received, some of which are informal, as the diagnostician does not have the "authority" to diagnose some of these conditions: ASD (the now defunct Aspergers), CAPD (under the umbrella of the ASD), and Executive functioning issues (again, under the umbrella of ASD). What is NOT going on: ADHD (I didn't think it was.) He has significant strengths in the processing of visual information, and he works very, very slowly. (Yep.) She saw some anxiety, as well, during the testing. She can "pull the information forward" when it comes time to ask for accommodations for SAT/ACT testing and college. It was not necessarily any new information, though the CAPD was helpful to hear, and it was helpful to have the ASD confirmed. I'd wrestled with that one for a long time. She gave many ideas for accommodations, and underscored my thoughts that meds would not be of any benefit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Not to nitpick, but CAPD would be a co-morbid condition rather than under ASD. Many individuals have both, but auditory processing difficulties are not one of the symptoms listed under ASD. Now some diagnoses are listed under ASD like SPD and MERLD because sensory and speech delay are part of having ASD. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Glad you got some answers and confirmations! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSinNS Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 I'm glad the results are consistent with what you see, and helpful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 Not to nitpick, but CAPD would be a co-morbid condition rather than under ASD. Many individuals have both, but auditory processing difficulties are not one of the symptoms listed under ASD. Now some diagnoses are listed under ASD like SPD and MERLD because sensory and speech delay are part of having ASD. I think she was explaining the CAPD more in context of the ASD. CAPD is something I had looked at briefly at one point but not in depth. It does describe him well. The testing was pretty clear that he is weak in auditory processing and strong in visual processing. I'm still trying to process it all myself, particularly since it occurred right before my friend's funeral. What an exhausting day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSinNS Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 And I'm sorry about your friend. What an exhausting day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 Thank you. Her poor mother. :( I had not seen her mother since my friend and I were in high school together, but she remembered me. It is always good to go to funerals, you know? People appreciate it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 :grouphug: Glad you got some answers and so sorry about your friend. And yes, I agree that it does help many when people come to a funeral. They know their lost loved one mattered to others, not just themselves. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Well that's a lot! How do you feel about it? Had you had an idea on the CAPD before, or was that out of the blue? Are you going to change anything as result of that? And with the aspergers, have you already been doing appropriate things along the way or is there more you would do? That's fascinating to get the ADHD excluded. People (anti-label) act like ADHD labels are a dime a dozen, but here is yet another where careful analysis led them to exclude it! So then meds for inattention are what you're axing, or were there more being discussed for mood or something? Well I'm glad it worked out well for you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timberly Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 Running out the door, but I wanted to link this post I made in 2013. It answers one of OhE's questions about whether or not I had considered CAPD previously and contains good information I want to review when we return with a pregnant foster cat. :) Yes, I suspected. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/495839-talk-to-me-about-capd-central-auditory-processing-disorder/?hl=capd&do=findComment&comment=5357366 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 Well that's a lot! How do you feel about it? Had you had an idea on the CAPD before, or was that out of the blue? Are you going to change anything as result of that? And with the aspergers, have you already been doing appropriate things along the way or is there more you would do? That's fascinating to get the ADHD excluded. People (anti-label) act like ADHD labels are a dime a dozen, but here is yet another where careful analysis led them to exclude it! So then meds for inattention are what you're axing, or were there more being discussed for mood or something? Well I'm glad it worked out well for you! I was not surprised by the ASD. I have considered the CAPD before but no testing has really identified it like this did. I need an audiologist to officially diagnose it. I will sit on that for a bit while my bank account recovers from this bit of testing and ponder it. We have some time to get it documented, as he is not headed to college tomorrow. I've been working with him as if he had CAPD quite intuitively already, and the same goes for ASD. I don't see a need to change anything regarding the ASD. I've known and worked with many kids with ADHD, and I knew my son did not have ADHD/ADD. I asked about meds (and some other things) mostly to confirm my thoughts on it from a person with no dog in the hunt, if you will. His anxiety is well-controlled at this point, and his functional issues are not due to ADHD so there are no meds which would benefit his functioning at this point. I suspect that we are past the worst of the anxiety, which peaked early to mid elementary age. He is quite functional in most areas of his life. Homeschooling has benefited him in many ways, and we have worked for years on building some skills and providing a comfortable environment for him to learn and grow in. Some of it is just that simple. The many years of OT were very helpful, as well. The assessor was quite enthusiastic about him being successful in college, if that is the path he chooses. I agree. Most people who are not "in the business" in some way would not guess that he is anything but a bit shy. His major issues exhibit themselves at home, and he is on the mild side of ASD and has learned to compensate well for the CAPD. So I really don't see doing a whole lot different. He is 14 1/2 and really doing pretty well. I will work on increasing his organization skills (upping the EF) and continue to love, support, teach and guide him. I hit the relationship/social stuff every day as it is and have for a long time. Something different may come to me in the future, but that is what I am thinking for now. