If your child was young when they got their ASD diagnosis...

lvisser · June 2014

Did you that over time, they kinda "grew into" their autism? Ds got dx in December... And since then, while I have seen improvement, I've also seen him showing more characteristics of the autism lately... More tip toe walking, more eye stims, hand flapping... Does that make sense? Did your child do this?

Unknown · June 2014

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typeset · June 2014

My son was Dx'd the day before he turned two. He's 3.5 now.

We saw extinction bursts during EI which made him look markedly more autistic. The behavior targeted for extinction would go on hyperdrive for a period: "You won't let me recite Dr. Seuss? ALL I CAN DO IS RECITE DR. SEUSS!" The demands of intensive ABA would periodically outstrip his limited coping capabilities. We subsequently played behavioral whack-a-mole. He's regressed behaviorally and socially over the course of this school year. I'm seeing it more as a function of impaired Theory of Mind right now (screaming at friends for not wanting to play what he wants to play), but he's also dealing with a lot of stress between keeping it somewhat together at school and his baby brother.

Paraphrasing auntie, when you're dealing with a 1/2-1/3 chronological deficit with regard to social and emotional skills, a socially impaired two isn't going to be as obvious as a socially impaired four when compared to typical peers. Then extrapolate that to age six, nine, twelve ... it only gets worse.

typeset · June 2014

You had to hit enter before I did, eh?

typeset · June 2014

-auntie- said:

typeset said:

You had to hit enter before I did, eh?

LOL, I'm avoiding a very robust "to-do" list this morning.

You and me both.

SantoriniSteph · June 2014

I agree with what everyone has said. DS was Dx at 23 months old, he is 3 1/2 now. Part of it is that you know what you are looking for, the stims are more apparent because you are more aware. They have come and gone in the past, improvements and regression, all fairly standard in this world.

malcivar · June 2014

Definitely agree with the other replies. Chris wasn't 'medically diagnosed' until just recently, but we had PDD dx from before he was 2. With time, my denial faded as his delays became more noticeable. It stopped being quirky toddler to 'oh, I see it now'.

It's even more noticeable now watching him interact with his younger brother who's 2 (Chris is 4). They interact as if they were the same age.

oandmplus1 · June 2014

Just wanted to add I am in complete agreement with others. As DD develops, the characteristics are more noticeable, but they change as well. Her stims change with new development.

Junebug060609 · June 2014

We are pretty much in your same shoes. DS will be three in Sept. Dx given in January.

Since January he's developed new characteristics and lost old ones, it's like they morph over time. ASD has been on our radar for about a year though, and in that time I've seen this happen before. Seems to be pretty normal.

august06mom · June 2014

Yes. It's very two steps forward, one step back (and sometimes one step forward, two steps back). We just seem to have finished a lovely hand-flapping episode, but he's spending less time lining up cars, whereas that is all he wanted to do a month ago. Wonder what will crop up next.