Our DS began with AS symptoms at age 3. He is now 9. Most of his issues are social-he has a hard time interacting with peers. He does have some sensory issues, but performs above average academically. We started with our pediatrician who sent us to a special needs pediatrician. The SNPed sent us to a group for a neurological and neuropsychological workup. This is where the AS was confirmed.
On a side note, I was always dismayed by the amount of info on the diagnosis, but lack thereof on treatment. For us treatment took a year to fine tune- and still needs frequent adjustments. We have a pediatric psychiatrist for meds, a psychologist for weekly counseling, our spec needs pediatrician, a very supportive school staff and our own supportive family. One particular advantage is our psychologist- she was able to set up what's called DIAD-DS works with another boy his age and the psychologist once a week- has REALLY HELPED the social things. Finding the right meds was also big-ours is 12.5 mg Zoloft daily. It takes all parts working together to make progress. Sometimes progress is slow but baby steps are better than none.
When we started with our current psychologist, she asked what we hoped would come from all of this. I told her I just wanted him to smile again. Two years later, SMILES daily! Dreams can come true!
. When are insurance companies going to change their ways!
