[senco-forum] ASD diagnostic checklist URL

Re: http://www.autism-pdd.net/checklist.html

My reaction to the checklist...

*Sustained  odd play.- Depends what you define as odd- what is normal play 
when each child  is different?

*Uneven  gross/ fine motor skills. - sounds to me like dyspraxia

*Not responsive to verbal cues acts as  deaf. - this applies to children with 
APD (and undiagnosed hearing  difficulties). This is apart from any extra 
noise  sensitivity issues-hyperacusis-and added stress that this puts on them  
which also affects processing adversely and makes them block out  all sound.

*Little or no eye contact. this also applies to children who are  nervous, 
also those with APD than cannot process sound when using visual  modality (APD 
and sensory integration issues) also those that are visual-spatial  learners 
who need to look to a blank area e.g. ceiling in order to formulate  thoughts or 
retrieve words visually....many of these children have  APD

*Insistence on sameness; resist changes in routine -  also found in children 
with APD. Children with  APD NEED routine to help them function in a world 
that is often confusing  and may even be scary. It is one of their coping 
strategies, keeping as much as  possible the same so they can deal with what really 
needs their attention. My  own son used to line up all the chewing gum in the 
boxes by thre till in  our local supermarket while I paid, every time we went 
there until we left  the area...the staff there just accepted that he liked to 
do that and thanked  him for helping them tidy up. The shop was noisy with 
music playing and this  activity distracted him.He also had routines of the order 
things were done in  when he was younger, to make sense of what was going in; 
he grew out  of this but it came back when very distressed during  the period 
he suffered bullying at school. Routines are familiar and safe. 

*Noticeable  physical over activity or extreme under activity- over active 
could be ADHD or  bright kids with lots of energy needing constant stimulation; 
under-active might  be children with APD (or any SEN) who are often exhausted 
by the end of the  day and during it, especially if denied adequate breaks, 
kept in to finish work  at break and lunchtime, too much homework etc.

*Tantrums; displays extreme distress for no apparent  reason.-undiagnosed SEN 
of any kind can prompt this, especially in a child who  has problems 
communicating and APD can affect speech in many children. This can  also happen if 
problems build up and a child is unable to communicate  them.

*Abnormal ways of relating to people, objects and events.  (Inappropriate 
attachment to objects; don't seek cuddling ) children with  communication 
difficulties as caused by APD can find it hard to relate to the  world if they 
cannot process speech they will not act appropriately because they  don't always 
understand what appropriate is. They often withdraw into their own  head 
because they cannot communicate outside it...same applies to creating  boundaries 
which people cannot cross, don't like being touched if they cannot  hear 
someone coming due to blocking/not processing sound/ not knowing how close  the 
sound is( another APD based difficultly, sound localisation) so touching a  child 
in this situation may well scare them.

*Speech and language absence or delays- this can be caused by APD

Inappropriate laughing and giggling-delayed processing due to APD, or by  
replaying events in one's head is an APD coping strategy.

Echolalia (repeating words or phrases in place of normal language)-  how 
children with APD often learn speech

Spins objects.- what children don't?

The severity of the APD will determine which or how badly these  factors 
manifest themselves.

To see just how severe, see the book "Like Sound Through Water" by  Karen 
Foli, a child who 
was diagnosed initially with autism as he was totally  uncommunicative but 
had, in fact, very severe APD.

My son is not autistic and very talkative, if he had not been  talkative or 
even non-verbal and had I not known about APD I  suspect people would have 
taken a very different view of the way he reacted  to things and maybe even given 
him an autistic or Aspergers diagnosis as he  fitds most of these criteria. 

Incidentally, dolfrog's son was initially diagnosed as a young child  as 
autistic too. He isn't, he has APD.

Best wishes,
Aly

Chair Auditory Processing Disorder in  the UK/APDUK
www.lacewingmultimedia.com/APD.htm 
www.apduk.org