Hi to everybody.
I am new to the forum and I need some help.
I am a father of 3y9m old boy. We are from Easter Europe. We dont' speak english fluently, so please do not pay attention on my grammar mistakes.
My son has speach delay and excessive echolalia somethimes, he aligns objects frequently and he does tantrums from time to time.
When he was 3 years old he barely spoke few words. If we(me and his mom) ask him "What is your name" he would reply "name" if we ask him "how old are you" he would reply "old" Then all of a sudden between 3y 3m and 3y 6m his vacabulary increased. He was abe to reply to questnions, and he was able to make simple sentences on english and on our own language. The sentences were not correct, but close enoug, for example "open door" instead of "open the door". He would say his name than "want play" or "want eat" He stoped repeating words, for a mometn we thougt that he is going to be OK. Then the last month he started repeating words again an just talking words from his vacabilary without any meaning or not appropriate with the current situations.
Something more about my kid, he can play some computer games. He can play the biult in game in Windows Vista (the purple place- the game with the cakes) he can not start it, but once started he can play it. We have racing wheel for computer games with cars, he can drive the car with the wheel at about 35-40 miles/hour without crashing it, he is just steering the wheel I aplay the breaks and the throtle pedals, he doesn't know how to use these. Also he can play one other game called "Air Strike II" he flies a helicopter in 2D space, but I make him invincible otherwise the game is going to kill him. He doesn' ask any question. If he want to ask "What is this" he is pointing with his finger and saying "LOOK !!" which means "What is this" and I have to tell him the name of the object.He knows how to count to 10 but he doesn know the meaning of the numbers except may be for one and two. Last night I was telling him that he is my little sunshine, and he took that litteraly, because he said "there no Sun" ommiting "IS" There wasn't any Sun because was late night.
I want to bring him to a doctor for evaluation, but I don't know where to go. Could someone help me with the address/phone of a doctor in Chicagoland area and/or Northwest suburbs?
Also does anyone of you know or could recomend any DAN doctors? I found a list
on that web site http://www.autismwebsite.com/ari-lists/danus.html
Thank you
p.s. I did search the forum under State/Country Resources for Illinois and I did find 3 links, but nothing that could help me, that is why I am writing here beceuse I saw it has more activity
Thank you for the reply
We went to her, she give as the numbers of some pediatricians in University of Chicago, but there is a waiting list of couple of months, as far as I understand ( Icould be wrong)
I was more looking for a place where I can walk in or make an apontment for the next few days and some specialist could evaluate my son.
He was not going to daycare, his mom was taking care for him at home. We signed him for a preschool that starts this September, but we don't know what is going to happend.
A couple of months is not that bad of a wait for an evaluation at a place that is credible. Some people wait a year. Get on that list...and in the mean time you do not have to have a diagnosis to get therapies or help for your child. Contact the local school district and tell them you want an evaluation done on your child because you believe that he hs delays and needs help. They will evaluate him and if he qualifies he will start getting services. THe public schools are the ones that service our children from the age of 3 and up if they have any delays. This is all free and they get preschool and other therapies starting at 3 in most districts so you would not have to pay. Before three years is is a different program but I see that your son is over 3. Still stay on the list for the other place though for a possible medical diagnosis which could also be helpful in the long run. Take care,
Karrie
I'm an American living in Norway, so I can understand what an extra stress it is to deal with child development professionals in your non-native language. I hope you're able to get help soon, and make sure you contact your local school district to get your child services right away, if you have not done so already.
In finding local resources, your best bet is probably the Autism Society of America. Here's a link to their Chicago chapter.
http://209.200.89.252/search_site/chapter_detail.cfm?program _id=923
You can also search the ASA's database of local resources, providers, services and support. Just enter where you are and check "medical and diagnostic" to come up with a list.
http://209.200.89.252/search_site/
The above addresses look weird, I know. Their main webpage is here:
http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer
Here are a few other lists of various contacts in IL, which might be helpful:
http://www.nichcy.org/stateshe/il.htm
http://www.yellowpagesforkids.com/help/il.htm
Good luck with everything.
Only a couple MONTHS? Here (Kansas City) the choice is one place wit ha wiat of one YEAR; the other is SIX MONTHS!xpact - did you sign him up for a 'regular' preschool, or is this a special education preschool? If it's not a special education preschool, you should call your local public school system and request and evaluation for possible inclusion in a special education class. The school will comply with the request within 60 days (usually sooner) and will administer a set of assessments to determine your child's special needs. Should he qualify for special educational services (and it sounds like he will), you'll be provided with educational therapies at no cost through the school system. That would be where I'd focus first before worrying about a medical diagnosis. It's more important to get started with the educational therapies to address whatever defecits he has, rather than trying to get a proper diagnosis. That can come later, but the sooner you start with the therapies, the better.
I would encourage you to visit a mainstream medical doctor before pursuing alternate therapies, as well. If you rush into alternate therapies, you'll be at risk to exposing yourself to uneccessary risk and expense. If you wish to pursue alternate therapies down the road, you'll want to come forearmed with the theories that underlie their therapies so that you can make an informed decision as to whether or not you want to pursue such things. This can take time, but you want to be very cautious if you start seeking alternate therapies.
Waiting lists for the type of drs who diagnose autism usually have some type of waiting list. A couple of months is actually pretty short, many wait 6 months or more.
Is this preschool a regular preschool that you have signed him up for? Are they aware that you suspect autism and that there are delays? If they are not aware of this, I would get on the internet, find your local school district and call the number for special ed. Might be called something else, like ESE. Tell them you have a 3 year old that has speech delays among other things and has some red flags for autism. you have an appt with a specialist but that isn't for a couple of months. You would like to know what you need to do to get him evaluated through the school district for services and placement. Also let them know who you have signed up for preschool with. That may or may not have to be changed. Also be aware that the school's evaluation is seperate from a drs. The school does not diagnose, they just determine if the child qualifies for services and then they provide those services. So you might want to actually do both.
It's also worth mentioning that a school's evaluation can be as good or better than the evaluation from a medical doctor. Our school evaluation for my daughters included a mutlidisciplinary team (teacher, school psych, school SLP, and a PhD psychologist) and they used the same assessments that a medical doctor would use (ADOS, CARS) for diagnosising autism in addition to the tests to test for things like language delay and motor skills delays. The result was not a medical diagnosis, but an educational lable of 'autism' - but it is as accurate an assessment as I could have hoped for - very thorough. I did follow up with a medical doctor to screen for the 'known causes' that underlie autistic behaviors in rare cases, and that's worth doing, imo.Hi Xpact - I live in Chicagoland as well... (m)I went the Univ of Chigo route initially as well but then most of the entire psych department left and went to Univ of IL at Chicago where Dr. Leventhal heads and is world-renowned in autism. Call his office and get on their list to see anyone available to dx your son.
|
Bennett Leventhal, M.D. |