Re: OCD and Aspergers--QUESTION

September 7, 2009

That's a tough question to answer as I have been to different kinds of

professionals who should be able to diagnose it and there's still some gray

areas. It's probably best to have whomever is doing the eval

(neurodevelopmental pediatrician, pedi neurologist, neuropsychologist) confer

with the psychiatrist.

As far as pragmatic language skills go - yes they are often associated with

autism. Language evals are somewhat qualitative and some need to be repeated as

the more conversation you have, the more you can pick up. Social language and

nonverbal language needs to be evaluated too. Tonality, the fluency of speech,

the reciprocal and receptive abilities, and amount of speech are also important.

Most often, speech therapists do a screening for speech problems and can miss

the sometimes or at least initial subtleties and differences in those with AS.

I think it's a good idea too to rule out auditory processing problems whenever

you have a language concern.

Best,

Bonnie

>

> I have just read all of your posts about OCD and Aspergers, and was hoping

someone could tell me if a speech evaluation could diagnose this.

> My daughter's speech sounds perfectly normal but at her last eval(with a

regular neuropsychologist)she scored in the 9th percentile for pragmatic

language skills.( Isn't that a red flag right there alone?)She scored in the

superior level on all the other testing. She is extremely stubborn as you have

all described( to the point of sometimes being labeled as having ODD)

> She was diagosed with PDD-NOS when she was hospitalized at age 9. She is now

12. Her current eval said that although she has many obsessions and compulsions,

he did not see enough of it to label her as having OCD, although every doctor

she has seen since age 5 has said she has OCD.

> Does anyone know exactly what type of evaluation she should have to diagnose

the Aspergers. She is an extremely complex kid. I have been looking for answers

for years, and am having a very hard time with her school.

> Any input would be helpful

> thanks

> Judy

>

Recommended Posts