2 year with Autism

Lacye - posted on 04/08/2011

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Julianne - posted on 04/06/2011

my daughter was diagnosed at the age of 2 and yes is so very vital to be diagnosed early. The earlier you know and start early intervention the better off your chld will be.

Joanna - posted on 04/06/2011

My son was diagnosed with an ASD at 18 months, and it was because we pushed for an Early Steps evaluation. The doctor who diagnosed him said she was "going out on a limb" diagnosing one so young, but the signs were all there. I'm so glad we did, though, because of the resources that are available to kids with ASDs. My son is now 2 yrs and 5 mos old, and has made so much progress with his therapist. We are so glad we took advantage of the resources available to him. Be sure to push for a diagnosis if you are concerned about your child. That can avail you of many resources that might otherwise be unknown to you.

Joanna - posted on 04/06/2011

My son was diagnosed with an ASD at 18 months, and it was because we pushed for an Early Steps evaluation. The doctor who diagnosed him said she was "going out on a limb" diagnosing one so young, but the signs were all there. I'm so glad we did, though, because of the resources that are available to kids with ASDs. My son is now 2 yrs and 5 mos old, and has made so much progress with his therapist. We are so glad we took advantage of the resources available to him. Be sure to push for a diagnosis if you are concerned about your child. That can avail you of many resources that might otherwise be unknown to you.

Ruthie - posted on 03/21/2011

my son was about that age when they started screening him for a diagnosis. usually the ealier its noticed the better chance of it being an easier adjusment. with my son it was both is lack of speach and coridnation that lead to him being screened also i guess they also factored in that his older brother has it.

Jocelyn - posted on 12/02/2010

Children can be diagnosed at a very young age. There are many levels of autism and depending on the symptoms/signs that your child is portraying, it can be easy or hard to notice/diagnose.
And there are benefits; my oldest has PDD-Nos and by him being diagnosed early, we were able to get more educational/therapy funding for him than if he had just been labeled as having a speech delay. Early intervention is absolutely crucial.

Lori - posted on 12/01/2010

Two of my three sons have ASD diagnosis. My oldest was diagnosed when he was 3 years and 7 months- I wish we had known a LOT sooner! My middle son was diagnosed right around his 2nd birthday, although we had suspected for awhile that he was on the spectrum. For autistic children, early intervention is critical. My son that was diagnosed when he was two has made SO much progress, more than we imagined he would in the almost two years since his diagnosis. And as for not noticing "signs," most people would not suspect that my oldest son has an ASD. You might think he is an odd duck, lol, but ASD would not be the first thing on your mind, maybe unless you were a trained professional. HTH!


Lori

Lise - posted on 11/28/2010

Autism can be diagnosed very young; I worked with a child (I work with children with autism) who was diagnosed at 13 months.

Christina - posted on 11/28/2010

That is terrific that he was diagnosed so young!!!! The younger they can diagnose, the better it is for him! Two of my five children have autism. My daughter was born with autism. It took them until she was 3yrs old to finally diagnose her, regardless that she was severe at the time we started services with her (2yrs old with the IQ and development of an 11mnth old baby.) My son was diagnosed with autism at 23mnths old. The younger, the better. And tell her to take advantage of all the therapy services offered. My daughter has been able to be in a normal class since Kindergarten because of all her hard work and mine :) Hopefully my son will do the same thing next year.



That diagnosis is a protection for our children. That diagnosis means that our children can get the services they need and deserve. It means that the schools have to give them IEPs, ect. And I teach my children that it is nothing to be ashamed of. They are so special that they can have autism and still do everything the rest of us can.

Megan - posted on 11/28/2010

I've read and been told that many of the signs of autism can start at a very early age. Although it stinks to give labels to children so young, if that label will give them early intervention/care I think it is worth the label. I would rather fear my child is autistic at two, and learn later on that he is fine, rather than thinking he is just a little different and finding out when he is seven years old that I could have been doing something to help him the past five years.

April - posted on 11/26/2010

i used to work with autistic children and i got to talking with one of their mothers. she said hindsight is 20/20...looking back she can pinpoint autistic behaviors from when her son was only a few months old. He didn't get a formal diagnosis until he was 4. I am confident that soon the age of formal diagnosis will be lowered, as we know a lot more about autism than we did a decade ago!

Meghan - posted on 11/26/2010

I believe (and of course I can't find the info now) the earliest diagnosed cases were 18 months. After all thats kinda the age where little ones really start to talk, interact...slowly develop empathy.

Melisa - posted on 11/25/2010

my little man is autistic we knew when we got him that something was wrong, so we started a programe for him while we were waiting for a diagnosis which came when he was 8(we knew at 14 months) the earlier it is diagnosed the better. the testing can start as young as a 6 months, but don't quote me. he is now 12 and is in regular school with some modifications in his programe, he is in the right grade and keeping up. He is planning on graduating and going to collage. He is not verry co-ordinated so doesn't like sports. A lot of people thought he was "normal" when he was little they were not around for the day to day meltdowns or rituals. if we had a specialist at the time he would have been diagnosed at 18 months. that is how long the wait list for specialist was 7 yrs. so working with school and other profesionals to help get him ready for school was a great help. hope this helps

Rosie - posted on 11/25/2010

yes, a friend of mine has 2 autistic children. her first one i could tell there was something wrong with him, but she refused to acknowledge it until he was almost 4. by that time he had missed out on alot of help that he needed. her second son was showing signs of delay and they diagnosed him at age 2. with autism you have to diagnose it early, to intervene to get the help they need.

Jodi - posted on 11/24/2010

From what I understand, Anika, I think it depends a lot on the indicators. For instance, a friend of mine has a little biy who was diagnosed with Aspergers which is an autism spectrum disorder. He was about 5 when he was diagnosed, but his behaviour was quite obvious, and he also went through a HUGE range of tests, including some testing with a neurologist.

However, I believe early diagnosis is really important, because early intervention gives better outcomes in the long term.

I just found this:
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that all children be screened for autism by their family pediatrician twice by the age of 2, at 18 months and again at 24 months. The AAP also recommends that treatment be started when an autism diagnosis is suspected rather than waiting for a formal diagnosis.
http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageS...
While I am not a fan of giving labels to children this age, I can understand why, with autism, it is in the best interests of the child to get a diagnosis of sorts.

Anika - posted on 11/24/2010

I always thought you couldn't definitively test for autism until they were 7. Until then I thought you could just say they had indicators (my word, not the specialist word). But I have no idea where I got this from so I could easily be wrong.

Kelina - posted on 11/24/2010

yes I have. A friend of mine has two children who have been diagnosed as autistic, two and three I believe. The older boy is responding well to intervention and the younger has jus started. i don't really agree with labelling them, but I can definitely see the benefit of having them start intervention that young.