I'm starting to think he was misdiagnosed.

[Lisa]

I have been looking in to Autism/Aspergers & sensory processing and I believe my eldest DS perhaps has this and has been wrongly diagnosed as ADHD his whole life

My son has NEVER been able to concentrate properly. On medication for ADHD (dexamphetamine) he made some improvements but did still complain that he found it difficult when all the kids were talking around him and he was trying to do his work. He also has extraordinarily sensitive hearing - he could hear my mobile phone when it was on silent, just by the vibration, when in the car with music playing. He can also head the high frequency dog alarm things. Because of his sensitive hearing, his problems were obviously just put down as ADHD by the pediatrician(s). I remember a friend who's son has Aspergers telling me to take DS1 to her sons pediatrician as DS1 was doing similar or the same things as her DS. I never got around to doing it as at the time I was a working & studying single mum and the pediatrician was over 500kms away.

Considering my DS is 17 next week, where would we go to in order to get a diagnosis at his age? Is it too late for him? What can we do and where can we turn to from here?

[Danielle_NZ]

Sorry I have no advice but it's a shame when they throw the title ADHD at anything and everything... fingers crossed you'll be able to get another chance to find out what's been holding him back

Good Luck

[~clover~]

Try an OT, then maybe a paed.
Good luck x

[LionsandBears]

I dont think it's ever too late to get a diagnosis. I was dx with ADD at 35. I'm pretty sure I have sensory processing issues as well, but I dont know if I need a dx or just try to find ways to deal with it. Most of my stuff is also hearing related, though bright lights, TV etc also affect me.

GL

[Lisa]

The funny thing with my son is that he has sensitive hearing (as we're always called it) but he constantly has his Ipod headphones in his ears. I am not sure what age the paeds see kids to here. I heard *some* don't see them past the age of 16. That's why I was wondering who we would go to for a diagnosis. Perhaps I might start by trying to see if there is a paed that will see him at his age. Surely there would be one around here somewhere.

Thanks for all your advice everyone

[LionsandBears]

I used to be permanently plugged into my walkman (remember those?) as a teenager. I think it was a way of controlling the outside noise. Also, I can function better with music than with discordant sounds like TV, conversations, traffic etc.

btw - my diagnosis was through a psychiatrist.