Do you think that autism can be mistaken for mental impairment when it comes to diagnosis? Or vice versa?

My daughter has been diagnosed with autism by a childrens hospital autism clinic. She's had this diagnosis for 4 years. the school doesn't consider her autistic and her psychiatrist thinks she mentally impaired. I am just wondering who is right or should I just go with my gut and believe it's autism. The reason they say she is not autistic is because she is friendly and sociable, but she only has mild to moderate autism. I just want to know what your thoughts/opinions are on this subject.

She can't speak clearly, but it's getting better. She has severe PICA. SHe is very repetitive. She has OCD with shopping carts and tearing paper and our dogs and she repeats alot of words. She had ADHD. Someitmes she acts like she can't hear you although you know she can and she's just ignoring you. She still needs assistance with bathing and dressing and brushing her teeth. There are alot of things, but htose are the ones that stand out to me most.

I think it is possible for people to be misdiagnosed with those two disabilities. Also, I think it is quite common for people to have both together, or with one or more other issues. I have no idea how to diagnose either thing but saying someone is too sociable and friendly is not a good criteria for diagnosis of anything. Maybe there are other reasons you didn't post or the person didn't explain, but it doesn't sound right to me.

It sounds to me like she should be retested completely if possible, by people who don't have a preset idea of what her diagnosis would be. If they won't do it, find a disability advocacy group in your area and get some help to get it done.

Go to a genetic counselor. Test for Fragile X, Rett and Angelman. Many doctors still use chromosome analysis to test for FX and it's not reliable, they should use Southern Blot DNA test with PCR analysis. Report It

What are some of her other symptoms? I used to work with autistic children, and yes, some of them are sociable. There is a specific set criteria for diagnosing autism. Is she mainstreamed into a public school? What experience does the counselor and psychiatrist have? Can't really answer your question without more information!

i recently read that autism can get worse if there is too much yeast present in the body. a way of reducing the amount of yeast in the body is by eliminating some foods from your diet.