Conflicting diagnosis (Autism or Speech delay only)

Sophia - posted on 11/23/2012

your son need to be in a daycare for kids with delays ..ok he will be assess over and over every 6 months. you and daddy must support your team at the daycare.. change the way you allow him to run your house.. this is the only way you will know where he is ... friends / family are not the best when it comes to telling us about our children.. the school will.

MamieHarding - posted on 09/04/2012

Thanks again to all. He started a new daycare and the difference a week makes. He is already developing new skills. I will definitely keep you posted on his progress.

Heather - posted on 09/02/2012

So when he turns 3 years old, call your local school district and have his speech evaluated and have him put into a speech class. Your son sounds just like how my son was. Try reading books to him, showing him picture books, singing songs, and buying some coloring books and crayons for him too. Yes, you need to spend more time with him and work with him on his speech, etc. By 3 years old, my son knew his A,B,C's and he could sing them to you. He knew all of his colors and many shapes. But he couldn't completely say the words correctly and he babbled and spoke actual words at the same time. So sentences were mixed up. He is a smart boy, but he didn't know how to walk up to people and say hello. Yes, he interacted with others, but not correctly.



Please, interact with him more, play with him more, work with him A LOT more. This will help him. Putting him in front of the TV will NOT help him. Just an FYI.

Jackeline - posted on 08/26/2012

hi my son is 18 months and im going thru the same thing people are saying that he might have autism but we wont know till the teachers come and test him out im scared and cry all day the only things he does that looks out of the normal is bump his head, bits throw tantrums when he doesn't get it his way and doesn't say nothing at all yet one therapist said he has sensory issues too so i don't know but thanks to all you moms i have other things to try if there is anything else please let me know

Alberta - posted on 08/25/2012

Get a new evaluation. He sounds like he likes to "do his own thing" which some of us parents pray our kids would entertain themselves for 5 minutes without needing us. He is social and loving but he isn't talking as well as the "charts" say he should. Start speech therapy and see where it goes. Language needs to be encouraged and with my 3 year old slightly forced. What I meen is when she wants something IE: a drink I tell her use your words say "Drink" then I try 3 or 4 times and then even if she doesn't say it then give her the drink. DON"T frustrate the child with speech but encourage it all the time. When you give him a spoon show it to him say "spoon" and give it to him. I had 1 child that spoke at 9 MONTHS old and had 40+ words she used all the time until her 1 year and 1 week old point. Then NOTHING!!! From then to age 2 NO WORDS!!! Then 9 months of speech therapy and then we needed an OFF button!!! My 2nd child was about 14 months old started talking and hasn't shut up since. Child number 3 just turned 3 and I encourage her speech every day, all day, all the time. To each their own. He probably needs some speech therapy so start there. The therapist will get to know your son and be able to help with the autism or no autism diagnosis. Don't panic but be get the speech therapy right away.

Christy - posted on 08/25/2012

My son was diagnosed with speech delay when he was two has been doing speech since then. He is now 7. He was a normal child. To me anyways. He has some sensory issues like walking on grass with bare feet or doesnt slimy things like finger paint. I don't either so I felt it was normal. But when he was 5 1/2 he was diagnosed with having aspergers. But he's not as they would say a typical aspergers child. He plays regular sports and interacts well with others. Likes to be the center of attention. He gets hyper but he's a kid. All kids have alot of energy. He has always known how to turn the tv on and find what he wants to watch on netflixs and knows which settings the tv has to be on to play his video games. Not saying your child is autistic but I am saying children can be as normal as can be and still have autism. And I don't look at autism as a disability. I look at it as they process things differently. Talking to my child as if he was a child didn't work for us. He didn't understand. Talking to him like an adult he did very well with. All children should be talked to as if there a person not as if there a child. Having a child with autism doesn't make them any more different than someone without autism. Anyway sorry for rambling. I was told for several years that my son only had speech delay that he was not autistic until he got a new peds dr. One look at him and she knew. Only by seeing him flutter his eyes which he doesn't do very often. And the slight crease in The shape of his eyes which I had never noticed before. That was not how he was diagnosed but that is how she noticed. To see my son you would never know that he is autistic unless I told you. And you can't go nessasarily by someone that only spend 30 minutes with them. When he was diagnosed they wanted him to be in a social and communications classroom with other children with autism. I said no he didn't need to be in there with other autistic kids because he was autistic. I felt he would pick up there bad habits like flapping of the arms or blurting out or being aggressive. We fought about this. These people didn't know my child they didn't know what was best for him. His teacher and therapist were 100% behind me on this and he was placed in an intensive academics class. Regular kids just learning at a different pace than a regular class. he was to high functioning to be put with the autistic kids. This was the best choice I ever made more my child. He just started 1st grade and is at a 3rd grade level. If he would of been in the autistic class he would probably still be at the kindergarten level with all the distractions of the issues of the other children. I forgot the reason we switched peds was because the first dr didn't think my child had any speech problems but at age two you should be talking. Atleast a few words. Hope you get all the answers your looking for for your child. It's a tough road.

Alicia - posted on 08/24/2012

My daughter had a speech delay. She was three and still was hard to understand when she would speak. She also organized things in color order all the time. She was very hyper and I was told she could have adhd. I chose to not worry and try different ways of discipline (she ran the house too). With time out, organized bed times, her speech and personality became so much better. She's sixteen now and is a normal healthy girl. I would give it time, 30 weeks is still young. Some kids just take a little longer and need some one on one time to learn things.

MamieHarding - posted on 08/23/2012

Thannks Cherish and Faye for your feedback. We have moved forward with starting speech therapy, so hopefully he will start in a few weeks. We have also moved him to another daycare that specializes in children with developmental delay and special needs. During the initial interview at the daycare, I discussed the findings with the director. She noted that my son lacks structure and is hyperactive, but she stated that he doesn't exhibit any signs or symptoms of autism. She stated that many children are misdiagnose and many facilities are slow to admit this error. Apparently, there are many potential reasons for this delay, so I feel a little better about this. I appreciate your insight and comments. Thanks a bunch!!!

Faye - posted on 08/23/2012

My oldest son has a speech delay. At 1 year he wasn't even making sounds. At age 5 we had him tested for autism at our local children's hospital. He came back with a vague Pervasive Developmental Delay, which is a fancy way of saying that he fits on the autism spectrum, but we can't be sure.



That being said, it takes more than 30-45 minutes to diagnose autism, and 30 months is really young for that diagnosis. I agree with the poster above me, see a developmental specialist. Follow your gut, get your second opinion.

Cherish - posted on 08/22/2012

You should see a developmental pediatrician.They do much more thorough testing