My son is two and we think he may be autistic?

Question

My little boy, two at the end of may, is being assessed for autism. I do not think he has classic autism, but on considering the information i have been given about the range and spectrum and his actual day to day behaviour it is starting to become more and more real as a possibility. Any advice?? I am scared as this would be completely new to us to deal with. I love my boy, and his three yr od sister and eight month old brother, and want the best for them.

Answer 1

Well if he is autistic you have a lifetime of work cut out for you. Do not be discourage there is always break throughs in this field. Don't be encouraged by the prescription drug world because he will probably never be free of addiction. There is much literature out there for you.

Answer 2

There is so much more to Autism than what you describe here.  It is a good thing that you are having him tested.  As parent become more aware of Autism and its effects on children the diagnosis has greatly increased.  Doctors are giving the diagnosis much younger than they did even a year ago.  

I understand you fears.  It is important to remember even if he does end up with this label he is still the little boy you love.  He will face challenges on a daily basis, but he is will be fine.  God Bless

Answer 3

How come you think he's autistic? Did he develop late motor skills? If so, my brother had the same problem. He started to talk when he was already 1 and a half years old, but years later he started to teach himself to speak Russian! At the age of 7 o_O And turned out to be a complete genius.

By the way, what kind of autism does your child may have? And I can tell you, it's really not bad. Autistic kids are just the same as other kids, except they require an extra bit of attention. :)

(My youngest sister has down syndrome, and she is the greatest gift we've ever had. :D)

Answer 4

As a mother of two autistic children, I want to express my gratitude to you getting him assessed so early. Things you should do:

1. See a developmental pediatrician. I'm unsure which assessment you're talking about. If you're doing an evaluation with a developmental pediatrician, then this is really the first step. They will be able to give recommendations of what your child individually needs.

2. Call your local school district or Child Development Infoline. They will be able to get you in contact with whomever does early intervention services in your area. All states are required to provide services for your child. If this is the type of assessment you're having, then it's a good step as hopefully they will provide appropriate services for him. Make sure they provide him with Applied Behavioral Analysis with Discrete Trials. This is the only PROVEN therapy that is shown to increase natural skills.

3. Find local support. I'm not necessarily saying go to a support group or join every autism organization you can, but find people locally that can help you. It's a long uphill battle. You will be amazed how natural parenting an autistic child is, but at the same time, you will find how difficult other people are to deal with.

As for how to handle this, remember your child is still the same child. The only thing that's changed is you know what causes some of his behaviors. This just means that you're one step closer to help him life a full happy life. Your duty now is the same as it was last week, last month, last year, have your child be the happiest child he possibly can be. If he's happy then there is nothing that can't be worked for the better.

Answer 5

I am glad he is being assessed as this is vital in getting the relevant support services that is needed to give him the best possible outcome for the future.

I would strongly suggest that he is placed into a early intervention program. These services are designed to identify and meet the children’s needs in five developmental areas. These areas are:

physical development;

cognitive development;

communication social or emotional development; and

adaptive development.

With the assistance of a occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy etc to help the child to develop important skills, such communication skills, both gross and fine motor skills, social skills etc all of which are vital to a child's development, and the earlier these are implemented the better the outcome for the child.

Your child's paediatrician will help in setting up some of this, once the diagnosis has been made.

A large number of children I have worked with have all had early intervention, which helped them to develop the above skills. Those who did not have it really struggled, and their social skills etc were very poor, making it difficult for them to interact with others especially in a social setting.

Answer 6

Wow I can see where this may be a stressful situation.I won't say that understand where you are coming from because I don't. I work with at risk children and I spend a lot of time talking to the parents, mothers mainly, and it surprises me that so many of them blame themselves or their spouse. It is no-ones fault and no one made any mistakes, there are no mistakes just different styles of parenting, some which work on children, others that that don't. The best piece of advice I can give you is to always ask for help and instead of trying to blame, try to make a change. :)

Best of luck to you.

Answer 7

You are doing the right thing by getting him seen.  The spectrum is very wide and it may be mild for him.  Of course you are scared, but if he had say, cancer, you would deal with it, because that is what is best.  You take care of your children, get them medical help when they need it, no matter what.  Get educated and read all you can about it.  From reputable sources, please.  

It's ridiculous the amount of time some people spend on blaming vaccinations (when there is no real evidence, whatsoever) instead of being there and taking care of their children.  

Breathe, mom and you all will be ok.  Be there for him and practice patience.  Good luck to you and your family.

Answer 8

Jenny McCarthy wrote a book on it.  Maybe that can help.

Answer 9

Autism has a very broad range of symptoms. It's very difficult to say. Of course it will be a challenge for your family. The only advice I have would be to continue loving and caring for your children as you always have and constantly remind yourself that you can overcome anything as a family.

Try not to waste a lot of your time worrying. Worry changes nothing and will just wear you out in the meantime.

Good luck to you.

Answer 10

There are various ;levels of autism, some are pretty high functioning.

It's a amazing challenge you haver to face but do get too worked up until you hear from the docs.

My prayers for your boy and your family

Answer 11

Early Intervention is always the best advice. Get involved with a good Birth- Three program. Ask your pediatrician or birth-3 coordinator for resources- parent support group, sibling groups, etc. Embrace this new challenge in your life- understanding how autism affects your son will help you learn to interact with him and understand him. "Behavioral Intervention for Young Children With Autism" is a great resource.

http://store.behavior.org/NEW-LOW-PRICE-...

Good luck to you.