Aa
Second opinion
My 3-year old daughter began speaking normally at age 11 months. Shortly after turning one she began blowing kisses and gesturing. At about age 15 months, she stopped using several words she had been using and stopped using gestures. She had tubes for chronic ear infections at this age, and we believed this was the cause.
She seemed to be in a developmental plateau. At 18 months her doctor said she was just slow and to wait until age 2 to talk. At age 2, she only spoke about 20 single words, was very shy around strangers, and her preschool teachers reported she did not respond to directions as the other children did. The teachers reported she had a very narrow range of interests (only musical instruments) and she would play with them for hours. At home, she often had tantrums if her routine was disrupted. She seemed to have difficulty with transitions. She also had an odd sleep pattern for a child her age. She had trouble going to sleep until 10 or 11 at night. She was very focused on a few DVDs with lost of singing and dancing, and rejected listening to books and pretend play. She also would cover her ears and scream when she heard certain noises and sounds, and would fight me brushing her teeth or touching her head.
I am going to run out of room here, but long story short, I began getting her help, and at age 2 she made a lot of progress with her expressive language and at age 3 is speaking in sentences and playing with other children. SLP noted she had to be prompted to play with toys at beginning of therapy which is now resolved. She today has an odd problem related to how she uses language, though. She can't answer questions, has trouble holding conversations, her language is very concrete and sometimes I need to repeat directions, and then she understands. Still no gestures.
The DP noted she has good eye contact, attachment, affection, and joint attention, so no possibility she has autism or pdd. If not autism, then what could this be?
She seemed to be in a developmental plateau. At 18 months her doctor said she was just slow and to wait until age 2 to talk. At age 2, she only spoke about 20 single words, was very shy around strangers, and her preschool teachers reported she did not respond to directions as the other children did. The teachers reported she had a very narrow range of interests (only musical instruments) and she would play with them for hours. At home, she often had tantrums if her routine was disrupted. She seemed to have difficulty with transitions. She also had an odd sleep pattern for a child her age. She had trouble going to sleep until 10 or 11 at night. She was very focused on a few DVDs with lost of singing and dancing, and rejected listening to books and pretend play. She also would cover her ears and scream when she heard certain noises and sounds, and would fight me brushing her teeth or touching her head.
I am going to run out of room here, but long story short, I began getting her help, and at age 2 she made a lot of progress with her expressive language and at age 3 is speaking in sentences and playing with other children. SLP noted she had to be prompted to play with toys at beginning of therapy which is now resolved. She today has an odd problem related to how she uses language, though. She can't answer questions, has trouble holding conversations, her language is very concrete and sometimes I need to repeat directions, and then she understands. Still no gestures.
The DP noted she has good eye contact, attachment, affection, and joint attention, so no possibility she has autism or pdd. If not autism, then what could this be?
My son turned three in January and was recently diagnosed with high functioning autism spectrum disorder. The paediatrician wanted to wait till he was three before we assessed him for ASD because he too gave eye contact during the Dr visit and paid attention to the Dr. I could not wait this long because it was haunting me every day. I arranged for a psychologist assessment who specialises in autism and preferrs to diagnose ASD at an early age. She conducted the first part of the assessment at his childcare setting and then spent time with us to discuss his history and characteristics. She informed us at the end of the session of Reillys diagnosis. I was both relieved and emotional but I know it was the best thing I could have done because the Dr had no problems with providing a diagnosis after reading the psycholosist report
and now we have moved ahead in early intervention.
The Forum Dr's advice was spot on - arrange for a psychologist assessment who specializes in Autism. Good luck - your not alone
and now we have moved ahead in early intervention.
The Forum Dr's advice was spot on - arrange for a psychologist assessment who specializes in Autism. Good luck - your not alone
Hello,
kethrie, my daughter just turned 1 last week. she has the same signs your daughter has had growing up. she speaks very well right now. she dont like anyone but mommy and daddy. she also likes to hit her head on anything really hard. then its like she is in a daze. i said something to the doc. about it and they said its just a stage she is going through. I dont think docs. always listen to the parents. they think we over react to much. is my opinion. good luck with your daughter and i hope all is good.
shawna
kethrie, my daughter just turned 1 last week. she has the same signs your daughter has had growing up. she speaks very well right now. she dont like anyone but mommy and daddy. she also likes to hit her head on anything really hard. then its like she is in a daze. i said something to the doc. about it and they said its just a stage she is going through. I dont think docs. always listen to the parents. they think we over react to much. is my opinion. good luck with your daughter and i hope all is good.
shawna
A related discussion, My son was started.
