Expert: James Michael Roan - 6/9/2008

Question
QUESTION: My 7 year old has been screend at school for Asperger's, and they determined that there is a very high possibility that he has the syndrome, but he does not need services because his academics are not being affected.  They said he needed to be tested and referred us to the local center for more testing and diagnosis.  I took all the information the school provided for their psychologist to evaluate.  I received a phone call two weeks later indicating that they would not do any testing since it is not impacting his academic performance.  Where can I go to get an actual diagnostic?  The school said they could not formally diagnose him, the referral place won't test him, where do I go from here?

ANSWER: Hi Martha;

What country or state are you in? What "center" are you referring to? In the U.S., children are eligible for special education if it impacts academics and/or social/emotional development. What is your need for testing? Is it for special services at school or for understanding your child's needs?

Kind regards,
James

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: We live in Bakersfield, CA and the school had referred us for testing to the Kern Regional Center.  It is not impacting his academics much yet (he has difficulty with reading and writting, but not to the point of failing (he's in first grade barely), but it is definetely impacting his social life.  He has a hard time making friends and feels isolated, he cries and says that he has no friends.  Although the school's evaluation indicated that there was a very high possibility that he has Aspergers, since he didn't end up failing any classes they told me he would not qualify for special ed services, but that he needed further testing to get an actual diagnose and referred us to the Kern Regional Center.  I submitted all the testing the school had done and the letter I received from Kern Regional said that since he was not severely handicapped (physically or mentally) and he had not been actually diagnosed with autism, that he didn't qualify for their services.  I called them and told them I was not asking for their services, but as a parent I needed to know if my son had Aspergers or not, and we had been referred to them by the school because according to the school and my peditrician, they are the agency that would evaluate children suspected of Autism.  They told me to call my peditritian back and see if he would refer me somewhere else.  I called the peditricians office and they said they have always referred cases like mine to Kern Regional, so they don't know where to send me.  what do I do?  all I want right now is to know if indeed he has Aspergers or no.  Where do I go?

Answer
Hi Martha Elias;

What a disgusting travesty of professional conduct. The school psychologist may not be specifically trained and thus not competent to diagnose Asperger's syndrome. Asperger's syndrome is considered by all to be under the autism spectrum umbrella as a high functioning form of autism.

You will want to find a psychologist who specializes in this area and who is not just "knowledgeable." It is essential that who ever does it that they observe your son interacting with peers during unstructured times. A Children's Hospital and most universities have an autism center but they are pricey and usually have 6-9 month waiting lists.

Kind regards,
James