By Rohan |

Hi there, my precious little 9YO boy has just been diagnosed with Aspergers from his Paediatrician after assessment by an Occupational Therapist and Speech Pathologist. I felt the Speech Pathologists report was a little harsh, as it said he has a severe language disorder from all angles. The Pathologist's report took about 3-4 months to arrive and the Pathologist had to ring my wife up and ask several questions before completing the report. She got the feeling that the Pathologist did not know or couldn't remember our boy. My son is a good talker. He will tell me all sorts of intricate details about his video games and has a good sense of humour. His condition was picked up incidently by the Pediatrician when he was there with pants soiling issues (they thought he had Hirshprungs Disease - no nerves in his colon, but it was encopresis - a full "coked up" bowel, which they had to empty out in a hospital operation). I think the soiling issues were due to him being paranoid of going to the toilet when he was a toddler, which he continued till 9YO - they say it may have been because of him being "different" - he is a very cautious boy, he gets scared of the dark and shadows etc. The Paediatrician wasn't sure whether to diagonose him with Aspergers or Autism, but decided Aspergers because he she said he was on the "high functioning" end of the autism spectrum (not exactly sure what that means). She also said that usually kids that have Aspergers usually don't have any communication / speech difficulties, which she said was at odds with the Speech Pathologists findings. Not sure how they can make a diagnosis when there are contradictory parameters. Also, I am a little uneasy having him diagnosed. Although it is good to know what he has and can get funded support to help him out, I think it may be an obstacle later in life eg. when getting a job and having to declare that he has Aspergers. He is a bright boy, very intelligent, but to me is just a bit clumsy in articulating or expressing his ideas. I am a bit worried for him that he will not be allowed or selected for things that others would be able to do, due to his diagnosis - a lot of forms have a tick box asking if you have been diagnosed with a mental or phsyciatric illness and the minute he ticks this he will be denied approval or acceptance. I thought i would share my experiences with you, for what it's worth. Not sure whether you have a similar story or can relate to some of this, perhaps you might have some greater insights or advice you could share with me. Robo

I llive in Tasmania and we fly our boy to see a fantastic Autism specialist in Victoria. Dr Richard Eisenmeyer runs the ASD clinic with a full team of specialists. He often runs confernces on Autism within Victoria please look up the ASD clinic in Kew. Get him to give you a second opinion as we are all entitled to question a diagnosis as this label can affect your child (good and Bad) for the rest of his life. Good Luck