new and awaiting evaluation

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-02-2003
new and awaiting evaluation
3
Fri, 12-09-2005 - 9:41pm
My son will be three this march and he is in therapy for speech delays. Recently he was refered to a local agency for an eval because during his transition evals they detected some signs of "things" placing him on the autistic spectrum. He has sensory integration- mostly oral in nature that are begining to work themselves out but his beahavor in the evails were very unsettling. He just wanted to inspect everything in the room like he was 18 months and when we didn't allow him he destroyed or threw things. He didn't point until 18 months and only waived briefly this summer. There was minimal speech ( few animal sounds, and da-da) until this september, when this explosion occurred. He in heavily into labeling- It's a , that's a... and he already forming some incomplete sentences, like clouds in the sky although his prnounciation is very poor. He will mostly answer with one word but the "sentences" are combined with alot of jargon as he points with his middle finger. He knows all his colors, can count to 15 and he can recite the alphabet to letter O- he can do puzzles at 3+ level very easily and let me tell you about his love for the clock!! He adores them, but he can transition very easily from them, it seems as though it is his safe area- he will resort to it almost to convey his knowledge. He is extremely independant- if he is filling a bucket with blocks, only he can do it and he is the pickiest eater- although this is getting better. He loves to read picture books and label and he is just begining to pretend play and likes to wrestle and play games- he laughs and smiles alot and he get the jokes in his shows and videos. Mostly the "bad" behaviors are in check until we step out the door and try to introduce some structure, like disclipine are a more organized play.
Sorry, I am explaning alot of his behaviors so that someone can point me in the right direction to research before we see the doc. We find ourselves struggling with taking him for an evail because sometines we think he's just a little delayed, then we watch him line the garbage cans up at the end of the driveway or we attend a pool party and he spends his time throwing rocks into the pool and other than chasing games, he has little interest in ther kids. Any direction would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Kristen and Nicholas
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-24-2004
Fri, 12-09-2005 - 10:29pm

Welcome to the board!

My ds was dx'd HFA when he was 5yrs old. His preschool teacher was the one that took me aside to explain that "he's just not adjusting like the other kids". He was 4 at the time, but I had always thought he was a bit different than his older brother. I had always known that there was something different about him, just never sure what exactly!

How long til your ds's eval? Do you have a long wait? It's wonderful that your ds is already receiving therapy for his speech. Getting speech therapy really helped my ds, Nathan. The waiting for a dx though, can be very difficult. I also turned to the internet to look up as much info as I could about autism. Higher functioning autism can be difficult to dx.....especially for parents! I tried to figure out if Nathan was autistic or not autistic!! lol It basically got me nowhere!! I kept going in circles wondering!

I do wish you and your family the best. This is a difficult time. Nathan will be 7 next month, and it's still difficult. All the challenges, worries, concerns. But he's doing well and has shown lots of improvement.

michelle

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-03-2004
Sat, 12-10-2005 - 9:36am

I just want to welcome you to the board. You are describing the kinds of red flags that might mean high-functioning autistic spectrum, also your child is very young and if he is spectrum, you will be catching it very young. Applying understanding and therapeutic assistance can make such a difference in a high-functioning spectrum kid's well-being. If your son is spectrum, the early speech is a great way to start, as they have less frustration as they can communicate better.

Many doctors are unwilling to dx so young, although that is changing. Also, sometimes it is actually hard to get ASD dx when they are very high-funtioning, depends on skill of diagnostrician, really. Our son wasn't dx'ed PDD-NOS (catchall phrase for on the spectrum, but scattering of diagnostic criteria and not all of them...) until age 6, but he had been receiving many therapies since age 3 for language delay, transition difficulties as they began to escalate (that didn't really start til he was older), difficulties interacting and holding actual conversations (again this really showed up later).

Some children show much more dramatic symptoms when they are very young, but our son didn't. The delays coming from spectrum continue to escalate as the child ages, as the delays don't just "catch up" and there are more ramifications coming from lack of understanding and sensory overwhelm as the social demands increase. Essentially, I always thought of this as my son was a few years behind where he should be chronologically, and his behaviors would be "normal" if he really was younger. But without intervention, he would have fallen farther and father behind --- which has NOT happened. He continues to develop with help, and although he is behind an 8 year old, he does pretty well for a 6 year old now! Although it doesn't help that he is taller than a 10 year old LOL...

There are many variations of dx'es, such as HFA or high-functioning autism, PDD-NOS which is pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise specified, and AS or Asperger's Syndrome who do not have languuage delay and often have obsessional interests and sound like little professors. The lines between these dx'es are often fuzzy, but the treatments are all the same. Although which treatments are appropriate ends up needing to be determined for your specific child.

Never doubt that getting an eval is a good thing. Actually, for me the best part of the evals we have done has been all the specific information we have gotten about our son, strengths and weaknesses, and this information has proven to be priceless to us.

Good luck to you. Stick around and let us know how things go. This is a super board for getting information, some of these moms are also professional autism experts and therapists as well as BTDT parents of children on spectrum.

yours,

Sara
ilovemalcolm!

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Sat, 12-10-2005 - 9:47am

Hello and welcome,

I think you are right to have him evaluated. There are some red flag there, and it is very good to get a baseline of where he is at, so you can monitor his progress going foward i.e. se what his strengths and weakness are, and how (if) they change over time.

A good thing to have for the evaluating team, is a profile of your son: a list of his strengths, weaknesses likes, dislikes, developmental milestones, etc. Your post here is a good start. C&P it to a doc and formalize it.

Have to run, but I HTH. Please stick around and let us know how you both get on.

-Paula

-Paula

visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com