Dyslexic features and asperger's syndrome?

My son was recently evaluated for dyslexia he is 8. He has carried a PDD.NOS, ADD.NOS, dysgraphia dx for some time. The evaluator an optometrist said that my son has features of dyslexia, dyslexia being a specific reading disability and though my son has features of it with a severely impaired encoding problem, and poor working memory, and eye focusing/teaming problems, that he doesn't fit the dx because his decoding is low, but not that impaired (though psych eval revealed that decoding was very impaired) and because his IQ is below average. The conclusion is that my son needs vision therapy, and was given dx of asperger's, dysgraphia, and a reading disability. Interestingly the optometrist told me that a person can't be dyslexic and asperger's, yet I've been dx both of these by the same person many times over. Does anybody have or know of a person dx with both dyslexia and asperger's syndrome? Can anybody cleary explain why these can't go together? I asked the optometrist and he talked in circles, honestly he was sounding more asperger than myself at that moment. Where do we fit? Just NOS of all dx's?Dyslexic features and asperger's syndrome?
The optometrist is just that an optometrist, he is NOT pediatrician who is trained in childhood disorders both physical and cognitive.



Very few optometrists are specifically trained in dyslexia, if they are the need to be accredited as such. They will know there are many aspects of dyslexia, that can affect a persons ability to read, write, spell etc, called dyscalculia (maths), dysgraphia (writing) and dyslexia (reading).



Its a misnomer that just because someone can read or write they are not dyslexic, many dyslexics will have a strength, in one area, and most will have found some strategies to cope.



Comorbidity of chronic conditions;

Asperger's syndrome, Autism, ADHD/ADD can most certainly be a coexist with dyslexia and other learning disabilities.





My daughter and I are both dyslexic, we were diagnosed at the same time. I initially took her to an optometrist to rule out visual problems, before taking her on to her pediatrician, the optometrist told me my daughter was not dyslexic. I nearly did not follow up with the pediatrician because of the optometrist report.



However the school had also raised concerns, and organized for my daughter to be tested by an Education Psychologist (E.P), she was diagnosed as having ADHD, ODD and Dyslexia, (she is borderline Asperger's). Which was confirmed by her pediatrician. We also saw a Irlens dyslexia clinician, who also confirmed her being dyslexic.



We used behavioural management and diet to help with the ADHD %26amp; ODD, with the dyslexia my daughter found the use of tinted lenses from Irlens helped with reading and writing etc.



Please follow the recommendations of your son's pediatrician, since he/she is more qualified than a optometrist.



Supporting a person with Asperger's syndrome should involve multidisciplinary team of experts, to ensure your son has the best possible outcomes. And vision therapy may help, but i would also tread very carefully.
Yes you CAN have these two conditions together. Sometimes it is hard to see both of these things as one covers the other or hides (the dyslexia is usually hidden). I went to school with someone who didn't even know she was dislexic until half way through university.



I don't understand how your optometrist is making these diagnoses? I've never heard of that before.Dyslexic features and asperger's syndrome?
I have heard just the opposite; that dyslexia and AS often go together. If I find the reference, I will add it here.



I am dyspraxic, which results in a total inability to play the piano, unless both of my hands are doing the same thing at the same time. I cannot tap out a simple 4:4 rhythm with one hand and a 2:4 with the other.



Be back later with a reference for you if I can find it.



Sorry. No luck. I think it is on the O.A.S.I.S. site but could not find it.
howdy again. i had to ask a couple of doctors of mine taht i have known for many years, and they said without a doubt you can be an aspie with dyslexia. one of my doctors made a negative comment on the optometrist trying to tell you taht dyslexia and being an aspie are not possble in combination. my fiance is an aspie, and i am an autie with dyslexia, but the two are NOT mutally exclusive. if you want t o know the exact wording of the negative comment, email me. The moderators here woudl likely yank my answer if i wrote it in the openDyslexic features and asperger's syndrome?
An optometrist isn't a medical doctor (an ophthalmologist is), more then that diagnosing learning disability such as ADHD and dyslexia isn't his purview, please disregard his suggestions. Autism, as many disorders, has a wide swath of overlap with other disorders, as does ADHD.... Ugh, just ignore him, just because he knows some medical stuff doesn't mean he knows it all.
My experience of Autisics is that there is an unusually high level of Dyslexia and for that matter Dyspraxia
I have no idea where your optometrist is getting his info. I've struggled with dyslexia my whole life. And I recently discovered why I've been regarded as a dork, misfit, and/or oddball. I took a test that John Reid suggested and it turns out that I have a pretty significant case of Asperger's syndrome. This has answered many questions as to why it has been so difficult to "fit in" with the crowd and why I tend to pee people off without even trying. While I have not "officially" been dxed with this stuff, it's pretty apparent when you look at the wreckage I've left in my wake.



Oh yeah, I have a pretty bad case of amblyopia as well. Even though images are always present from my eyes, I only "see" one at a time. Because the eyes don't track, the images would be double if my brain "saw" both at once. I have the unique ability to select which eye I look at you with. It has freaked out many a newcomer.



As far as the dyslexia goes... who's to say how severe it must be in order to qualify as dyslexic? It is the nature of we humans to adapt.



Bravo!! MissBehavior. Exactly my point.
Please don't believe what this person is telling you. Go to someone else. My son has Asperger Syndrome/PDD-NOS/ODD. He does have a hard time reading and his writing is awful.Children with AS tend to be very high-functioning. Usually they simply lack the social skills needed to function in society or function on their own. If your son has not been to a specialist you should take him otherwise you are going to end up with everything possible pinned to your son. I had to go through many doctors before finding one who was actually honest with me.I understand where you are coming from. Just call me been there done that.
Your optometrist was saying that because many autistic children are "hyperlexic" in that they are often fascinated by letters and numbers. They are extremely good at decoding language and thus often become very early readers. Despite their precocious reading ability, they may struggle to communicate. They often have trouble with comprehension of what they read and have poor social skills.



Obviously, not all people on the ASD spectrum are hyperlexic. And yes, they can go together. It is very unusual for an optometrist to do this kind of testing.



When you start getting alphabet soup in your diagnosis, it is literally because whoever did the testing has no clue as to what is really going on with your child.



I suggest that you ask the school psych to do a motor and language free test of your son's IQ. The Universal Non-verbal Intelligence Test (UNIT) is one such test. Often learning disabilities and language issues can lower the IQ score.
I know that you want the best for your child but many times various 'therapies' are there to get money from you. Please take some time to research vision therapy for Dyslexia and see what it said.



Poor eye focus can be in ADD, working memory can be ADD, Autism, Anxiety etc.



If you have had school testing - did they do a non-verbal IQ - that would give you an idea of his IQ without the ability to read getting in the way. In schools any learning disability that occurs in a student with ADD, Autism, EBD etc - is considered to be a part of that disability. In that case it is more important that your child is getting his educational needs met - rather than spending time and money changing a couple letters on the front of an IEP.