About Michelle Fattig Expertise I can answer questions about educational testing, autism, Asperger's Syndrome, ADD/ADHD, Special Education, IEP, Learning Disabilities, Sensory Processing, Parent Advocacy, Response to Intervention, living and parenting with disabilities, parent rights in special education, school psychology, and more. I cannot provide a medical diagnosis.
Experience I am a school psychologist, medical technologist, author of the Annie Books series: Experience Aspeger's Syndrome and Attention Deficits Through the Eyes of a Child, RTI facilitator, ILCD facilitator, parent advocate, presenter, and researcher. My children and I have Asperger's, ADD/ADHD, and learning disabilities.
Organizations National Association of School Pyschologists, American Medical Technologists, Learning Disabilities Association of Nebraska
Education/Credentials Ed.S. in School Psychology, doctoral studies in SPED Law, SPED Systems Enhancement Leadership, and doctoral candidate Education Leadership. MT(AMT) and MLT(ASCP)
Question I've taken my son to a Neuro-developmental Ped. 2x. He has been diagnosed with ADHD. My son memorizes odd things; movies, comercial, books, routes taken when driving... There isn't much you can get past him. He is also very literal; we have to be especially careful how we word things, etc. He is hyperactive, impulsive and only attends to his choice of activities. He can become aggressive at times and is in an emotional support class in school. He has poor fine and gross motor skills and has recieved therapies since he's been 19 months old. He gets 'stuck' on things and needs to finish something before moving on to the next. We call him our little director, because he always tells us what we should say or how we should answer him. He tries to be social and wants friends, but to him, everyone is his best friend, even if they aren't very nice to him. He can make conversation, to a point, and usually has okay eye contact. His conversations are usually one-sided, but sometimes not. He talks a lot, repeats a lot .. asks a lot of questions.. He stims a lot! He flaps his hands and arms and paces back and forth.. he totally zones out while doing this, but I think he is thinking about movies because sometimes he repeats movie lines while doing this... He's flapped since he was months old and added the pacing and other stuff as he's gotten older. He grinds his teeth to no end, grits his teeth while holding 'toys' close to his face and talking in an odd voice.. He scares other children because he often gets to close to them, in their face, or when he plays, he comes off as being mean by his tone of voice and grimmace, even though he is just trying to be play a charater. I feel that my son is really on the spectrum and had Asperger's syndrome. My docotor disagrees and has ruled ASDs out. The phycologist we have doesn't think he fits into the Asperger's 'realm, either (mostly because the specialist has ruled it out) and has questioned bi polar disorder, disruptive behavior disorder,Sensory processing disorder and ADHD. Am I wrong to think otherwise or have the behaviors I've described warrant further question and testing by another specialist?
Answer I just love the "experts" who don't always get it! I would recommend asking your local school district for a comprehensive multidisciplinary evaluation to include a sensory profile, cognitive, and language evaluation. If possible, ask that a BASC-2 (Behavior Assessment System for Children), GADS or other Asperger's Scale, and potentially a Children's Austism Rating Scale be included. Since Sensory Integration Dysfunction is a part of Autism/Asperger's, here is a link for you to print off and complete to include for the school psychologist: http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/
Autism may be thought of as the most severe childhood disorder (Baron-Cohen, 2000, p. 3), and Asperger’s Syndrome is considered to be, by many researchers, on the autism spectrum. First described by Hans Asperger, in 1944, individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome often exhibit odd or idiosyncratic behaviors like those described by Leo Kanner, which many attribute as the encompassing definition of ‘true autism.’ However, unlike Kanner’s Syndrome, people with Asperger’s have no language delays or delays in adaptive skills, other than social skills, and are typically above average to superior, intellectually. Children with Asperger’s Syndrome may have difficulty with too little or too much eye contact, an odd quality to speech cadence or volume, flat voice or expression, self-centered conversation patterns, obsessions or perseveration about topics or interests, writing difficulties, awkward or clumsy gait, lack of common sense, limited abstract thought process (very literal or concrete), overly particular about routines or rules, sensory dysfunction, and self-stimulating behaviors (Edelson, 2008, p. 1).
