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Confused??? Autism or???
My son was diagnosed at the age of 2 with Autism. He was not put on the spectrum due to his age. They said it would be best to wait till he was 5yrs old. He just turned 5 and I have him in Pre-School Special Ed. Recently I had a meeting with his Teachers and they posed several things: First they think he is tongue tied. He doesn't move his tongue hardly at all. He doesn't have really good speech only about 10 audiable words. Second they said they really don't think he has Autism at all. He doesn't show the familiar signs. He is very social, says hi and bye at appropriate times, but due to lack of communication can't play with peers well. He also has Global Developmental Delay in all skills. So here are some things I've noticed and would love some help on maybe he has been miss diagnosed. He was 6wks premature, apgars were 9 and 9. Did not need oxygen and went home on time. Medical symptoms very foul smelling urine and stool. Hairy all over back, feet, legs not monkey like though. Toes 2 to 5 are slanted. Bad teeth. The tongue tied. Eyes wonder especialy the right one. Severly delayed in Developement. We have seen a geneticist and she came up with nothing, but he was a year old. Any ideas would be great.
The Developemental Ped is very reputable here. I live in Atlanta, Ga. She was considered the best and is a DAN Doctor. She wanted to rid his body of bad metals. IV Chelation Therapy is what she sugested. I found that to harsh for a 2yr old so I took him to an herbologist and did it the natural way which did great. Yes they actualy laser the tongue now. Give it more mobility. The MDysfunction I spoke of above is Genetic to some extent. It also can be brought on by early exposure to metals. AKA the mercury in shots. It gets into the Mitochondrial cell and makes it not work as well as it should which in return causes developemental delay, speech disorders, digestive problems and alot of other things he has had wrong with him since he was little. Still doing alot of research on it to bring to Ped. and hopefully get the test he needs. All I want to do is at least rule it out or if he does have it get him started on the proper meds to help his little body heal. You can tell he is so close to fighting this whole thing and he just wants to understand things around him and communicate his needs better. Breaks my heart that our children have to go through this. Dr.'s just have no idea the pain and confusion we have when we get no answers. Thats all I've ever heard since he was younger. We might never know whats wrong with him you just have to live with it. I won't give up!!! There is something there and something can be done to give him a better chance at a normal life. I love him for who he is, but can see the struggle in his eyes that we are missing something and he wants me to find out what it is.....
I didn't think chelation therapy was a recognised therapy? I am a bit confused that a Developmental Pediatrician would want to carry that out. What was the reasoning that he would need this therapy?
What country are you in?
Is this Developmental Pediatrician through your countries health service or are they private?
If he doesn't have the spiky profile, then you might be looking at developmental delays.
A Mitochrondrial Dysfunction is genetic. But I think that alot of disfunctions and disorders are down to chemical imbalances which may well be down to genetic problems. Afterall, we are only the sum total of a number of chemical reactions.
Excuse my ignorance, but I didn't realise the tongue could be clipped. What have they said about that?
I do hope that you get some answers, as you have been looking for reasons for a long time. But please only go to reputable doctors and use reputable therapies.
What country are you in?
Is this Developmental Pediatrician through your countries health service or are they private?
If he doesn't have the spiky profile, then you might be looking at developmental delays.
A Mitochrondrial Dysfunction is genetic. But I think that alot of disfunctions and disorders are down to chemical imbalances which may well be down to genetic problems. Afterall, we are only the sum total of a number of chemical reactions.
Excuse my ignorance, but I didn't realise the tongue could be clipped. What have they said about that?
I do hope that you get some answers, as you have been looking for reasons for a long time. But please only go to reputable doctors and use reputable therapies.
He has seen Developmenal Ped. who stated she didn't see Autism at all and had no answers for me. All she wanted to do was hook him up to intravenous IV and do chelation therapy. Your daughter has the classic signs of PDD and Autism. they are very smart almost gifted in some areas and still behind in others ie...speech and motor skills. He is not that way at all. He is behind in almost every thing. I took him to the ENT friday and they agreed with the teachers and will be clipping the tongue and taking out the tonsils and adnoids. Still looking into Mitochondrail dysfuction as it goes along with the Autism. Recent studies are showing similarities. Maybe our kids are being mis diagnosed and its thier bodies or cells that are being damaged and not fixed that is causing all this. Thanks you for your reply.
Take him to see a developmental pediatrician or child psychiatrist. Probably the developmental pediatrician. I think also pediatric neurologists deal with childhood development issues as well. Teachers are not trained to make those diagnoses. They may deal with a lot of kids, but to just call him tongue tied?
My daughter has verbal apraxia in addition to PDD. She had delayed language/speech to begin with and now that she's starting to talk, it's hard to understand her words since she swaps out consonants for other consonants. Having a speech therapist in her preschool who addresses this issue is important.
