Rewording last question re; Autism

Question

Our son (age 2yr,8mth) is awaiting a development assessment and we have been told he is showing "red flags" for Autism, he is non verbal and has started speech therapy, he is becoming increasingly distressed when we go out anywhere and wails continuosly until we get back in the car, when we get home he is fine.Should we persevere and keep taking him out even though it makes him unhappy. As we don't have a diagnosis yet I have nobody to talk to yet.

Answer 1

Unfortunately your son probably has autism. But, look on the bright side; there has been so much research on autism in the past 10 years! Pick up Jenny McCarthay's book on autism... simply changing your sons diet will do volumes for his health. He probably has a very mild form of autism from your post. You must continue to take him to the doctor until you find out what's really going on.  

Answer 2

Maybei ts the 'routine' or the unexpected. When he gets in the car he doesnt know where he's going ,what he's doing, is he ever going to return home etc.

Maybe you need a visual timetable---something as simple as a notebook size card with velcro or blue tac-have symbols such as 'shops', 'park', 'food', 'home'....you can place these on the board and read them out to child---in car---go shops---in car---go home---although he is a little young by having simple pictures, and you talking him through he'll get used to it. Maybe knowing he's going to go back home eventually and that there's structure to the day may help him settle in the car more.

I would keep 'battling' if you just cave and stay home then the issue will never be addressed.

As forh aving no one to talk to---maybe contact local support groups, even if he's not formalling diagnosed you may still be able to attend and chat to others. Speak to your health visitor as they should be there to supprot you too!

I know how slow the whole process of diagnosis can be but dont worry you'll get there :)

Answer 3

Structure is very very important to many people with autism.  I would tell him exactly what is going to be happening throughout the day - you should do this by using pictures as your child will be able to understand better.  Many autistic children do not like spontaneous changes to their routine, so if you tell your child that you are going to be doing something, then i would try your best to stick to it. - I know it's not always that easy as unexpected things do come up, but again, use a picture to show what the change in routine is.

The SLT will show you the best way to communicate with your son.  They may try to use a system called PECS (picture exchange system), signed supported English to help encourage his verbal communication, but he is still young so they may ust try to get the language to come on itself.  I hope this helps.

Good luck and i hope things turn out well for you all.

Answer 4

some of the tips are very good as to what you can do to help your child. another thing that I want to point out is that your child is just a toddler so right now the whole world is a freaky place and home is safe. I would take him out but limit to time spent out (not a whole day shopping trip to the mall or anything) and try to take him to the same place llike the same grocery store or something and you can  take digital pictures of these things and place them in a photo album and when you get ready to go, take out the ones your not visiting and put in the ones you are visiting and in the correct order.

maybe this will help and keep a small journal while your out like the other poster said for patterns.

you can go to boardmaker for icons for communication and you can use sign lang with him for some assistance in communicating with him.

I know its hard when your child is so young and you dont know what to do but hang in there, it does get better

Answer 5

well my brother has autism, but im not sure about your question. Perhaps you should take him out anyway so he gets used to it, he will have to go out eventually...but maybe not unless really necessary

Answer 6

I have 2 autistic spectrum sons that were dx at ages 25 months and 9 months.  They are both carrying a PDD.NOS dx but the younger one who is now 34 months has a lot of asperger features as well.  

For a proper dx it really depends where you are.  I am near Dr. Greenspan and Kennedy krieger and they have a reputation of dx quickly.  Some depends on the child, many children who are autistic spectrum have a comorbidity of another dx.  Usually though after assessment #1 ASD (autistic spectrum disorder) is a rule-out dx.  Rule-out means that it is suspected but needs to be monitored over time to be sure.

I know from experience that to get into an assessment can be quite a wait, kennedy krieger just gave a friend of mine an appointment in Nov. 2009.  Most pediatric neurologists are a 3-9 month wait in our area.  

Here is a nice assessment tool that will be beneficial to bring to a specialist, and will also alert you to were his most difficult areas lie.

http://www.childbrain.com/pddassess.html

My sons are both mild, just yesterday I repeated the assessment for my oldest who scored a 51, my youngest when dx scored a 49, I know it is much higher now but haven't repeated it, till now, its a 68.  I find this assessment pretty accurate.

What I suggest is do continue to take him out.  Tell him first, and if possible show him a picture.  Make the trips very short, have him in something so he feels more secure and comfortable like a stroller, wagon or cart.  If he becomes distressed leave.  Try to take him somewhere he will enjoy.  It is probably hard for you to pinpoint what distresses him.  Begin marking on a calendar, so you can see a pattern.  This is helpful info.  Even something like "outside, helicopter flew above, loud noise caused him to screech, upset 20 minutes".  Bring bubbles, and lollipops both of these are soothing.

Is he getting any OT?  If not call your coordinator from early intervention and have him assessed.  This is for sensory integration.  Feel free to email me with any questions

Also I have found that not all speech therapists are good, don't hesitate in switching.  I have.  A SLP would probably be better, as long as they know alot about sensory integration and autism.

I just wanted to say that if your child is on the autistic spectrum that you are through the worst of it.  With intervention children get much higher functioning, there are many things that helped my sons, it does take some money.  The peak is around 2.5 years for the worst of it.  My oldest at this age had a score on that PDD assessment that was much higher, now people don't even recognize that he is spectrum.  I have been told that he is in the process of losing the dx.  I don't believe in a cure, but do believe in healing and that his quirky behaviors are only subtlely different than NT's (neurotypicals).

Answer 7

Sorry Hun to add from my answer from your last question, no child of this age that is non verbal should be waiting for an assessment for Autism ..the speech therapist would have refereed him Thomas also went for this and they knew that there was something more wrong than just his speech..within a few sessions he was refered to the local hospital the more they drag their heels the worse it will be for your son, two years waiting is ridiculous