Kathleen - posted on 11/19/2010 ( 8 moms have responded )
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My son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was in first grade, he had all the symptoms of ADHD and we began treatment with meds. Over the years he has struggled in school both academically and socially. We really began to notice that he was not on the same maturity level as other kids his age. He was constantly needing to be supervised with everything, even with his medication. So we spoke to his specialist for ADHD and he talked to our son, and within a few minutes stated he was referring us to have him screened for autism.
Autism has a very wide spectrum, at the mildest end you have Asberger's Syndrome, which is highly functioning autism with mild autistic symptoms. At the other end of the spectrum is what most people visualize as autistic, totally withdrawn into their own world. My son, is lower functioning than a child with Asberger's, his maturity level is that of a 5 or year old and his comprehension of some things is at a 2 to 3 year olds level.
My point in this is to let everyone know that ADHD or ADD symptoms are also very similar to ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). If you child is showing signs of social problems, maturity level not age level, plays more by themself than others, and has emotional melt downs a lot; you may ask your doctor about ASD just to make sure. We just thought that he was being rebellious and was being uncontrollable or his meds were wrong...We we WRONG. He now requires a whole different type of treatment and understanding, not to mention the schools have to deal with them diffently than IEP's or 504's for ADHD. They have to provide more services.
If anyone else has had this happen please let me know and how you are dealing with it, my son's diagnosis is still new and we are trying to cope with it all. Any help would be great!
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