Sally44 said that a child with PDD/autism will show spikes in certain areas that they are above average. My daughter has a diagnosis of PDD, although she is quite social she has some social communication differences. She also shows spikes in certain areas where she's above average and other areas she is below average. Her motor skills are completely uneven. So, she was a late talker but is starting to learn how to read at age 3. She knew her alphabet at 24 months (could put the letters in order and could name them out of order). She knew counting at 24 months. Numbers were her first words. She could color, shape, and size sort at 18 months and colors were her next words after numbers. She started doing puzzles early on. At 24 months she was doing 6 piece puzzles. At 2 1/2 she was doing 12 piece puzzles. Before she turned 3 she was up to 30 piece puzzles. Now she's at 40 piece puzzles. Her cousin who is a year older than she is has been struggling to do a 6 piece puzzle. He is a normally developing boy. She also is great with electronics. Was using the digital camera at 18 months of age including going through review mode. By 24 months she had taught herself how to crop photos and take pictures. My daughter is way behind in both her language and her self-help skills. She is only now learning how to feed herself. She still can't drink that well out of a cup. Her language skills are probably about on level of someone who is almost 2 years old. Her motor skills are also uneven. Some of her fine motor skills are above level and others are way below. Ditto for gross motor skills. The school system did a chart that showed different skills, and she was way above for some and way below on others. I don't think there was much on the line for average, just big drastic differences.
Anyways, just sharing what my daughter has thinking that you might either see similarities or differences with your son. You really need a professional to diagnose him, and that means someone with a medical expertise, not a teacher. Teachers are wonderful. They teach our kids. But for them to pronounce the diagnosis in some cases I think is a bit crazy.
My daughter has verbal apraxia in addition to PDD. She had delayed language/speech to begin with and now that she's starting to talk, it's hard to understand her words since she swaps out consonants for other consonants. Having a speech therapist in her preschool who addresses this issue is important.
Sally44 said that a child with PDD/autism will show spikes in certain areas that they are above average. My daughter has a diagnosis of PDD, although she is quite social she has some social communication differences. She also shows spikes in certain areas where she's above average and other areas she is below average. Her motor skills are completely uneven. So, she was a late talker but is starting to learn how to read at age 3. She knew her alphabet at 24 months (could put the letters in order and could name them out of order). She knew counting at 24 months. Numbers were her first words. She could color, shape, and size sort at 18 months and colors were her next words after numbers. She started doing puzzles early on. At 24 months she was doing 6 piece puzzles. At 2 1/2 she was doing 12 piece puzzles. Before she turned 3 she was up to 30 piece puzzles. Now she's at 40 piece puzzles. Her cousin who is a year older than she is has been struggling to do a 6 piece puzzle. He is a normally developing boy. She also is great with electronics. Was using the digital camera at 18 months of age including going through review mode. By 24 months she had taught herself how to crop photos and take pictures. My daughter is way behind in both her language and her self-help skills. She is only now learning how to feed herself. She still can't drink that well out of a cup. Her language skills are probably about on level of someone who is almost 2 years old. Her motor skills are also uneven. Some of her fine motor skills are above level and others are way below. Ditto for gross motor skills. The school system did a chart that showed different skills, and she was way above for some and way below on others. I don't think there was much on the line for average, just big drastic differences.
Anyways, just sharing what my daughter has thinking that you might either see similarities or differences with your son. You really need a professional to diagnose him, and that means someone with a medical expertise, not a teacher. Teachers are wonderful. They teach our kids. But for them to pronounce the diagnosis in some cases I think is a bit crazy.
Have a look at Apraxia, and see if that sounds a possibility?
The people that would need to assess him to see if indeed he is on the spectrum, or whether he has a different disorder that gives the appearance of autism are a Speech and Language Therapist and Educational Psychologist. You need them to have experience of diagnosing autistic spectrum disorders, and they should preferably also have experience of other speech disorders such as Apraxia and developmental delays.
However apraxia and many other Disorders are commonly found together in autism. As many of these disorders are all usually neurologically based, there may even be an argument that autism is a combination of other neurological disorders. For example is it possible for a child to have Sensory Integration Disorder and Semantic Pragmatic Disorder and not be autistic?
So after further assessments you may/may not remain with the same diagnosis, or something like developmental delays and apraxia, or apraxia and PDD.
Another difference between delays and autism is that the children with autism typically have 'a spiky profile'. A child with developmental delay is usually behind in all areas of development. A child with autism maybe able to demonstrate some very good abilities for example with puzzles, lego, spatial awareness etc but really struggle with other simple things so that gives a spiky developmental profile.
Does that help?
The people that would need to assess him to see if indeed he is on the spectrum, or whether he has a different disorder that gives the appearance of autism are a Speech and Language Therapist and Educational Psychologist. You need them to have experience of diagnosing autistic spectrum disorders, and they should preferably also have experience of other speech disorders such as Apraxia and developmental delays.
However apraxia and many other Disorders are commonly found together in autism. As many of these disorders are all usually neurologically based, there may even be an argument that autism is a combination of other neurological disorders. For example is it possible for a child to have Sensory Integration Disorder and Semantic Pragmatic Disorder and not be autistic?
So after further assessments you may/may not remain with the same diagnosis, or something like developmental delays and apraxia, or apraxia and PDD.
Another difference between delays and autism is that the children with autism typically have 'a spiky profile'. A child with developmental delay is usually behind in all areas of development. A child with autism maybe able to demonstrate some very good abilities for example with puzzles, lego, spatial awareness etc but really struggle with other simple things so that gives a spiky developmental profile.
Does that help?
I can't really give an answer. Have you tried any of the "ask an expert" forums. Maybe a doctor can give a better answer. It would be speculation here. It sounds like there is some physical traits with your son as well as the developmental delays.
From the search I tried, it looks like a possible genetic disorder.
From the search I tried, it looks like a possible genetic disorder.
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