Can autism be mis-diagnosed?

Question

My 2 1/2 year old son was diagnosed with autism in December of last year. Recently, I received the evaluation report from the autism clinic, and I have to say that I don't agree with many of the intepretations and conclusions.

Without going into detail about son's medical history, I'll just say that the only other medical problems are chronic ear infections and some hearing problems.

I'm not sure about the autism diagnosis, and I'm wondering if I should seek a second opinion. Has anyone else ever experienced or heard of autism being mis-diagnosed.

Note: the things that concern me about this diagnosis is that my son has always had good eye contact, smiles, laughs, plays with other kids, etc.

Answer 1

Anytime that you get a diagnosis from a doctor (other than sinus infection, common cold, etc) you should always get a second opinion!

Yes, autism is often mis-diagnosed, especially at such a young age. Even later in childhood it is still mis-diagnosed. One of the most common problems that is diagnosed incorrectly as autism is heavy metal poisioning.

My suggestions to you are to seek an appointment with a pediatric neurologist. A neurologist can order testing for the blood, urine and hair tests to determine if your son has blood levels that suggest metal poisioning. Most doctors can order these tests, but a neurologist can also order MRI's, CT scans, PET scans and such to rule out things like aneurisms, mini-strokes, seizures, epilepsy, nerve-related hearing impairment, nerve-related learning disorders. Many of these things can be misdiagnosed as autism.

(A note about the metal testing; make sure that the doctor performs a hair test as well as any other samples for the metals. The hair is much more likely to give accurate results for these metals. Please see that he is tested for (at VERY least) Mercury, cadmium, lead, arsenic, copper, magnesium, aluminum, and thallium. These truly can cause symptoms exactly like autism!)

As you are waiting for some of the tests to be performed and results to come back and be analysed, you should then obtain an appointment with a pediatric endocrinologist Especially inquire about how your child metabolizes milk sugars.

Then, especially if the neurologist believes it to be prudent, seek a pediatric audiologist. Hearing problems have many different causes and treatments. Also, if he can't hear you (be it through voice or signing) he cannot learn like other children, if he can't learn he will appear to have social problems, learning problems, etc. which can be percieved to be autism.

Then seek an appointment with a child psychiatrist, there are many tests that can be performed, even on such a small child many things can be found.

Even if you find out that your child does have autism, there are many things you can do that will vastly improve your child's quality of life and yours.

Also, please email me, as I would be happy to forward you some literature I found a few years ago by a woman who claims that she and her bio-chemist husband have cured their little boy of autism with a special diet - mostly related to how her son was metabolizing milk sugars. This may be especially important if your son seems to crave milk all the time. I also have several articles about how different nutritional supplements can help your little one, especially if it seems that he may be suffering from metal toxicity.

Whatever the case, please, at least get a second opinion. You and your little one will be in my thoughts. Best of luck to you both!

Answer 2

You should absolutely get a second opinion! You very well could have gotten a wrong diagnosis. But if the next doctor diagnosis Autism, be sure to ask for an explanation for why he feels that way. But also, keep in mind that Autism has a very broad scale. My son has Asperger's Syndrome, which is high functioning autism. He has ALWAYS made eye contact with family members, and interracts perfectly fine with family and close friends. At home, he seems pretty normal. But, he's a totally different child at school. He is incredibly overwhelmed by social situations. He blinks, hides his face, and does everything he can to avoid interaction.
Go for the second opinion...then you can better decide where to go from there.

oh...and by the way, we didn't get a diagnosis of Autism until the psychologist met with him SEVERAL times over a period of about 6 weeks. And although we didn't doubt her diagnosis, we still got a second opinion.

Answer 3

To me it sounds as if you have had a supportive upbringing and all the help you needed so it is possible that such a diagnosis is no longer relavent to you. Although it is accepted as being a neurological disorder, diagnosing ASD depends on a certain set of behavioural criteria. Speaking from experience, I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome at the age of 7, but my consultant psychiatrist recently told me that I have dysthymia and GAD instead without being clear as to whether my child psychiatrist misdiagnosed me or not. I think this is possible as the study of ASD was in its infancy in the early 1990's when it happened. The same might be true of you as children are extremely complex and child psychiatrists can make mistakes just like anybody else.

Answer 4

Mis-diagnosed, no. However if you are unsure...do have a second evaluation.

When we suspected something was up with our soon to be school age child, we consulted our family doctor. She suggested we have him evaluated in Louisville. We were on a waiting list.
During that time we had him evaluated by the school system (against the warnings of a child psychologist who said "they don't get the right results"). Before the results of the school test came back, the University of Louisvilles program called. He was diagnosed as autistic. However the school system came back with their results that he was just fine.

So ...yes get a second opinion.

Answer 5

Will he look you in the eye? I think that is the most important thing when making a diagnosis.
Will he have anything to do with other children?
I think that autism is usually underdiagnosed instead of overdiagnosed.

"Does not babble, point, or make meaningful gestures by 1 year of age
Does not speak one word by 16 months
Does not combine two words by 2 years
Does not respond to name
Loses language or social skills
Poor eye contact
Doesn't seem to know how to play with toys
Excessively lines up toys or other objects
Is attached to one particular toy or object
Doesn't smile
At times seems to be hearing impaired "
http://autism.about.com/od/earlysignsofautism/a/redflags.htm

Answer 6

Make sure that the clinic that did the evaluation is able to diagnosed your son. Not all psychologist are licensed to diagnose autism.

Answer 7

Any disease or disorder can be misdiagnosed. If you disagree with the diagnosis then yes by all means get a second opinion. It's better to be safe than sorry.