Besides repetive speech. Does he flap his hands, run in circles like 10 mins, walk his fingers, spider hands, walk on tip toes? Does he act deaf, have sensory issues, sound, touch, smell, taste. lack proper play with toys
http://www.childbrain.com/pddq6.shtml
I would try another Dr. ,don't give up.
My son is VERY social. But he is still on the spectrum. I had a developmental Ped say that because he interacted with him well that he can't be Autistic. I ended up taking him to a Center that Diagnosis Autism everyday and they diagnosed him. Go with your gut. IF you don't agree with the Dx then get a second opinion.
Karrie
Thanks, I have filled out that questionnaire a few times. He ebbs and flows a bit.
He does toe-walk usually the same as the hand mannerisms. His sensory issues have all been overcome thanks to his OT - no more issues with sand, shoes, yogurt etc. No more fits about tags.
He occasionally plays with toys, getting better each day. He does set up intricate devices with cylinders, paper towel rolls and fans or windmills!
He is doing more and more imaginitive play lately. I do think the early intervention has done wonders! Although he never flapped his hands until about 9 months ago (age 2) and seems to do that more and more with the emergence of new words or excitement.
I am not sure whether to be satisfied and just let it go or to wonder if the social aspect being so strong may have caused them not to need to look deeper. I guess I am just a worried Mom. It seems everything I have ever read about motor mannerisms are connected to ASD, so I guess I found it odd that she only connects it to language delay.
Thanks
Hi, I posted way back in Nov and my son finally saw a Yale connected neuro. Not the Yale Child Study because we are still waiting and waiting and I feel okay with that because there are lots of children who need immediate attention.
Our son is now three and speaking much better after a year of therapy. He does hand flap when excited and also has some perseverative speech patterns.
After the couple hours with the Neuro, she diagnosed him with Expressive Language Disorder and childhood aphasia for his inability to recall words.
She wrote a script for speech therapy and he will be evaluated by our school program in Sept.
They said the motor mannerisms are a result of his language deficits and that he does not fall on the spectrum because he is far too social - he did cooperate fully and was very engaging with the Dr.
I think my confusion is that I know he has a speech delay and he definitely has mannerisms and also fixation with fans and certain objects. And he does repeat his own phrases over and over - is that only an outlet for his speech and how do they know for sure?
I hope this post makes sense and I appreciate any response or comments!
Sher
Sher,
Personally, it sounds like in your gut you are not satisfied with his Dx. I would say maybe get a second opinion. To me socialization is not enough reason by itself to say definitively that he is not on the spectrum... however maybe the therapy he has had helped a great deal. Best of luck to you!
Sarah never had concerning repetitive things or sensory issues other than loud noises and toe walking..No behaviors other than totally aloof and acted deaf! NO funtional speech..
She was diagnosed autistic from developmental pediatrician...personally I hated our neurologists that labelled her pdd/nos..he was arrogant and didnt want to even look at my list of concerns for her..he assessed her for like 15 minutes and that was it!
The dev. ped did a 3 hour+ eval and was super knowlegable in autism...they are the experts IMHO!
Follow your gut:)
I want to thank all that responded. We have gone great lengths to help our son get this far and have recently moved him to a sensory-friendy preschool. He has his school district eval in Sept.
I am sure too that the emergence of language has helped his social skills and confidence with peers. I also think his language has brought on the motor mannerisms as he seems to want to say everything and just can't articulate it.
My husband is much more concerned about the motor mannerisms than I am and I think regardless that we will continue to get him any services he needs - even with the fighting we may have to do to accomplish that.
I do think the Dr. wanted to play it out of the gray area for now and as long as he still gets help, I can deal with that.
Thanks again, I appreciate all of your knowledge and experience!
Sher
The important thing is that he's getting early intervention for his delays. However, since your gut is telling you there's more to the picture, keep observing him. As your child and his peers get older, the differences may become more striking and lead to an autism diagnosis.
How much extra help do you feel you or others have given him in the social area? Sometimes successful interventions can "hide" an underlying problem, and the person evaluating should be told just how much HARD WORK was required to get your child where he is today. Children typically develop with no more hard work than plunking them down in a stimulating environment. In a parenting class in our town, parents are encouraged to spend 10 minutes a day interacting with their child (in play or fun conversation, not stuff like getting dressed). Ten lousy minutes is nothing compared to the time investment most autism moms and dads put into their kids.
Good luck with everything.
I have learned so much going thru everything with my son. One thing that surprised me was how much "language" is involved in pretty much EVERYTHING. As soon as my son started speech---his other skills improved greatly. He started playing more, not as many tantrums, communicated with us more(of course!), not as quickly to frustrate, his social skills improved, etc.
My son was first dx'd at 3.5y with expressive/receptive language disorder and mixed developmental disorder. They said he had too good of eye contact and "wanted" to make friends. He got ASD ruled out. Even the SLP at the eval thought he was on the spectrum!
My son was one of those "wait and see" kind of kids. We still did speech and OT. Finally at 6y--he got dx'd HFA.