I too had concerns about my son from 2+. He didn't have that explosion of language at 2-3 years old. He was putting a couple of words together. He didn't seem to ask questions about his surroundings. We didn't chat. He used language mainly to ask for things or to tell me things. He had problems with transitions. If I took a toy off him or tried to move him onto something else he would get so upset that he would vomit.
At 3+ my daughter was bought a TV and from the moment he saw his first video he started repeating the dialogue. I was told at nursery that he wasn't joining in with the other children and wouldn't comply with instructions. He was repeating TV dialogue alot and was also using it to form his speech (this is delayed echolalia). Anyway I sought professional help and was told not to worry.
When he started school things did not go well. I had told them of my concerns. He had never picked up a crayon and would scream if I tried to make him draw or colour. He was (and still to some extent ambidextrous). He didn't cope in school. He was banging his head on the table/wall. Hiding under the table and refusing to come out. He was repeatedly walking up and down the classroom and showing other repeitive behaviours. He would roll himself up on the mat and refuse to come out. He was a very unhappy little boy and it broke my heart to have to take him into school each day.
He was referred to the speech and communication clinic. He was finally diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder with severe communication disorder (including echolalia) and sensory differences. He is now 7 and has made alot of progress. He still finds pronouns difficult (you, me, she, he, his, her, I, etc), he tends to mix them up. He is verbal and uses his own speech and he also uses phrases from TV used in their emotional context.
My biggest breakthrough was in understanding the sensory problems. I read a book called "sensory and perceptual issues in autism and aspergers" by Olga Bogdashina. In this book I found an explanation to the behaviours my son was showing. His aversion to having his hair/head/ears touched, brushing teeth,, cutting nails wearing socks etc all made sense (afterall if it hurts him to do these things he is going to try to avoid them). Why he appeared deaf sometimes and then ran from the room at other noises, covering his ears etc.
The book also has a questionnaire at the back that you can complete to get a sensory profile. A number of professionals are using this checklist in the UK so I know it is reputable. From completing this I found my son is mainly hypersensitive in all his senses, but that they can fluctuate and by hyposensitive. His main problems are with auditory and tactile senses.
He mainly functions through one sense at a time. This has a huge impact. For example if he is listening to me he cannot look at me and he may lose awareness of body sensation. If he is making a lego model and I speak to him it forces him to switch from tactile/visual sense to auditory sense and this can cause him to lose his place in the sequence of what he was making.
Now that I can see and understand that, it has made a huge difference as to how we do things at home and at school.
Although I do agree he is autistic (not Aspergers due to the language difficulties), and he does have some autistic cognitive traits, he actually does quite well socially. He tends to prefer adults (children are too unpredictable and not very patient) and he is mainly passive (lack of confidence in social interaction leads him to not intiate contact). But if he is approached he will play quite happily.
I have found Play Therapy very useful in helping him gain confidence in play and also learning to allow other people to direct the story instead of always having to keep control. He now asks me to play with him every day.
My point in all of this is that it is called a 'spectrum' for the reason that there is such a wide difference in abilities across all the areas affected by autism. No two people are the same. I don't want to scare any of you about the possiblity of a diagnosis. But my son does have imagination, empathy etc (and so do many other high functioning autistic people). He likes to snuggle up to me in bed. He tells me he loves me.
If you do get a diagnosis it is not the end of the world. You will grieve for the child you thought you had (but infact they haven't changed, just your perception of them). They will have difficulties (but so do all children), and they will have achievements.
Good luck to you all.
At 3+ my daughter was bought a TV and from the moment he saw his first video he started repeating the dialogue. I was told at nursery that he wasn't joining in with the other children and wouldn't comply with instructions. He was repeating TV dialogue alot and was also using it to form his speech (this is delayed echolalia). Anyway I sought professional help and was told not to worry.
