How was your child at dx and how old now

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Registered: 04-07-2003
How was your child at dx and how old now
10
Fri, 02-17-2006 - 12:47pm

Just curious how many kids out there are close to my son 28 months? He was dx with autsim at 23 months....

Also, what kind of therapies are you doing?

Sorry for all the questions but I feel that knowing what others do and what seems to work I could give a try if something we are doing doesn't work!

Thanks!

Keri
Autumn 10/29/00
Jordan and Jacob (asd) 10/18/03

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Registered: 04-07-2003
Fri, 02-17-2006 - 12:52pm
Sorry! I meant to ask how "old" was your child at dx...one of those days :)
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Registered: 02-24-2004
Fri, 02-17-2006 - 1:14pm

Keri,

Nathan is 7 now. He was evaluated by the school district at 4, and we got an actual dx from the neuro dr when he was 5. The school couldn't say for sure if he was on the spectrum or not. I had already taught him alot of skills at home.

We didn't really do any outside therapy. I worked with him at home, doing things similiar to ABA. And I got him talking, and continued working on his speech (still do). I got him pretty far on my own.

Since preschool, he has been receiving speech therapy at school. He attends ESY every summer. And this year, his school started a social skills class that he attends once a week.

But that's all we do. My goal is to teach Nathan the skills he needs to survive our crazy world! People skills, interaction, schoolwork, independence, speech, being able to take care of himself....things he needs to know on a day to day basis.

This seems to be working well for Nathan.

michelle

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Registered: 01-19-2005
Fri, 02-17-2006 - 1:17pm

Hi Keri,

Eric will be 4 in April. He was diagnosed at about 21 mos., although I think we started the process when he was 18 mos. First we had his hearing tested, then his speech, then a full developmental workup by a pediatric neurologist which gave us the "official" diagnosis of PDD-NOS. But, the audiologist who tested his hearing (which was fine) said right off the bat that "if he were my child I'd have him tested for autism." ST said the same thing, "I'm not qualified to diagnose autism, but there are many red flags here and I think you should do further testing." So by the time we got a diagnosis it was not a surprise.

Contrast this to our pediatrician: "Boys talk later, there's a wide range of normal at this age. I'd wait until he is 3 to test him, but if you are really worried, start with a hearing test now." I still get so frustrated that almost everyone I know with an ASD kid's pediatrician said the same thing!

Therapies: private ST twice a week, private OT twice a week (30 min). He is in the "Autistic LEAP" preschool ESE program (public school), a class mixed with 4 ASD kids and 4 typical kids (3 hours, 5 days a week). He also has a special ASD gymnastics class once a week (one hour) that is kind of like an extra OT session, just more fun and is in a group. I do "floortime" on my own with him daily. We are also GFCF in diet and I give a variety of supplements.

We had ABA 1 hr/day every day when Eric was younger and we have done music therapy off and on. The ABA was helpful, but when it was no longer covered by early intervention (when he turned 3) we could only pay for so much therapy and decided ST and OT were more important. The music therapy was fun, but we think he needs the extra physical time with gymnastics more. If we had more $$$ I'd still do the music therapy. The ABA I learned a lot, but in Eric's case, he didn't need that as much and I think I learned enough to apply the principles when needed. This may not be the case, of course, for all ASD kids, certainly, just Eric's situation.

It takes a village doesn't it!

Katherine

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Registered: 08-26-2005
Sat, 02-18-2006 - 12:30am
Hi Keri,
Jake was dx's at 26 months but I had been taking him from about 13 months on to be tested but nobody wanted to dx him that young. He's been in E.I since he was 13 months and gets ST,PT,OT and playtherapy once a week. We are about to start using a bit of ABA which I have never done before(we follow Greenspans floortime)so I am a little nervous about that but he will get another 5 hours a week with that therapy and right now his behavior has started to take a turn for the worst so we are hoping it will help with that.
Teresa
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Registered: 03-27-2003
Sat, 02-18-2006 - 12:52am

My son is 6y and still not 100% dx. He actually got it ruled-out at 3yo. But the 3 evaluators couldn't agree on the dx--so he got mixed developmental disorder and his language disorder. At 4yo--anxiety disorder, disruptive behavior disorder and his language disorder. At 5y---Bipolar, Anxiety, language disorder and possible aspergers. At 6yo----bipolar, ADHD, anxiety, language and still possible aspergers. He actually "fits" the criteria--but they won't give it to him 100%. They said they are going to wait until middle school years to see how the social cues pan out.
At 3y---he started speech and OT and was in the spec ed preschool. OT was dropped because of his unstability of the therapy. Some days he was "normal" and other days----couldn't do anything. So we assumed his motor skills were mood based and not a delay. His IEP at school, speech(school and private) have continued. He is now 6yo. We have also seen our psychologist since he was 3.5yo. He has just started social skills group therapy this month also.
My son isn't a typical ASD kid. He has the signs---but not severe. Very mild symptoms and they also--come and go. For example----one night last week he was stimming the worst I have ever seen. But that was the one and only time he has been that bad. Most of the time---he fidgets or twists his fingers. He used to do hand flapping when younger.

