[Tracie-Jane]

Help!!!! Does anyone here know anything about attatchment disorder??
We adopted our children when R was 18 months old and J came to live with us 12 months later at age 8 months.

R settled in really well. J however was always ill. Throwing up and really bad nappies. Diagnosed as Lactose intollerant at 12 months. real prob's with language development and referred to speech therapy at 2yrs 7 months.
J has real problems with social communication. School started and J did not settle in well. Lots of learning difficulties. He is now age 8 and 8 months and is functioning 3 yrs behind his chronological age.
Having real problems with his behaviour and a dx of ADHD was made 2 years ago. J has many autistic traits and with his language disorder we thought he may be experiencing semantic-pragmatic disorder. Have undergone many assessments privately because ther is no multi-agency team available to assess Autistic Spectrum Disorder in our area. All the independant reports point to SPD or Aspergers Syndrome.
New school year and new Ed. Psych. She has not seen J and just from reading his file at the EP dept she phoned us last week to say that she feels that J is presenting with attatchment disorder!!
We have never heard of this before and I can find very little info on it.
J has no eye contact, very many sensory issues and is classic Aspergers - could she be right?
We are in the process of preparing legal evidence against J's LEA because they have failed to recognise many of his difficulties within his statement. Thought the EP was trying to put us off preparing to go to court by throwing a new label in the pot!!!

Can anyone please help us? We are really confused by this all.

Tracie -Jane.

[mumoffour]

Tracey Jane,
The Ed Psych can in no way make a diagnosis of Atthachment disorder from reading a file. She can make a wild guess but wothout actually seeing and working with J there is no way she should have made that thought a statement.

Unfortunately attachment disorder seems to be the buzz word for some LEA's when they discover a child is adopted, but I would think it highly unlikely with a child placed at 8 months. I hope I don't get shot for that statement!

Aspergers, ASD and ADHD all have similarities amongst parts of the presenting isues and part of those conditions will cause a problem with some areas of attachment. But! My daughter has some Autistic tendancies that does not mean she has Autism!

Have you been in touch with Adoption UK? They are currently doing a project on parenting children with attachment disorder, Or tha tis apart of the ir project called a piece of Cake. Now I know that apart form that they have a wealth of information and people who have experienced similar issues who would be willing for you to contact them in person, by phone or letter. Maybe in this day and age by email too:-)

If you want further information about Adoption UK ask and I will pass it on. The resource bank is an excelent source of help as it is real people with real experience.
If you are in touch with Adoption UK you will know there are coordinators who would be prepared to talk to you too, there will be someone in your area. I am from the Isle of Wight and if you want to talk I am the telephone contact here. I have no experience of attachment disorders but loads of experience with uncooperative LEA's!
Hugs

[Tracie-Jane]

Thanks so much for replying to my post. We have contacted our adoption social worker. Didn't think we would be seeing him again!!! Luckily we have a really good relationship with him and he is really eager to jump on our defence team. Was really worried when I dug out some info about AD because so many of the characteristics match that of Aspergers and SPD.
We think that the LEA are trying to emotionally blackmail us into withdrawing our case against them because we have so much evidence as to them neglecting our child emotional and educational needs. The headmaster told our son that he was going to remove his LSA because J was being stupid in a class!!!!J has some very specific sensory problems and is hypersensitive to smells. His teacher was wearing a very strong perfume and it was sending J crazy!!!!
J hates school so much. He is still awake now worrying about his new school shoes!!! The second pair since Sept!!! The last pair got cut with scissors because someone in his class told him that his shoes were naff!!!!
We have been told that the IOW is probably the best place in the UK to live if you have a child with ASD because the services are so good for children there. Is this correct? We have thought about moving to a new area where J's needs would be met better than they are here in Devon!!!
I will contact Adoption Uk for advice. We used PPIAS many years ago for some help with contact issues. Thanks again.

[mumoffour]

Teejat,
Another place you may find some support fighting the UK LEa system is www.specialkidsintheuk.org We have a list serve there and it is very active and supportive. There is at least on Mum who has taken her LEA to tribunal and won!
Loads of experience to draw on. There is one Mum who knows the system inside out and will help you to word things if that is a problem.

Take care thinking of you

[Tracie-Jane]

Thanks for that. Have just recieved a phone call from LEA officer to say J's paperwork is going back to panel tomorrow for placement at the special school. They recieved a letter from our solicitor last week!
Also received a report today from SALT which states that J has Semantic-Pragmatic Disorder!!! Do not feel so worried now about the EP from hell making her assumptions about our child.
Why do all these so called professionals think they know everything??????

Going to get on my soapbox now- sorry!!!!

Tracie