Introduction + Questions (Long...)

awinky82 · January 2014

Hello Everyone!<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

I'm a long time lurker at The Bump, and the past few weeks the Special Needs Board.

So introduction: I have a son who is just under 3.5, and a daughter who is 9 (dx w/ADHD several years ago-but it wasn't a surprise to us at all) My son on the other hand has me really confused and worried. Overall, my son has been progressing typically but we did note a slight regression in his speech around 17 months (the same time he was hospitalized for a 5 day fever). At around age 2 we noticed that his speech hadn't drastically improved so we sought out a early intervention. He was evaluated several times, and was determined to qualify for speech therapy services. At the time he had less than 50 words, which was the qualifying factor otherwise they evaluation stated again that he was typically developing. ST was given 1-3 times a month between 27 months and 36 months (age 3). I was always involved with the ST sessions, and frequently asked if she thought she saw any other DD's or if there was anything else we should be working on besides the techniques that she provided. When the time came, Help Me Grow assisted with the transition to Preschool where he qualified to get ST 1/2 days 4 days a week along with other preschool activities-we were excited! I again asked the transitioning therapist, and the preschool therapist, if they thought there were any other DD's or anything besides the speech they thought they saw. They reassured me that they thought he was typical, and narrowly missed the 'qualifying' factors besides the areas of speech.

And now, just a few weeks ago my husband and I went in for a parent teacher conference at pre-school. They dropped a bombshell on us, they had several other Special Education teachers, my sons speech therapist, and his preschool teacher-stating that they think he 'may' be on the spectrum and that they are recommending full day preschool so that he can get more 1-on-1 attention in speech and occupational therapy. On one hand I'm elated that he is getting more services, on the other I am devastated and shocked at what is happening. I have another meeting with them in 2 weeks, and while I've done a ton of research on ASD-I still feel like I'm not sure what I should be asking specifically to get my son the help he needs. My gut says that they are just being overly cautious, but I also don't want to be in denial about his symptoms.

I don't know that his symptoms are all that classic, and I was hoping to get others opinions. He is a very happy, loving child, who loves to count, knows all his ABC's and can ID them individually, colors, shapes, and has a vocab of about 300 words. He says a few sentences, and it seems that his vocab is growing every day. He does get frustrated when he wants something and can't tell you, but doesn't tantrum easily and he can be prompted to say specific words but is usually pretty stubborn about the process. He does love to stack and line up objects, but rarely plays with them how they are intended. He is potty trained during the day, but doesn't seem to like pooping in the toilet and usually does this sometime while he is sleeping. He does interact well 1-on-1 with adults or his sister, but doesn't seek play with other children EVER. His eye contact and attention span are not great. He does have a preference for the show Go Diego Go or Dora, and will not watch anything else on TV. He is great with the iPad, he can do matching games, listen to songs, trace letters, etc. He will not respond to his name, and doesn't seem to know to respond. This may be our fault, we referred to him as bub, bubba, buddy and other nicknames most of his life-just in the past year have we been trying to get him to recognize his name.

Anyways, in the past few weeks since the school advised us we have restricted TV time drastically down to 1 hour or less a day, put him on a gluten free diet, started a few nutritional supplements, and actively tried to work with him daily on new skills. The school said they would provide some additional resources when we talk again, but I'm just unsure of what other services are out their besides OT and ST? Do I need a dx to seek other treatments? Who do I start with for an ASD eval, a developmental pedi?

Any guidance or thoughts you can provide would be great.

If you made it this far, thanks for listening

MirandaHobbes · January 2014

Your son sounds a lot like mine. He was diagnosed by the school district with "at risk for ASD" at 20 months, and by a developmental pedi at 3 years with pdd-nos. I thought they were being overly cautious at the time, too, and I even had a doctor tell me that my school district would "over diagnose" in order to cast a wide net and catch any type of delay. But, here we are in kindergarten and while he's in a mainstream class, he needs a lot of acommodations and support from full-time aides. He's bright academically but struggles with self regulation and pretty much ignores other kids. He is very charming with adults 1:1 so I get the "oh I'd never know he has autism!" comment from a lot of well-intentioned adults. My kid has never, ever, really played with toys other than cause and effect baby stuff.

You can get an eval from a developmental pedi or neuropsych. I started with our insurance to see what was covered and went from there. We were fortunate to find a hybrid therapy class that was ST/OT and general social skills in a group setting. Now at age 5 he is really only in need of some OT (for some sensory seeking behaviors and gross and fine motor delay) and social skills, i.e. how to communicate and get along with other kids. Some doctors recommend ABA, Floortime, and others.

Good luck!

awinky82 · January 2014

Thank you both for your feedback. It felt great it just write it all down for once! To answer your question, he doesn't BM while sleeping, it's right before he goes to sleep or early morning, we are working with the OT on this. He was (for less then 6 months) watching tv for 2+ hours a day, I was finishing the last leg of my degree and it's all we could do to function. Plus, I didn't know he had an issue other then speech or I would've stop, judge away... Also, the diet and supplements were advise from a pedi allergist, since he is also having some allergy issues that we don't fully understand and a very restrictive/ selective diet. I will be going after an evaluation with a developmental pedi, thank you!

pastalady · January 2014

He also sounds a lot like my DD. She loves adults. She is an only child to older parents, has very indulgent extended family with no cousins or young kids around. She was always a mini adult. It wasn't until I really saw her interact with kids her age I knew something was different. In my gut, I knew she was quirky, but it was a play date where she asked the little girl, " shall we shake hands?" Upon meeting, then counted every book in the peoples house I really thought autism. Best place to start is a good book. There are many misconceptions and info to sort out. I liked a moms guide to autism. Of course, for sure you need to see a developmental pedi. Good luck to you!

kcisthebombdotcom · January 2014

Welcome! Your little guy sounds like my little girl who was recently diagnosed with autism in a lot of ways. she is an affectionate, charming, funny kid who loves to ham it up to get attention from familiar adults. she's academically bright--she would probably be ready for kindergarten today as she knows all her letters and numbers 1-10 by sight, counts objects, reads some sight words (the ones she can pronounce anyway as artic is a struggle), colors, etc but in the same vein is language delayed. she also doesn't mean the "typical" stereotype of autism because she plays appropriately with a wide variety of toys--like most girls her age she's into baby dolls and horses and cooking in her play kitchen. really the only way anyone would guess there was an issue is watching her with a group of same age peers. she may join in with a chase game or some highly motivating play activity but otherwise she's content alone. the social interactions she has are not typical--at a playground shell stand at the bottom of a slide and say "123 go!" While jumping up and down vs joining the play most times unless its a familiar peer one on one. I hope you get some luck in getting a developmental pedi eval--asking to be put on the cancellation list can sometimes speed things along.

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