Unsure what’s next

[Emitharding]

My son is 5 and has been on an IEP following an eval age 4 for developmental delay, self regulation and social pragmatics. He had been receiving OT and speech therapy and he has progressed so much. I did not want to push a diagnosis at the time as it was unclear as to what was going on with him. I am scared of getting an inaccurate diagnosis, for example high functioning asd was mentioned by our ped. But he had since made huge strides on the social piece. He has always been crazy hyper but incredibly smart. He had sensory challenges too which we are awaiting for results on.

My concern is that he exhibits ADHD behavior at home, doesn’t stay on task, blows up in anger and frustration, distracted al the time - he can’t eat a meal without bringing something to the table and fiddling with it. We tried banning too s at the table when he was younger and it became a huge battle. He does have defiance sometimes although we have made huge progress there in terms of communicating with him and adopting a collaborative approach. Reward systems work wonders with him.

In the classroom at preschool though he presents more reserved. He has had a lot of anxiety, in large I think due to the delay in pragmatic and expressive speech. Now he has caught up with that his anxiety is less. He still becomes overstimulated and jumps on the spot, although he does that less than he used to.

There is so much mixed feedback that it is hard to know when to proceed for the next neuro psych. The initial eval was done by the public school system so they do not diagnose.

I would appreciate any advice or sharing of similar experience on your journey to a diagnosis?

[ha11]

Make appointment for neuro

your son have many observations like my son ,even school at four denied his autism diagnosis roughly made by one neuro .My son also progressing but sm things like hyper or jumping makes me worry .

I also finally went to neuro and hes in the stage of getting full diagnosis what he exactly have doctor also thinking about adhd she said but she gave mr some forms to fill by his teachers and me and also asked to fax copy of IEP .

As i dnt want to completely rely on school observation want to do some outside evaluations .

He also have dvlp delays and low IQ at 4 year of age now child study team is going to evaluate him

again as he is turning 7 in May

I m praying hard he got his IQ improved .

Best of luck my son also show anxiety at hw time especially but i keep involving him , he is getting support in class as well.

So you kerp working on him or start social therapies if you dnt wNna rush for label or go to neuro

but please dont tell neuro by urself if he have adhd let doc diagnose

[Elijah1]

Children with ADHD and anxiety can hold it together better at school because of concerns of punishment or negative feedback and about breaking the rules and can be much more 'ADHD' at home because there is no peer or teacher feedback. Sort out which behavior is driven by which diagnosis and this should help with planning intervention.

[Jackieedunn]

Keep in mind a diagnosis will not define him and his potential and you’ll make sure of that! On the flip side however, a diagnosis can be helpful when trying to get him the services he needs and can benefit from. I too went the neuropsych route. Good luck!