Also, here is a questionnaire that you can print off and complete for the team:
EARLY CHILDHOOD/PRESCHOOL PARENT QUESTIONNAIRE
Name of Child: _____________________ Date of Birth: ________ Age: _______
Name of Referrer: __________________ Relationship to Child: ______________
Parent/Guardian: ______________________________________________________
Names Address Phone
Date of Referral: ____________
Referral Concern (Please list any concerns about child’s communication, behavior, or development): _____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Medical History:
Pregancy: _____________________________________________________________
Prenatal: ______________________________________________________________
Birth: _________________________________________________________________
History of Chronic Illness, Head Injury, Ear Infections, Hospitalization, or Accident: ______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Mother: ____________________________ Father: ____________________________
Siblings: _______________________________________________________________
Family History (Special Education, Developmental Delays, Learning Disabilities, Mental Health): _________________________________________________________
Who lives with the child: __________________________________________________
How does the child relate with:
Mother _________________ Father __________________ Siblings _______________
Family activities: ________________________________________________________
Does the child experience difficulty with peers, extended family, or social settings?
_______________________________________________________________________
As an infant, did the child experience difficulty with colic or soothing (stiffen or pull away when cuddled or stroked)? ___________________________________________
Communication:
1) Does he or she respond to his/her name: Never Sometimes Often Always
__________________________________________________________________
2) Does he/she express her needs or wants: Verbally Pointing Pulling Tantrums
___________________________________________________________________
3) Does he/she talk like children his/her age? ______________________________
___________________________________________________________________
4) Does he/she follow simple or complex directions? ________________________
____________________________________________________________________
5) Have you ever wondered if he/she is deaf? _______________________________
6) Does he/she seem to hear at times, but not at others? _______________________
7) Does he/she ever seem lost in own little world or stare off? _________________
_____________________________________________________________________
8) Does he/she mimic, copy, or like to immitate? ____________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
9) Does he/she seem to have lost words, or say fewer words than before? _________
_____________________________________________________________________
Social Concerns:
10) Does he/she smile at family members? __________________________________
11) Does he/she smile at strangers or become overly frightened by strangers? ______
____________________________________________________________________
12) Does he/she prefer to play alone or overly dependent on parent/caregiver for entertainment (you are his favorite/only toy)? ____________________________
____________________________________________________________________
13) Does he/she get things for self? _______________________________________
14) Is he/she very independent or overly attached (extreme separation anxiety)? ____
_____________________________________________________________________
15) Has he/she met milestones early or unevenly? ____________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
16) Does he/she seem to avoid eye contact or have too much eye contact (watching without mirroring or reacting like a little professor)? _______________________
_____________________________________________________________________
17) Does he/she often seem “lost in own little world”? ________________________
____________________________________________________________________
18) Does he/she seem tuned out or uninterested in other children? _______________
____________________________________________________________________
Behavioral Concerns:
19) Does he/she seem to have excessive tantrums or emotional outburst with little or
no provocation? ____________________________________________________
20) Does he/she express frustration or over react to small changes or routine? ______
_____________________________________________________________________
21) Does he/she demonstrate a lack of understanding in playing with toys (excessive mouthing, banging, lining up, sorting, focus on one part like spinning, or lack of interest)? __________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
22) Does he/she seem to get stuck on things regularly (wants to stick with one activity over any others, watch the same movie over and over, read the same book over and over, or other)? _________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
23) Does he/she have unual attachments to objects? ___________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
24) Does he/she toe walk or have unusual facial movements/grimacing? __________
_____________________________________________________________________
25) Does he/she make any unusual hand movements or spin for long periods of time?
_____________________________________________________________________
26) Does he/she seem overly sensitive to textures or sounds? ___________________
_____________________________________________________________________
If Age Appropriate:
27) Did he/she babble by 12 months? ______________________________________
28) Did he/she gesture (point, wave bye bye) by 12 months? ____________________
29) Did he/she use single words by 16 months? ______________________________
30) Does he/she seem to have an unusually advanced vocabulary? _______________
31) Does he/she seem to have an extremely good memory? ____________________
32) Does he/she demonstrate two-words spontaneously (not echo) phrases by 24 months? _________________________________________________________
33) Has he/she demonstrated any loss of language or social skills of any kind? _____
_____________________________________________________________________
(3-4 years of age)
Cognitive:
34) Show him/her a doll or stuffed toy, touch one to a box and have the other
pretend to look in the box. Ask him/her “Which one knows what’s in the box?”
Response: ____________________________________________________________
A child with Asperger's will typically score higher in expressive language and lower in receptive language (when the speech pathologist completes the evaluation). In Weschler intelligence tests, a child with Asperger's will typically score higher in verbal comprehension and lower in perceptual reasoning. Specifically, the block design and comprehension subtests will be areas to study as children with Asperger's tend to score higher (significantly) in: "AS subjects scored significantly higher on Verbal IQ, Vocabulary, and Comprehension, but scored significantly lower on Coding than children with high functioning autism or attention deficit disorder."
