When were your other children dx'd?
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When were your other children dx'd?
| Tue, 06-14-2005 - 2:25pm |
Just curious when you, or others, realized your other children were on the sprectrum.
| Tue, 06-14-2005 - 2:25pm |
Just curious when you, or others, realized your other children were on the sprectrum.
To some extent many of the things my oldest does I should see in my youngest child, not only are they siblings and thus learn from each other, but they are also fairly common toddler behaviors. I doubt I will ever be past the point of worrying about when the next shoe will drop with either child, but my husband does do a good job of putting things back into reality... I can't just can't ignore things that are okay and see only the stuff I am worried about.
It is well within the milestones to not have any words at 12 months of age. While you can be worried about it, don't forget about the other stuff you mentioned (interaction, pointing etc..) because it means a lot as well and shouldn't be easily dismissed either.
Hi Candice,
You and I have a lot in common. I have a DD who is NT (almost 7 years old) and then a DS (almost 4) who has PDD-NOS and then a baby (girl) who is 16-months. We too watch her like a hawk. But she seems to be -- in our opinions and those of all DS's therapists -- doing great: talking, pointing, playing interactive games, imitating. I have to say that my DS was doing the same at this age too -- he stalled out at around his 2nd bday, so I won't breathe easy until DD is close to three.
Sounds like your baby is doing really well. I just read that the odds of having another child with an ASD are only 5-10% (not that that isn't scary enough). But here's a checklist just to calm you down:
http://www.cairn-site.com/news/aac2.html
Cathy
Well, I can speak to this since I have 3 diagnosed on the spectrum and 4 kids (#3 is NT) so I have been through this a few times.
Cait (oldest) was diagnosed at age 4 when Mike was 2. Prior to that at 3 she was labelled as developmentally delayed and ADD. We knew "something" was up with Mike when he was about 18-24 months. Honestly before that he was the perfect baby. Other than being tactile defensive from birth, he was mellow, happy, slept great. He made a drastic change at about 18 months. He was not developmentally delayed and was very affectionate so we assumed he was not autistic like his sister. Bad assumption to make in that case.
By the time he was 2 there was something obviously wrong but because he wasn't delayed we didn't bother with early intervention at the time. We insisted he was just spirited and sensitive.He wasn't like Cait so he couldn't be ASD. Specialists questioned ASD from the time he was 3, but we insisted he was too social and he wasn't delayed, so at 3 he was dx'ed sensory integration disorder, possible auditory processing, then ADHD, anxiety, Probable OCD, etc. He was dx'ed with Asperger's at 7 and is my most autistic child.
My 3rd child I watched like a hawk. She did flap and had food aversions. I thought for sure she would be autistic and I watched and she isn't. The girl doesn't have an autistic bone in her body despite being my only flapper. She does have mild learning differences and sensory issues.
My 4th, again we knew something was up, but he is different. He has been going through evals since he was 2. Everyone said there was something up but couldn't put thier finger on it. He is a toughie in that regard. He has been diagnosed ADHD and provisional PDD-NOS because honestly it is the closest the psychologist could get for him. We just don't know yet. But I am not fighting the autism label for him this time. We goofed badly with Mike by being in denial and I will never get those early intervention years back.
If you have any question in your mind about it what so ever then I would seek an early evaluation. Even if it is just mild differences, having the info on him, his learning style, etc will help you in the long run. Even without a firm diagnosis we were able to make changes to our parenting and support Dave to help him as best as possible.
Ya know, my kids are older and this whole thought of autism spectrum and even Asperger's is very new relatively speaking. Fortunately there is a whole lot more known now then even 8 years ago when we first started on this path. If Mike were going through evals now and I was more versed in the whole spectrum, I don't doubt that he would have gotten help sooner and done better.
Renee
Once again, thank you all for your replies.
Candice, mom to three amazing kids, Maddy, Sam and Owen
Dear Candice,
(Cute kids!!!) I know my advice is always to go for the evaluation sooner than later. I think wait and see is almost never a good idea, as knowing sooner and for sure that there is NOTHING to worry about does no damage ---- and waiting if there is an underlying possible problem means wasted time and possibly a worse prognosis in the long run. Especially when services are hard to come by and make a bigger difference the sooner you start!
Screaming uncontrollably was ome of our first signs, and our child was always social and had words and eye contact. Tactile and oral over-sensitivity became more and more apparent between 2 and 3 (but was NOT evident before then at all), and by the time he was almost 3 his symptoms were much stronger. (More echolalia and scripts, chewing on shirts constantly, losing it in public, anxiety attacks) We switched pediatricians (because of insurance) between 2 and 3, Malcolm had VERY difficult checkups, but it took us until he was almost 3 until the new ped said "Something is not right, let's evaluate". And she is a very savvy doctor, but with our son it was hard to tell. He is very mild spectrum, but the therapies and interventions we have loaded him up with are producing spectacular effects and he is doing so well now.
Speech delay and sensory issues can indeed be autistic spectrum symptoms, so what do you have to lose by going for the eval immediately? You do need evaluators who understand about the range of the symptoms of spectrum, one with a great deal of experience. The high-functioning kids can easily fall through the cracks when younger and social skills are not as needed, but when they are older they flounder more without the help.
I can also understand your fear that you might be overreacting because of your older child, but better safe than sorry, yes? You don't want to be sorry later.
Good luck to you, you sound like an awesome mom.
yours,
Sara
ilovemalcolm
My second child was actually diagnosed first at age 3 with Selective Mutism. The school thought she might have AS. My son was diagnosed one yr later @ 7yrs old. But when dd is having a bad day I sometimes question if she isn't AS.
Samantha