Good afternoon.. I was wondering if any parents/carers are in or have been in the position of their child refusing an ASD assessment? Two years ago my son, who was 13 at the time, was being assessed (observed/asked questions) by a clinical psychologist, but it all got to much and hence the assessment was stopped as my son told the psychologist to get out of the house and became very upset and angry, and after the psychologist left my son proceed to take things out on his bedroom subsequently kicking a hole in the wall in his bedroom. So although information was gathered prior to the face to face assessment through questionnaires etc the clinical psychologist was unable to observe fully and unable to provide a diagnosis. The psychologist detailed all he could in his report, but concluded that my son has complex difficulties..
I am sure that my son sits on the spectrum, and this is not something I have decided upon on a whim he appears to present as high functioning, and have PDA traits from the research I have done - speaking to fellow parents who have children with ASD, attending workshops and webinars etc - I must sound like a mad woman, but I hate watching my son struggle and feeling helpless on how best to support him. I want to seek another assessment/second opinion, but with my son refusing to engage with anyone (since his interaction with the psychologist) except for close family, and refusing to access the community, I can't see how i would be able to get an assessment for him? My son tells me he's fine.. but his struggles are obvious, he struggles with sensory difficulties, he has many obsessive behaviours around contamination/germs/dirt bordering on OCD, he's highly anxious which is most apparent when in a social context, he is very controlling especially of his older brother (16) making sure that he complies with rules etc, but then not following him himself, he also has reading, writing and numeracy difficulties.
I appreciate that I could perhaps apply strategies for ASD without a diagnosis but I feel with a diagnosis I could access the right help and support to help my son to reintegrate into the community, gain independence and work towards his dreams that he talks of so passionately. Its not a case of he won't do things, I feel its more a case of him feeling that he can't.
Any ideas on the above, any ideas on how I might help him to engage with an assessment would be much appreciated, as would any experience of not following the route of diagnosis if anyone has experienced this would be equally appreciated.
Thanks for reading
