For what it's worth, EI (or first steps) always told me the same thing about my child also. They admitted he had a speech delay, and other issues, but did everything they could to avoid evaluating him for an ASD. An ASD dx means more therapies provided by them and more money out of their pocket.
We wrote down every little thing that seemed off to us and others..this came in handy at the doctors office when they see it all in black & white..no way can one meeting give the "whole" story of a child with autism. When you add up all the behaviors on paper they have a hard time stating it's something else. Good luck!
p.s. I still have my list and it is so rewarding to see all the things she has overcome since I initially wrote them down:)
Melomo
Give it time unless they have done a formal eval then there is no way for them to say he is not autistic. I faced that with my oldest because he is as big as he is and can carry on conversations everyone assumes he is normal. They don't see the behaviors and flags we saw and still see. You are good mom just keep fighting for what is right for your child.
The video idea sounds perfect!
In our case, when the school psych and ST came for the initial home eval, they saw DS at his best--home, comfortable, interactive, good eye contact, decent expressive language, no stimming, etc. I was so worried they would not evaluate him at school when they said they wanted to come back to the house for the second eval. I insisted they needed to do it at school, but when they left the house, I knew they were rolling their eyes and thinking I was nuts. The next week, they spent an hour trying to get DS to cooperate, to make ANY eye contact, to speak ANY words. He completely shut down on them. The psych came out, shaking her head, saying, "I've never seen anything like it. He definitely needs services." The ST, who'd worked in the schools for 18 years, said, "He completely fooled me. There are definitely receptive language issues that he's masking. Boy is he smart!" Well, duh.
You are doing the right thing in supporting the parents in this. You're so right that the lady was out of line to say he doesn't have autism on one observation.
the mom and child met with first steps yesterday for a home eval. (he is my daycare child)
the lady flat out told the mom that she didn't feel that he had autism. this was the first time she even met the child and the only visit she's done with him. he must not be doing what he does all day with me.
i'm worried they'll not push further on with more evals. there are clear red flags present daily. the mom even mentioned the word "autism" when we had our meeting. i just hope they aren't convinced by this lady's remarks.
tell me one reason why she had the right to say that without seeing him in other settings. i would hope she is more experienced than that. i don't know alot about it, but i wouldn't tell the parents without enough time to see everything.
i just feel like i'll come across as a "know it all" if i say that i think he needs to be evaluated at my house.
any comments? did any of you have anything like this happen to you?
please forgive me if i am starting to be nerve-racking!!!
Please take a video of the child's behaviour ,seeing it on film will help everyone . My son has PDD ,Aspergers type ,Moderate. But you could not come to that conclusion without seeing him in many settings ,and spending lots of time with him ,I took a video of him at 2.8 years ,stimming ,behaviour ect,It was all to clear to all who seen his video,there was no way to argue he had Autism. The parents are Lucky to have you ,Please don't give up. Linda
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