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 It's interesting to me and something I want to ask this other psych about. Ds had a section of the CAPD testing by the SLP that he failed and it was something the ps psych mentioned. But I just assumed he failed it because of the dyslexia, kwim? Like it's stuff you would EXPECT a dyslexic to fail. The audiologists didn't feel like they were seeing much to indicate it, and ds seems to do ok in noisy environments like the gym. Nevertheless, it's curious. So then what test did the evaluator run that got them to CAPD? Tomorrow is our day of fate. Glad you survived yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 I'll have to look up the name of the test. Some of the paperwork was incorrect and the assessor is going to mail me a final copy, but I will let you know. (Did I mention that this assessor is someone I knew in high school who is in private practice? She has two or three masters degrees and is bilingual. Not that we needed that, but it is kind of cool. She is very good at this.) Remember when I said I wasn't sure it would really be very helpful? ;) I think I thought that based on the repeated testing he has had done by the school district which was helpful in some ways but was broad brush testing, not specific testing like she did. She reviewed all of the testing he had done through the years by the school system and then focused on specific issues to do more sub tests/specific tests on, which is what we have been needing. The school district saw him as ASD with no LDs, but I knew he had something else going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Do you have coverage for Applied Behavioral Analysis under either your health insurance or Medicaid? ABA is not just for little kids as the agency we use has teen clients. They obviously target different skills with the older and higher functioning kids. More of the independent living and complex social interaction skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 We no longer have traditional health insurance. We have Samaritan Ministries and don't qualify for Medicaid. I appreciate the information, though. There may be a way I can teach myself to implement some of the same interventions. I have a social skills book that he and I need to go through this summer. He is fortunate in that he does not have intrusive or off-putting behaviors to peers or others in public. His struggles in that area are limited to within our family. His biggest problem is that he is socially anxious at times and will not advocate for himself and freezes up during interactions with strangers or adults. He has some meaningful friendships, though. I will need to coach him regarding interactions with people in public. An example is that an adult at a local basketball gym tried to take a ball from him thinking that it was a gym ball (but it was one of ours), and my son did not know how to handle that. He was saying "uhhhhhhh" and then my little dd hit it out of his hand and averted the situation. I was not present. This was related by my sons. I think he probably would have come up with something appropriate to say given time, but he is very slow to process and respond. When we talked about it, he said he as caught off guard and had not thought of what to say. It might take him four times as long to figure that out than it would most people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Medicaid for kids with developmental disabilities does not look at the family income or assets. Since last summer/fall it covers ABA. What you would need to do is check with your state dept. of developmental disabilities to see how to get him on Medicaid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted April 6, 2015 Author Share Posted April 6, 2015 I seriously doubt he is considered disabled enough to get a Medicaid waiver, but I will do some googling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Medicaid for kids with developmental disabilities does not look at the family income or assets. Since last summer/fall it covers ABA. What you would need to do is check with your state dept. of developmental disabilities to see how to get him on Medicaid. Wow, I did not know about this. In our state, they label autism as a disability without respect to levels, meaning if you have the label you have the label. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleBears Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Sending :grouphug: your way. It can be very hard to hear the diagnosis even if you knew it was coming. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted April 6, 2015 Author Share Posted April 6, 2015 Sending :grouphug: your way. It can be very hard to hear the diagnosis even if you knew it was coming.Thank you so much. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 I'm chiming in kind of late, but I just wanted to say that I'm glad you have some answers. Hugs for the confirmation of "yes, something really is worthy of a label." I hope this opens doors for you and gives you specifics for helping your son grow and mature. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merry gardens Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 I'm chiming in late too. :grouphug: Attending friend's funeral and receiving the formal diagnosis all on the same day sounds like a very difficult day. Re-reading that old thread was interesting. Even before you had this formal evaluation, it sounds like you really had a great understanding of what was going on even when you weren't exactly sure of what was going on. I started to write that you know your son, but that just sounded weird, so I'll say instead that you "get" him. Good job, Texasmama! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 I think she was explaining the CAPD more in context of the ASD. CAPD is something I had looked at briefly at one point but not in depth. It does describe him well. The testing was pretty clear that he is weak in auditory processing and strong in visual processing. I'm still trying to process it all myself, particularly since it occurred right before my friend's funeral. What an exhausting day! It sounds exhausting and overwhelming :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 Based on the recs from my 2013 thread, I have ordered the book below: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743428633/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I look forward to reading it. Thank you all for the support. :grouphug: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Based on the recs from my 2013 thread, I have ordered the book below: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743428633/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I look forward to reading it. Thank you all for the support. :grouphug: Hope it is a good resource. Best wishes. :grouphug: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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