If you had been following me on social media for a while, you will know that on 12th February 2021 our eldest was given his formal diagnosis of ASD. This is also known as Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder. Along the process, I had many questions of how the process, how we got him referred, signs etc etc. So I thought I would write a blog post with the most asked questions and our view/experience on the process.
How did you know that he could be autistic?
For me, this was quite difficult as I will be honest, I was in denial at first. I personally this was because he was my first born and I didn’t want to think that there was anything wrong as such. Also, everyone who has autism, they present differently to each other. Having said that, the first sign we noticed was when he was about 18 months old and he threw silence tantrums. Yep, thats right! He used to just lay on the floor, face down when he didn’t get his own way or didn’t want to do anything that we wanted to do. The other things we noticed over time was:
- dislike of loud noises
- the need for routine
- dislike of hair being cut/washed
- the need to know anything
- the lack of speech before 5 years of age<
- lining of things in particular order
How long is the process?
For us, from start to finish, it was just over 2 years. In our area, this is the average time. In other places, it could be shorter or longer.
How did you get him referred?
We had a meeting with his school with SENCO and one of his teacher and we was advised to contact the GP to have him referred him. From my understanding, your child’s school, health visitor or GP can refer your child in to be tested.
What does the process entail?
I believe the whole process is different in each area, but in our area we had the referral go in, within 6 months, they are assessed by a specialist nurse normally within their own home environment. Unfortunately for this, it was a year before he was assessed. Six months later, we had an appointment with the consultant to discuss family history, his behaviours and our concerns. Four to six months afterwards, we was invited for a BOSA assessment and was told there and then that he has ASD.
What is BOSA?
From my understanding, BOSA is where the consultant chats to your child and while chatting to your child, can observe their behaviours. This is how our BOSA assessment went and to be honest, I actually liked the assessment this way as it was too distressing for him and the consultant was able to observe more of him and not have too many distractions as such.
I hope this was helpful to anyone who is currently going through the process of having their child testing for ASD. I’m not a trained professional, but if anyone has any question or needs advice, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or email via the contact page.
Life at No. 20 