I don't know what he will ever end up with!!

Holly
Jacob--6yo

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Registered: 03-27-2003
Sat, 02-18-2006 - 8:44am

Alex was diagnosed as high-functioning autistic when he was 3.5 years old by the school system.

He is in third grade and receives OT, PT, and speech at school. He also sees a child psychiatrist, but that is mostly for his maintenance on Zoloft

Laurie

Laurie

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Registered: 02-20-2001
Sat, 02-18-2006 - 9:24am
Bobby was Dx AS a week after his 3rd bday.

 


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Registered: 03-26-2003
Sat, 02-18-2006 - 9:42am

Cait started being evaluated at 3 and was diagnosed PDD-NOS at 4 and AS at 7 along with a plethora of other diagnosis in there including partial seizures, dyspraxia, language disorder, etc. She went to a special ed preschool and has had all the usual therapies (ST, OT, PT). My DH and I were eclectic ABA therapists (mostly knew ABA but lots of other therapies too) so she has gotten that at home.

She is 11 (nearly 12) in middle school. She is in an Aspergers/HFA program in middle school where she has 2 special classes per day on social skills and study skills. The kids are all mainstreamed for academics. Cait has an aide in the mainstream academics that she shares with one other boy. She also gets ST in school.

Mike began the diagnostic process at 3 and ASD was first mentioned then but he wasn't language delayed and a social autie so Dad and I were in big time denial. So he was diagnosed auditory processing disorder and SID. Then at 4 OCD, ADHD, anxiety disorder and others. At 7 finally Aspergers and now wavers between Aspergers and HFA. He has regressed in the past few years which I feel speaks VOLUMES of the need of early intervention. Unfortunately being in big time denial combined with the fact that he was not language or cognitively delayed we insisted he was normal and tried to make him so. We did some with him at home by default. He had special ed on and off but they kept discharging him saying he had severe social and behavior delays but that he wasn't language or cognitively delayed. Biggest mistake for him was trying meds for 5 years and thinking that was it. Meds work for some kids but not Mike and I think it delayed him getting appropriate therapy. We started alot of stuff at 7 but it was a bit late.

Currently he is in a special day class. He just started some mainstreaming again this year after being totally pulled out last year due to anxiety and resulting behavior. He has a 1:1 aide. He goes to a play/social clinical psychologist who specializes in ASD's. He gets ST and OT in school. He was getting clinical OT (For sensory in an outside clinic) and that helped alot.

Renee

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Registered: 03-26-2003
Sat, 02-18-2006 - 11:42am

Laurie (kingalex) - why is Alex on Zoloft? anxiety? how long has he been on it? does it help? Just curious. We are discussing meds currently with ped and neuro - we know we want to stay away from stimulant types but Zoloft or Paxil (sp?) has been brought up.

Now for the original question: Vaughn is 7.5 now. We never noticed any symptoms until he started preschool (age 4) - he was an only child and I had no frame of reference as to what was normal/typical - also he met all of his milestones. First preschool teacher mentioned that he may be PDD - he was kicked out of that preschool after only 2.5 months due to his behavior. We had a preschool eval done but they concluded that he was highly intelligent but might have some sensory needs - other than that, they concluded he was not delayed. Disruptive behaviors continued (and are still present). Finally in October 2005, son's therapist mentioned getting him evaluated to rule out AS - first time I ever even heard the word aspergers. Dec. 2005 son was evaluated and diagnosed with AS, anxiety disorders and mild ADD. Besides his individual private therapy, he has not received any services. We are in the process of the MFE/IEP - so hopefully the school will be providing some soon - and I am looking into additional supportive therapies (additional OT, hippotherapy, interactive metronome, social skills group, etc.) - still researching and learning - this is all new to me.

Christie

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Registered: 04-07-2003
Sat, 02-18-2006 - 1:30pm

Thanks everyone for all the replies! It's interesting to see what kinds of therapies there are out there...I think I'd like to look into music therapy for my son also...he LOVES Baby Einstein video's and I think it's the music that draws him...

I hope the one's that are struggling with their children, I hope things start to improve! I'm hoping when Spring arrives and we can be outside more, that my Jacob will also start improving some! Today it's -4 below zero with wind chills -40...it's freezing! Glad I'm home!!

Take Care!

Keri