Autisum question

[AmyBWV99]

Our 4 year old has special needs not ASD at all but a neuro birth defect is in therapy, etc.

My issue is regarding my 2 year old, he's always been independent like scary independent. Will go with anyone anywhere, out of the stroller he's off, will occasionally stop if you say his name and he chooses to acknowledge you, climbs EVERYTHING. I became really concerned when he had been using words that he doesn't use anymore, his choosen form of communication is dragging you by the finger. He is saying a few things but different than before. We are haiving him evaluated in 2 weeks by 3 different specialists (thank goodness I knew where to go for evals since i got ZERO direction from my peds RN, that's another story) At his 18 month check up I mentioned how different he was to the ped but he said he sees kids that are normal act that way don't worry. But I don't see any that are as busy as he is or blatantly ignor their name being called. Most kids in his pre-class are talking in sentences, granted he is hte youngest by far in there I can't help but worry.

So I'm wondering what is an appropriate age for diagnosis?

 

[Redheaded Sunshine]

I got my son diagnosed when he was 3, it only took that long because we had to wait SO LONG to get into a specialist. I do know that they wanted/want to test my DS for Asperger's but the test is a bit more involved and takes longer, so they can't usually ACURATELY diagnose that until they are about 6 or so. Good luck.

 

[bookwormde]

AmyBWV99,

Welcome,

It does not sound like your child is way outside what is typical but having a baseline evaluation at this age is always a good idea when there are concerns.

What age a diagnosis can be made has less to do with the age of your child than the competence and experience of the clinical group doing the evaluation.

Aspergers typically gets diagnosed later than ASD or HFA because it lack the communication clues, but a really experienced clinical group can have a very good idea by the age of 2- 4, unfortunately groups with this capacity are few and far between.

Even if you do not get a formal diagnosis this go around if it is a good clinical group they will let you know where is development is not typical and make some recommendations in the interim for a good clinical path to follow to help your child.

One thing I would recommend is an auditory processing evaluation. While it is not typical to give this to a child this young there are some good clinicians (if you can find one) who can really help fill in the pieces of the puzzle with this evaluation even at this young of an age.

bookwormde

 

[KirstenB]

Our younger dd was dx'd with ASD at 21 mths. The 2 main things that were bugging me was she wouldn't answer to her own name (I was positive she had some type of hearing impairment), and had no sense of personal danger. When you'd yell "stop", like when she was getting ready to roll off her changing table, she just stared, and would occasionally laugh. She didn't understand when I was mad/worried/upset, so she didn't know how to respond the way a normal kid would.

The good news is, her speech has come a long way, and she's become rather social in her special ed preschool class. She shares her snack with friends (no prompting from teachers), and she can tell another child to "give it back, that's mine" when that child takes a toy from her.

Good luck with your son's assessment.