Hello,
I have 3 children. My 3 yr. and 2 yr. olds were diagnosed w/ speech and language delays in October of 2004, but, something was different with my 2 yr. old. To find out, he has PDD. He was diagnosed in June. I guess I'm wondering what that really means...for the future. I've been a sahm for the past 5 years and thought that I'd go back to work in a year or so, when he was in preschool, but is that realistic. Rusty (2 yr. old) was in school (Infants & Toddlers program) this summer (1 1/2 a day - 4 times a week) and it really helped. The issues he had were/are not talking, lack of interraction/eye contact with other people (outside of immediate family) and sometimes not responding when called. Since then, he interracts more with people. He still doesn't talk but he tries. I didn't want to believe this diagnosis would be forever and that he'd be normal once he could talk and that would be soon. My husband and I said that we would believe God for his healing and we still do, but if this is the plan for Rusty's life, then what next. Also, he had open heart surgery when he was 3 weeks old, another testimony. I've seen some of you who have children who are much older, so please give me some advice. Can I ever go back to work and trust my baby in someone else's hands?
Thanks in advance for your help.
God Bless!
Kelly,
Welcome to the board!! I think that going back to work would be a personal decision. There are mothers here that work and some that don't. I think both are equally great mom's regardless. Some mothers HAVE to work and some mothers choose not to or feel they can't because of their children. It would all depend on you and your personal family life and your child. Every child in this spectrum is different. When you said he was diagnosed with PDD I assume that you mean PDD-NOS and not Autism or the other diagnoses in the spectrum? IF this is the case then your son technically meets some of the criteria for spectrum disorders but not all or enough to be classified as Autism or the other ones. This would be a good thing. Not to say that your child will not have issues for the rest of his life etc...because the sad thing about all this is no one knows and every child is so different but supposively the PDD-NOS diagnosis because of the fact that these kids don't make all the critera for the others sometimes seem to have a better shot at mainstreaming etc. Early intervention is the key. ANd you are already on top of that one!! Good job mom!! Basically I just wanted to say welcome and I hope to hear more about you and yours soon. Oh...I have a 3 year old son with Autism. Take care,
Karrie
Hi Kelly,
I am new here too and found this board wonderful! My daughter Anna is almost 4 and was dx last sept. 2004 w/PDD-NOS, boderline autism w/greatest delay in speech and gross motor delay. (thats a mouthful)
It isn't easier now I think it is all just better managed. (I have said this a lot) but that is the truth of it.
The hardest thing I have found w/this is my own ability to sift through the terms the treatments the what ifs and should ofs and get a handle on my emotions. The best things I have found that helped w/speech is the signingtime videos for teaching sign language. It is done so well and so easy for kids and it helped Anna have the repetitive words and visual hand gestures. It made me stop to sign "You, want, drink?" "Do you want, milk, juice, water?" and I made her sign and say what she wanted.
OVer and over labeling everything we saw, did, done and you get...and I parallel talk "OH, your _ _ _ _ is walking up the stairs" I'd say this as she played w/toys.
THose tools helped me best in getting a grip on the speech problem. On the good days I find a lot of positive reenforcement helps. LIke today is a good day for her so when she says something fluently and correctly I praised her saying "That was good talking, mommy likes it when you talk to her" THings like that.
SOrry to go on and on. It is so hard being hit w/hurricane autism. Without an escape route you just have to buckle down and manage the chaos. THat is how I have felt about it all.
It's a lot confusing for all of us. My son is 10 and was dx'd at 2 and I am fascinated by all the info and perspectives I'm picking up here. Good for you for being here already!
I've only been here about a week but it's the best site/group I've found in 8 years.
What I did in the beginning was the traditional st and ot (sensory integration) interventions. ABA is also a very, very respected therapy. And medical. With speech and ot I watched, asked a million questions, read everything I could and it became integrated into life. You get a baseline of info and where you child is on the "spectrum" and you go from there. There are no cures, no panaceas and no one road. Every child is very different.
You are in a safe place to ask, share, freak out, be safe and supported. So glad you are here. Welcome!
pat
PDD-NOS, ABA, RDI, ASD, ADD and oh MRI, EEG, PhD, SSI, just a few of the abbriviations that are used a lot. I have felt like I am learning another language during my research.
ANNA isn't an abbrivaiation for anything...she stands for herself...is unique... is awsome...is my daughter. My daughter.
It has been a year since her diagnosis, and it is only now that I can see through the thickness of all these terms and treatments and therapy. I see her clearer now, waiting there for me, just smiling and loving her world.
Mary
PDD is Pervasive Developmental Disorder also commonly refered to now as ASD or Autism Spectrum Disorder either way PDD or ASD is the umbrella under which are five types of PDD's......Some places will say PDD for a initial dx as a way of saying they definately fall somewhere on the spectrum but they havent determined exactly where just yet... other times some doctors refer to PDD-NOS a=in a shortened form calling it just PDD..... I would certainly check with the dr and ask specifically where on the spectrum your child falls.... here is the specific DSM IV criteria for each disorder.
As far as returning to work I agree that is a personal choice..... Even in cases of severely autistic kids some people are able to return to work because they have a wonderful support system with family and friends and the respite or day help that is needed. So dont give up.
You know, I don't know if it is PDD-NOS or not. All I was told was PDD and now I've been left to find out what it all means. I've looked at sites that have said Austism is under the PDD umbrella. At the ITP location, I saw a brochure that said PDD was under the Autism umbrella. I guess I need to speak to the ped. that dx him and take it from there. It's all so new and a little confusing to be honest.
Thanks for your input.
It is overwhelming! It takes a long time to sift through it all and even then we as parents continue to learn more and more as the child gets older. There is one site I want to recommend because I think it really lays it out there - by a father of a son with autism. It is http://rsaffran.tripod.com./
The site is all about the ABA approach. ABA plus diet worked for our son but I realize that ABA is not for everyone. Still if it something you want to explore, I think this is a great site for doing that.
Hope this helps...Good luck!