I just posted elsewhere about this -- I wonder CONSTANTLY. But ... T needs help and is getting it. Just have to take a practical stance, for now.
Well, my Jason is pretty obviously autistic. However, I have been told that treating Jason more or less like my other boys has actually been good for him.
Having so many people in the house, and so much activity, has created a pretty -uh- dynamic environment for him.
He's making some improvements, but not on a consistent basis, and his langugage skills don't exist, for the most part. But he's trying to interact with his brothers to a limited extent, and that's great.
At this point, it's difficult to know, but I know this: if nothing else he would need help with his speech. He's quite young, and maybe maturity will help him in some other areas, but I don't think he'd make a lot of progress without some speech therapy. At least, the things we've tried aren't working. *shrug*
Funny thing about what you say, check out my new post . Coming out of Autism Spectrum. I agree with Fred and Snoopywoman on much of what they say. Ali is very high functioning and she DEFINITELY BELONGS ON THE SPECTRUM. Many days she could almost pass for an NT kid...but there are days when no way in heck can she fit in or function well enough in any setting really. Yesterday happened to be one. Days like that, people in public ask if she is "retarded" or make comments about how "bad" she is. Without the dx, the accomodations she sometimes DESPERATELY needs would not be made for her. I do not care about the label. I think the autism & SPD are part of who she is/how she is made so to speak. I am grateful for the dx because then I can help others understand why she behaves the way she does, why she has trouble understanding & paying attention, etc. I do not want to "fix" my daughter, I do not want to use excuses, and I do not want to gain special recognition because of her disorders, BUT I do want to help her deal with her environment and be healthy and happy, get any help she needs, and demand respect & understanding from the NT world for her.Well, I for one (even though my child is very high-functioning) am very grateful for the diagnosis. We have gotten help we would have not otherwise gotten. Ds would never have been able to go to Head Start and that program did wonders for him last year. He is still about a year behind socially, but he is not the typical 1/3 of the age behind (that would be 2 years behind for him). So to me, that is HUGE progress. We shall see what happens in kindergarten - which is starting to terrify me as it starts in a little over 2 months! I just don't know how he will do. It could be great, it could be a disaster, or it could more likely be somewhere in between.
I believe the DSM-V will be more inclusive and may include Non-Verbal Learning Disorder. Last I heard that was still being debated. I think there are plans to clarify the PDD-NOS diagnosis - but who knows if that will really happen and if it will truly clarify it. It's not happening for another 4 years or so, so I will cross that bridge when we come to it.
My son has issues and I am glad for the help we get. Do I hope that he grows out of his diagnosis - I'm not sure. I have mixed feelings about that. I love who he is and I love his quirks. But, I would like him to be able to function independently of me when he gets older. I see that happening more and more each day. I thought that the move would cause him to regress and we saw that for about a week and a half (during which time we couldn't find his fish oil either, so it's hard to say the cause). But he is doing great now! We have our moments and the PDD-NOS really hits me full in the face on those occasions. That's when I'm glad for a diagnosis. We have the right to ask for (and receive) accommodations in order to help him learn and also to get him extra services. Without those, I think everyone's lives would be MUCH more difficult!
You know I have been wondering the same thing, especially after reading that article Tzoya posted awhile back about is there really an increase in ASD or just an increase in the diagnoses, with the definition broadening, and more money being dedicated to it. Funny how money is always involved isn't it. Lets give it a label so we can get funds for it. I saw the dr bill when he diagnosed the boys as ASD Wed and he charged 0 for that diagnosis along with other charges each. It did make me wonder. Especially when he would ask me a question and then argue with my answer because my answer didn't follow the ASD criteria. he had them diagnosed before we even walked in the door. They are speech delayed, so of course they are now socially delayed, they never use to be. So while they love interacting with kids they can't have a conversation about the latest toy and what it does. Does that make them autistic? The dr tells me yes. I'm not so sure. I think it makes them speech delayed. I have known tons of kids like my kids who spoke late and they were never diagnosed with anything. And grew up to be pretty normal adults. I have a sister who has been a nurse for the past 25 years and she doesn't think a whole lot of drs. Says they have this need to label everyone, even if the label really doesn't improve the quality of life. They have to find a label for everything that isn't "normal". I think about that alot too. I take the diagnosis with a grain of salt. I'm not sure the boys really belong there. But I am not really going to worry about it, it will give them extra therapies insurance otherwise wouldn't pay for.fred,
Sometimes I feel like you are inside my mind but are able to express my thoughts much better than I have them organized!
I sometimes wish I didn't know and perhaps I am being selfish this summer - but we are not doing much in the way of anything this summer. Besides swim lessons (which EVERY child should take, IMO!) and horseback riding (okay, not totally common for a boy - but he LOVES it!) we really aren't doing anything else. No OT, no PT, no social skills groups. He gets to go play outside and he is playing a LOT with the twins down the street - and usually very appropriately so. I do monitor his behavior when they are all over here - but I'm not being nearly as hovering as I normally am. Perhaps moving has been good for me too?
I guess in some ways we are just taking the summer off and it has been really nice and relaxing. I still do a few activities each day - working on fine-motor stuff in creative ways. Today ds wanted to make a sign for the bathroom so people would know not to go in when he was in there. He wrote it himself and did it over at least twice. So, there was handwriting for the day!
I usually way over-analyze and worry. In fact, I worry that I worry too much (
It will be interesting what they will come up with next when redoing the DSM-IV (DSM-V). Maybe our kids will drop off the dx?
I doubt it, since the spectrum has become more inclusive with every new version. It's probably more likely that we'll be able to join them on the spectrum :)
Seriously, though, people are good at picking up patterns and classifying things, and kids who earn an ASD diagnosis typically have a set of common traits and mannerisms that land them in the same bucket. It just gives a way for the educational system to classify the kids so that they are taught in ways that have been shown to be effective in teaching kids like them and so that they recieve accomodations to help them deal with certain stresses and impairments that are common to kids like ours.
It's quite likely that some of the kids here will "grow out" of their diagnosis, in that they will no longer exhibit behaviors that led to their diagnosis in the first place. However, this probably doesn't mean anything more than the child has learned skills to help them 'fit in', and is not neurotypical anymore than Dustin Hoffman is autistic.
I doubt my girls will ever present as 'typical' because they have many autistic traits, and thus many more things to "surpress" and many more skills to learn and probably less motivation to do so. I think their future looks to be one of 'eccentricity' if not obvious disability, which is ok with me :)
Our kids that are high functioning-----are they really on the spectrum? Or is it just their personality? Have we made these kids get a label because of their personality differences?
Sometimes I wish I never knew! I wish I could have just gotten thru those younger years without help from Drs or meds.
At times I feel I have failed my son trying to "fix" him---when it's his personality. Why couldn't I have just left him alone and let him "grow-out" of it.
I often wonder if he will have this dx label when he is older......
Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with Adam or any of our kids, but I suspect that most kids who have been diagnosed as being on the spectrum, indeed belong there. It is a clinical diagnosis, so if the exhibit the behaviors, then they earn that diagnosis. If they behaved like typical kids, they wouldn't have been assessed, nevermind diagnosed. Also, I think most of us definitely over analyze our kids with the diagnosis. I too sometimes wonder if 'not knowing' would have been better, since the knowledge of their disorder hasn't led to any earth shaking therapies or lifestyle changes - mainly, just added a good deal of stress and anxiety and fear - fear that may not be warranted - but only time will tell.
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