Adoption/Attachment/ASD

[Guest guest]

Dr JM,

I would love to get your perspective as a Psychiatrist regarding how to better

determine what an accurate dx is for a child. Our ASD treatments were delayed

for years due to being directed to the mental health field time and time again.

Is this common, and is there any way to minimize mis dxs?

Thank you,

Dawn Rossi

Hi,

I am forwarding this post that I sent to a list for adoptive families who are

facing attachment issues with their children.

Please feel free to forward to other adoptive parents or group lists.

Best regards,

Dawn Rossi

*****************************

Hi,

Here is the information regarding the new Yahoogroups list. You can e-mail me

directly at mdjjrossi@... or go to

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/attachasd/ and put in a request to be added

on.

The list will be for adoptive parents who are interested in learning more about

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and parents who are trying to determine whether

their child's issues are stemming from attachment problems, from bio-medical/ASD

problems or both.

Parents can ask questions regarding ASD, ASD resources, how to get started, etc.

All new members must be approved by the moderator as the list will only be open

to adoptive parents who are actively seeking assistance (through ASD or

attachment interventions) for their child.

Best regards,

Dawn Rossi

P.S. to those not on the Attach-China list: I have started this new list

because we had a very difficult time finding the right diagnosis for our

daughter. We believed for many years that Reactive Attachment Disorder and PTSD

were her key issues. We recently came to realize, after having extensive

(blood, stool, urine and hair) labwork completed, that an Autism Spectrum

Disorder dx is more appropriate in her case. I believe that RAD does exist and

that for many adopted children it is a true and serious problem. We have

learned, though, that it can be difficult to get an accurate diagnosis for an

internationally adopted child because so many symptoms lists overlap. That can

be especially true for children like my daughter who do not " present " as being

classically autistic. This new list is intended to let parents talk between

themselves, gather resources to investigate further should they feel the need

and ultimately decide which issues they feel are the most important for their

own child.