Is it possible to misdiagnosis autism

Teachers are trained to look for signs of developmental delays and can be an excellent partner in helping you to relay possibly delays to the pediatrician. These specialists may include educational psychologists, geneticists, developmental pediatricians, neurologists, psychiatrists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, or social workers. Autism symptoms can mimic or overlaps with several other conditions making it difficult for them to distinguish from one another.

In addition to the DSM-5, doctors will likely test your child for a variety of other conditions including fragile X syndrome, sensory processing disorder, anxiety disorders, hearing or vision impairments, and genetic diseases. This is called differential diagnosis distinguishing a condition from others that present similarly. The Autism Society provides this list of conditions similar to autism that require careful consideration before your child is diagnosed:. While receiving an accurate autism diagnosis is important, many children receive multiple diagnoses.

Children with autism often also have anxiety disorders , depression , sensory processing disorder , allergies and immune system deficiencies or dysregulation, chronic constipation or diarrhea, low IQ, low muscle tone, high or low pain thresholds , PICA or other eating disorders, seizures, sleep problems, hearing or visual impairments , or savant syndrome.

You have likely heard that early intervention is important, but equally so is an appropriate intervention. One high-functioning child with social anxiety may need psychotherapy while another high-functioning child who struggles with motor skills may need occupational therapy.

This comprehensive guide to autism treatments and therapies further outlines the variety of options available and would be an excellent starting point for identifying what might work best for your child. A creative child may benefit more from art therapy while an active child may receive more benefit from hippotherapy. Early Signs of Autism. Related Conditions. We hope you enjoyed this article. In order to support us to create more helpful information like this, please consider purchasing a subscription to Autism Parenting Magazine.

Privacy Policy. Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and return to this page. Search Submit search Quick Search. Comments Close comments menu. Video link. Close X. Click to scroll back to top of the page Back to top. Posted August 22, am. Updated August 23, pm. Autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning that there are different ranges of severity.

Children with mild symptoms who are diagnosed early can sometimes learn how to manage symptoms so effectively that it seems like they no longer have the disorder at all. In these children, their autism symptoms are likely not gone completely. Rather, the child has learned how to compensate for, or mask, the symptoms of the disorder. In some cases where it seems as if the autism has disappeared, other disorders can manifest in its place. Most often, the original condition was misdiagnosed in the first place.

As a spectrum disorder, there are varying degrees of autism and levels of disability. Some children with milder symptoms can learn how to manage the disorder more effectively than others. Autism impacts communication, behavior, emotion, and social skills. The earlier it is diagnosed, the more effectively a child can learn how to improve these skills through early intervention techniques.

These children were often diagnosed young. In follow-ups, they show no characteristics of the disorder later in life. This is called an optimal outcome, or OO.

Other studies show that children in the OO group who were diagnosed with autism before 5 years old, and tested through the standard autism diagnostic test and personality tests, no longer show social characteristics of autism. The study provides a road map, of sorts, for following the path of young children diagnosed with ASD, Dr. Lord adds. For example, we noted that children who did best were the kids that did not seem to be hyperactive — so this may be an area that can be targeted.

We have spent much time with them, and now we really want to know how they are doing out on their own, whether they were in college or not," she says. Study co-authors include Dr. Deborah K. Liang from the University of Denver.