Diagnosis

So... Shmoo had his autism assessment with TASDAS this week and now officially has the Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis: Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). Which basically means that he's been assessed as being on the spectrum but didn't quite fulfill enough of the criteria for them to give him either a 'Classical Autism' or 'Aspergers' diagnosis.

I strongly suspect that had he been assessed 3-4 years ago he would have easily fulfilled the Asperger's diagnostic criteria. He's come a long way in the last couple of years, just from imitating Loo's social interactions. He's learnt a lot about what is socially expected. I'm still kicking myself for not following my instincts in relation to my concerns about his behaviour as a toddler. If only I'd pushed harder and gotten someone to take my concerns seriously. An Asperger's diagnosis would have enabled us to access so much more assistance; not to mention the early intervention that would have been available to him if he'd been diagnosed earlier. I see how much the ECIS sessions have benefited Beanie and I feel sad that Shmoo has missed out on that.

Anyway, we were given a lot of info and contacts, and will receive a copy of the official report in the next few weeks so there's still a lot for us to wade through.