Confused after MD appt.....suggestions??

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Registered: 02-21-2004
Confused after MD appt.....suggestions??
6
Tue, 12-06-2005 - 10:14pm

Okay, we finally saw the Pediatric Neurologist. (For my son Andrew that just turned 3 and I'm questioning mild ppd/autism) He examined my son and asked me a ton of questions. Then he said he does not think my son has Autism. He said he agrees that he has a severe speech delay and that he needs intensive speech therapy. He also agreed that he needed something to help him sleep because he WILL NOT sleep and is so awful in the mornings because he's sleep deprived. Anyway I was thinking this was all good, although not completely convinced. But then tonight I spoke to my step-mother. She was saying she doesn't get it b/c my son has no problem saying words that I tell him to say. "Can you say Bye-bye", "Say please" or "Say Big Truck" and my son will say whatever and he will also say some one word things on his own like if he sees a frog or truck or if he wants milk, etc. He actually articulates very well. The problem is his COMMUNICATION. He does not carry on a two-way conversation. He will completely ignore me and not respond to even yes or no questions and won't even look at me. My step-mother was asking how will speech therapy help that? Does anyone know if it will? She said he needs Communication therapy and that she spoke with someone who's child had that, but that the person they saw doesn't live here anymore. I am getting so exasperated! I am looking left and right for help for my son, but resources are so limited here. The school tested him and said they would offer speech therapy and that someone would get in touch with me, but no one has yet and that was almost a month ago. I'm going to call them tomorrow. Does anyone else have any suggestions? I'll take anything!!

Melissa
mcwible@comcast.net

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 12-06-2005 - 10:35pm

First,

Speech is kind of short hand for Speech and Language Pathologist. They deal not only with "speech" but with language and all kind of communication. Your right, what you son has is a communication or language delay, but the SLP is he appropriate professional to deal with that. That being said, I would ask the SLP what they were going to do to address these delays. Communication and language delays are harder to address and not always as common as just an articulation or speech delay and not all SLPs are really great at it.

My daughter has a severe language disorder when she was 3 and she was seen frequently by a speech pathologist who worked on sentence structure, vocabulary, and communication. She still goes to a speech pathologist for similar communication problems though she is miles better than she was at 3.

Next, would you consider getting a second oppinion? You didn't mention any other symptoms so I cannot know for sure obviously, but the kind of communication problem you mention is common amung ASD (autism spectrum disorder) kids as well as sleep problems. Plus he was already referred for it by someone. Sometimes Milder or Higher functioning ASD's can be harder to diagnose young and sometimes can be missed. Just as a caution you may want to seek a second oppinion.

Renee

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Registered: 02-21-2004
Wed, 12-07-2005 - 8:24am

Thanks. Yes, I already have an appointment for a second oppinion. It is in January. My son's major issues are his speech/language delay (only 1 word utterances when HE wants to - not within a two-way conversation), poor eye contact (although not non-existent), he will completely ignore people when called by name at times - but not always. One thing that is so embarrassing to me is that when people he doesn't know try to speak to him being nice, such as in the grocery or like when we went to my Mom's the other day and her cleaning lady was still there, he will ignore them at first but if they continue to try to get him his attention he will just scream at them.

I do feel better now about him seeing the speech therapist. She is supposed to call me back today with the appointment. I'm going to discuss these issues with her.

Melissa

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-09-2004
Wed, 12-07-2005 - 11:06am
I am by no means an expert, but what I have found that helps us... is to talk with your child A LOT! My ds has been in ST since 18 mos he is now 3 yrs 4 mos. He has come a LONG way. He talks a lot but is extremely difficult to understand. He doesn't carry on many two way conversations, unless it is of interest to him. Just keep trying and pushing. I ask my son many questions, I confuse him a lot just to get him thinking. We have a lot of fun! Except for days like today... when the only word he knows is "NO" UGHHHH!
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Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 12-07-2005 - 11:10am

Mike used to do that, ignore people then scream at them. Especially if they touched him. He HATED to be touched by strangers, or infact anyone. There were lots of other little things too, but this brings back particular memories.

When my oldest, Cait, was 3 we took her for her first evals. By the time we took her to the first neurologist she had been in special ed preschool for 6 months and had a bunch of testing. By then we pretty much knew that she was PDD, but the doctor refused to dx her with it. He said she was ADD, dyspraxia and language disordered. That she needed speech (same reasons) and special ed preschool but said she wasn't PDD because she smiled at him. Well she was a pretty happy kid and when he walked in she was smiling and looked up to see why the door openned. She didn't smile "at him", lol. But there was no convincing him.

You would have thought I left happy, but I left angry feeling like I had wasted my time. I didn't want a "PDD" diagnosis but I wasn't comfortable that his evaluation was accurate for a large number of reasons. So I asked for a second oppinion and am so glad I did. She didn't dx PDD right away but referred Cait for a neuropysh evaluation and some other tests. After that Cait was dx'ed PDD-NOS and I felt we were on the right track even though it was a huge kick in the stomach.

I am glad I didn't listen to that first guy. He had bits and pieces of why Cait was different but not the whole picture. Cait was rediagnosed Aspergers at 7 and she is now 11 and ASD as the day is long. -Oh and she and her brother are both the neatest kids in the whole wide world. Ok all my 4 kids are, but really, my aspies are some really neat kids.

Renee

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Registered: 08-26-2005
Wed, 12-07-2005 - 12:51pm
Renee is right about getting a second opinion because it is harder to spot higher functioning kids sometimes. Jake at 20 months was seen by a developmental ped who told me there was no way he had PDD but this guy spent an hour with Jake. I left there feeling still uneasy and decided to get a second opinion 4 months later. This time there was a team of therapists and the Doc who spent about 5 hours evaluating him and they saw all the things I had been concerned about.
Teresa
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Registered: 02-21-2004
Wed, 12-07-2005 - 10:07pm

Thank you all for your replies. I spoke to the Speech Therapist today and scheduled Andrew's appointment for next Tuesday. I also spoke with her about my concerns and she made me feel much better. She said "Speech Therapist" is just short for Speech and Language Therapist. She said speech therapy is what my son needs and she will be able to work with him based on what is going on with him. She said the first session I will stay and will talk to her and go over everything and then I guess from there she will meet with him by herself. From what I understand I will still stay there, of course, but will be able to watch their session thru a 1 way window. I'm feeling a little better now! Thanks everyone!

Melissa