When he started school things did not go well. I had told them of my concerns. He had never picked up a crayon and would scream if I tried to make him draw or colour. He was (and still to some extent ambidextrous). He didn't cope in school. He was banging his head on the table/wall. Hiding under the table and refusing to come out. He was repeatedly walking up and down the classroom and showing other repeitive behaviours. He would roll himself up on the mat and refuse to come out. He was a very unhappy little boy and it broke my heart to have to take him into school each day.
He was referred to the speech and communication clinic. He was finally diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder with severe communication disorder (including echolalia) and sensory differences. He is now 7 and has made alot of progress. He still finds pronouns difficult (you, me, she, he, his, her, I, etc), he tends to mix them up. He is verbal and uses his own speech and he also uses phrases from TV used in their emotional context.
My biggest breakthrough was in understanding the sensory problems. I read a book called "sensory and perceptual issues in autism and aspergers" by Olga Bogdashina. In this book I found an explanation to the behaviours my son was showing. His aversion to having his hair/head/ears touched, brushing teeth,, cutting nails wearing socks etc all made sense (afterall if it hurts him to do these things he is going to try to avoid them). Why he appeared deaf sometimes and then ran from the room at other noises, covering his ears etc.
The book also has a questionnaire at the back that you can complete to get a sensory profile. A number of professionals are using this checklist in the UK so I know it is reputable. From completing this I found my son is mainly hypersensitive in all his senses, but that they can fluctuate and by hyposensitive. His main problems are with auditory and tactile senses.
He mainly functions through one sense at a time. This has a huge impact. For example if he is listening to me he cannot look at me and he may lose awareness of body sensation. If he is making a lego model and I speak to him it forces him to switch from tactile/visual sense to auditory sense and this can cause him to lose his place in the sequence of what he was making.
Now that I can see and understand that, it has made a huge difference as to how we do things at home and at school.
Although I do agree he is autistic (not Aspergers due to the language difficulties), and he does have some autistic cognitive traits, he actually does quite well socially. He tends to prefer adults (children are too unpredictable and not very patient) and he is mainly passive (lack of confidence in social interaction leads him to not intiate contact). But if he is approached he will play quite happily.
I have found Play Therapy very useful in helping him gain confidence in play and also learning to allow other people to direct the story instead of always having to keep control. He now asks me to play with him every day.
My point in all of this is that it is called a 'spectrum' for the reason that there is such a wide difference in abilities across all the areas affected by autism. No two people are the same. I don't want to scare any of you about the possiblity of a diagnosis. But my son does have imagination, empathy etc (and so do many other high functioning autistic people). He likes to snuggle up to me in bed. He tells me he loves me.
If you do get a diagnosis it is not the end of the world. You will grieve for the child you thought you had (but infact they haven't changed, just your perception of them). They will have difficulties (but so do all children), and they will have achievements.
Good luck to you all.
I'm going through the same thing. My son has all the signs of autism except he is very social with adults so they will not say autism. My son is 27 months and has only 2 words mom and bi for bite and he doesnt use them in proper context, he does have echolalia and parrots what he hears on tv but you never hear him say anything with any meaning.
That was the point. She was seen by a Developmental Pediatrician, and he noted that she had joint attention, affection, and good eye contact, therefore he ruled out Autism. I am asking for another opinion of these symptoms, and asking if others agree that good social skills rules out PDD-NOS.
I know she has a language delay and requires speech therapy. My observations are that her language delay seems identical to other children who are diagnosed with autism. For example, 1) Her receptive language and auditory processing is inferior to her expressive ability, 2) Jargon and echolia are present, and 3) She regressed at age 1.
I know she has a language delay and requires speech therapy. My observations are that her language delay seems identical to other children who are diagnosed with autism. For example, 1) Her receptive language and auditory processing is inferior to her expressive ability, 2) Jargon and echolia are present, and 3) She regressed at age 1.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
My recommendation is that if you have concerns about your daughter's language and social development, you should have her evaluated by a clinical psychologist in your area who has experience in autism and language delays. This person should be able to give you a diagnosis and suggest services in your area, should they be necessary.
I wanted to clarify that the DP gave her no diagnosis. He suggested off the record that perhaps she had experienced a traumatic event related to switching rooms in her daycare around the time she regressed, and perhaps this was the cause of the regression. I saw no evidence to suggest she had experienced any trauma in daycare, or anywhere else, and was a little perplexed at the suggestion.
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