This is my first time on this board, i normally talk on the adhd board, as my son mikey has been diagnosed by our pediatrition for having adhd, my problem is, his school teachers think he's autistic & not adhd, & are appelling agaisnt the doctor's for him to have extra help in school, he is already in the ebd unit & the senco has had meetings with me explaining her concerns, the thing is i know nothing of autism,
The only thing i know is another family who has an autistic boy, & he is nothing like mikey, i know there are all types of autism but im just lost on the suject at the momment. :confused:

There is a big difference in our children who are at different ends of the spectrum. I recommend going to the Autism Society website for detailed information. I know the NC Autism Society website has a lot of useful information. I would also recommend letting the school do a complete evaluation and also have your doctor recommend/referr you to someone who can do an independent evaluation of your child. It is common for an autistic child to be misdiagnosed as ADHD.

hello mikmum,
I think the best thing to do is to make sure you share your concerns with the senco and the doctors. There are so many degrees of autism that it certainly wouldn't be possible for teachers to diagnose it correctly. We have had two children with autism and were quite different and one with adhd - again different.
The thing to remember is that your school will try to get the best support for your son, so accept everything they try to get for you. Is it confirmed that he has adhd? - if so, it's important that you make sure the teachers are aware!
I wish you well, and Mikey too!

Hi,
My husband has been struggling with issues his whole life. When we first got married and were in counseling, the counselor suggested to him that he get tested for ADD, and the psychiatrist said that he had it. He took the meds for a short while but claimed they didn't work. We both kind of questioned the diagnosis in the first place, because he didn't seem to fit the profile as an adult.

Anyway, we had a child who started to have little issues. I found info on Asperger's Syndrome, and it was like a light went on in our heads. My husband and I both think that my husband has it, and we are wondering now about our son.

This might not have anything to do with your case, but I have read that many Asperger's people have been misdiagnosed as having ADD or ADHD. HTH

If I were you I would have someone else evaluate him. While teachers aren't Dr's. I think the are very clued into these things more than parents and others may be. I believe this is due to the amount of children they see on a regular basis. Our teachers aren't allow to speculate a diagnosis, but our teacher made it a point to tell me the behaviors he exhibited in class as to lead me to my Dr.

Good luck with your son!

Many children with higher functioning autism have been misdiagnosed with ADD. I was misdiagnosed as hyperactive as a child. I seriously think I have some of the traits of Asperger Syndrome. AS was not known about when I was young.

get all the evaluations that you can if that is what is needed because the more you know about mikey's condition the better you will be. i dont know about in the UK but alot of schools around here like to take the adhd kids and get them medicated... sure that can help, but behavior training is going to go alot further when once they hit puberty the drugs start to not work. if it IS autism then the drugs may not even help like sallzyx was saying about her husband... (pretty DANG sure my husband is asperger's too and when we had our autisic son that only made things uhm... more interesting i guess, sallzyx) there is talk also that ADD/AHD fits on the spectrum anyhow but if he is more autie than add then he will benefit more from behavior training. and some of his behaviors might end up being explained better too like if its discovered that he has sensory issues.... i was told one time that isaac (our son) was not bothered by a loud noise because he didnt plug his ears... how stupid is that. sure, he doesnt plug his ear when i vacuum either but he sure does have a melt down EVERY time... :) anyhow, G-Luck! get that eval and now a days autism isnt a end of the world diagnosis... lots of kids are "graduating" right off the spectrum and having that label removed... but if it fits NOW (maybe not later) let them use it... that way he will get the specific services he needs. keep us posted

WOW, Thanx every-one, there is loads of replies!, I am letting the teachers do there work, i want the best for my son as they do, he is in the ebd unit in a mainstream school, the teachers are used to his & this sort of behavor & the senco had a child in her class like this a few years back who had been wrongly diogniosed & fought it & won, i know teachers arnt allowed to interfere with the doctors diagnoises but they can put there views forward which is what she has done, The senco in mikey's school is genuinly carring, as she is leaving to have a baby, but wanted to deal with mikeys case first before she left, so the next teacher would come in & know nothing about mikey & get no-where.
When the teacher first expressed her concerns i did go to the doctor, they did'nt like it very much that the teachers were thinking differently, but again i think what does the docters know about my son, they speak to him & watch him for all of 5 mins & say 'yes, he's adhd', they should take more time & get to know the families more better before diagnoising, as one of you said it's too easy we are all on the same spectrum somewhere along the line.
Still confussed, but i just take it as it comes.

I have the opposite issue. The school said my son has a behavior problem so I took him to the Dr. The Dr. sent us to a psychologist. the psychologist after months of testing determined him to have asperger's. I took this back to the school and said I would like an OT eval and social classes for him and the came back and said "we are not seeing it" - as in asperger's. Not seeing it??? Hello... they are the ones that said he had a problem in the first place. I'm thinking they just wanted us to put him on meds so they don't have to deal with training him.
Good Luck to you. I hope you find the correct thing and get the help that is needed.