Autism vs. Auditory Processing Disorder vs. ???

Melissa, much of what you describe could be an autism spectrum OR sensory integration OR even just plain old giftedness.  My oldest was a very big baby (11lb) walked at 8mo and talked in complete sentences shortly afterwards.  He did teach himself to read at three.  He is VERY routine-bound, very sensitive to noise and stimulation and we have cut out all his clothing tags since he was small. He also hates seams in socks.  🙂 He refuses to wear polyester clothing even today. 

Is he also very literal?  Is he very moral–does he really get bothered by injustice, perceived or real?  Does he get things conceptually very quickly but have trouble with the details? 

There could be several possibilities, including twice giftedness.  Have you looked at hoagiesgifted.org?  Try looking up a list of Dabrowski’s Overexcitabilities and see if they match your son.  And consider asking your health care practitioner for a referral.

The timing of this conversation is amazing because it’s something I am also dealing with. ( sorry so long)

I have one 10 year old diagnosed with ADHD when he was 7 however, the Dr. NEVER  spoke to him or spent any time with him at all,  he only went by our telling him symptoms and the CONNERS test. He has severe sensory OCD such as, SOCKS (UGH); his first panic attack at age 3 was over wearing socks. He must have seamless and some days he never wears them or shoes at all, only crocks and yes that is even with snow on the ground.  All tags cut out of clothes, no jeans with buttons of any kind, no shirts with any kind of design he can feel on the inside. We know this and know it’s not a battle worth fighting because he can’t help it.

My 9 year old has been diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder and Severe OCD, this diagnosis was by a student of psychology not psychiatry.  He does have an appointment with a child psychiatrist because he has severe social anxiety, such as RULES, there are rules and according to him,  NEVER an exception to the rules. He has such a sense of justice beyond his years. He never forgets anything. His IQ is labeled in the Superior to above superior. They said 2 points from giftedness, whatever that means. He plays the piano beautifully and by ear, he is amazing at math and can do large figures in his head but has no idea what I mean by the phrase, “did the cat get your tongue.”  He has friends but gets angry easy because they don’t play the “right way”. He often thinks people are laughing and making fun of him just because the children are talking quietly.  It breaks my heart because he cries all the time and asks what’s wrong with me? He has two cousins that have aspergers  and he is SO MUCH like one of them.  I worry about getting him diagnosed because we will lose our health insurance and can’t afford for it to go up more than it is. So we are paying out of pocket for his evaluation.

I feel like I am failing them somehow. I am responsible for ALL of the child care so I feel like I must be doing a  bad  job if my kids are anxious,  am I doing this to them? I did find workbooks one called I’m not bad I’m mad, ADHD workbook, and Anxiety workbook at Barnes and Noble. I read with them privately each night. As a mom’s the hardest thing in the world is to know the right thing, I pray each night that I be a capable wife and a mom who can raise boys to love GOD and be good people in the world.  But I admit I am terrified.

Becky

There are a couple of books about the gluten-free diet that talk about healing leaky gut syndrome, its link to autism and other disorders, and why there is a link to these in the first place. I’ve been reading some of them, but I’ll have to get back to you all with the titles.

I’ve been looking into gluten-free possibilities rather than GAPS partly because my son won’t eat soup or any kind of broth….so, no bone broth for him! Plus, he visits his dad every other weekend and one weekday per week, and they are uncooperative regarding his diet. They tend to be “pill-poppers” instead of looking to dietary and lifestyle changes for health issues.

HI there,

There is a book called The Out of Sync Child.  I haven’t read the whole thing yet, but there are check lists in it for sensory issues that help you see what areas your child has issues with.

http://www.amazon.com/Out—Sync-Child-Recognizing-Processing/dp/0399531653/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329593595&sr=8-1

There is a follow up book that I have not read called The Out of Sync Child Has Fun that has activiies and one called Growing an In Sync Child that looks like helps with development. 

http://www.amazon.com/Out—Sync-Child-has-Fun/dp/0399528431/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1329593595&sr=8-4

http://www.amazon.com/Growing–Sync-Child-Activities-Develop/dp/0399535837/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1329593595&sr=8-5#_

Hope those can help.  We deal with several of the things you have mentioned in your son. 

I didn’t read all the replies so sorry if I repeated something.  I have a house full of APD kids.  Two boys and a girl. (the 4th is yet to be determined. lol)  With what you said, I might look into both.  Some of the symptoms do overlap and it’s not uncommon to have both, but there are different therapy options for each.  So you’ll want to know where exactly he needs the help.

APD is tested by an audiologist that specializes in it.  I have no idea where you’d do testing for austism, we haven’t had any issues there. 

Yay! I’m so glad Sonya posted. I couldn’t for the life of me remember where she had linked to testing in a prior thread, and I was just thinking about that test a few days ago.

What I’m struggling with right now is thinking I should have another evaluation of my son. (It’s been 3.5 years since the original diagnosis.) But I’m not sure if he needs testing again, whether he retakes the same tests, or if there is something else we should do. I just have this vague feeling that I need something to tell me what to do next, instead of just continuing with things we’ve been doing.

One thing I do know is that I am not going to our local school district to ask about this. They are just too busy (and maybe too underfunded) to handle this properly, especially for someone who is not even enrolled in their school system.

OH MY .. I am so slow.. I scrolled back to the top and there it was Auditory Processing Disorder. Ok off to see what the library has. Feeling like a fool.