You have him in EI which is a big first step. It's not really about the actual diagnosis, it's about the interventions that the diagnosis can bring, at least that's my opinion. The actual diagnosis of autism isn't as important as early intervention is. You son seems to have alot of typical behavior with a few pink flags. I wouldn't call them glaring red flags though. Your best bet might be to contact a developmental pediatrician and have an evaluation done. They are trained to spot atypical behaviors. Good luck and I wish you the best with your little boy.Yes, it's getting the interventions that are important right now. I also have a ds, 27 months, he will be getting 6 hours/week in a special autism intervention class BUT he does not have a dx as autistic (genetic testing and evals being done). Anyway, in our case it's the therapy that matters at this point, not a dx.
Welcome - you're certainly doing the right stuff. EI is crucial if there is an autism dx in his future.
Not trying to scare you, but my son (dx of pdd-nos) had single words at that age to. He pointed at things or brought us to things he wanted. I didn't realize at the time that other things were not quite right. He talked enough to get his needs met but no other "engagement" with us.
I have another son who will be 2 in a few short weeks. Watching him, I realize all the things his big brother was not doing. He uses two words. He knows what we think is funny and will repeat it to get us to laugh (whether it be words or actions). He's very "engaged" with us. He's already started using pronouns (very few but he'll say "I running" or "he night night"). He understands action words - it took his big bro a long time to understand action words.
My son with pdd-nos had very poor receptive langauge. If I said "let me help you" or "let me see you jump" he would have no clue what I was saying.
With all that said, my guy will be 5 in a few weeks and has great conversations. He's doing wonderful in pre-school. He has friends and plays with his big brother all the time. He's now very "engaged".
ETA - and you're a full year ahead of me on EI.
Hi all. I have been lurking here for several weeks and have decided it’s time to jump in and get your very educated opinions. I admit to being frightened about the possibility of Autism in my son but I guess that’s a fear I will need to overcome in order to do what’s best for him. He was evaluated by EI in January, 19 months old, and found to have speech of 11 month old. Speech Therapy was started (one hour) week. Three months ago (24 months) Speech Therapist suggested OT evaluation. She felt that there were issues that were causing a short attention span. OT stated that there were minor sensory issues. OT once per week is scheduled to start next week. He is saying many single words. He uses them to label, as he points at an object and to request something at which time he also points. He will often point to me or his mother and say mama and dada. He has not used any two word phrases yet. He does talk his gibberish often and will occasionally stick a very enthusiastic “Hi” in the middle of gibberish. His eye contact seems very good. He responds to his name fine, unless he is occupied with a favorite TV show or other task. He doesn’t really do anything repetitively but he has, at times, begun spinning the wheels on his cars which he usually plays with normally. He has not used any two word phrases yet. He does seem to be truly struggling socially. If we go somewhere where there are many people he gets very shy and quiet. If given the time or if we arrive first he seems to warm up to the people around him fine. At times out in crowds he also seems uncomfortable. Lastly at times he will do this thing where he tilts his head forward, raises his shoulders, squats a bit and turns and walks away. It looks strange and really scares me as atypical behavior. Does anyone have an opinion on my little guy? He is already receiving an hour of speech and an hour of OT a week. His improvement in speech seems steady. Socially he seems about the same. Can anyone tell me what they think and what we should do next, if anything? Thank you all so very much.
I would do two things.
First, If you have not done this already, contact your local school district and ask how soon your son can get a multidisciplinary evaluation THRU THE SCHOOL DISTRICT to see if he can get Preschool Services. He MUST receive them by 36 months, but some states do the eval earlier so that all services can be in place by 36 months. If you are not getting any of your services thru EI, they will point you to EI , too.
Second, I'd expose him to the same experiences NT kids of his age get. One of the best, but most painful, things about doing this is that YOU get an idea of where he needs more help and what actually can be expected of typical 27 month olds. This will help you intervene and teach him the skills he needs.
I think that my dd's red flag at that age were (among many)
1. constant tantrumming
2. Did not progress with EI and speech therapy
3. Could not understand even 1 step verbal directions
4. No imitative play
5. No joint attention. She never pointed ..she would drag you places by the pinkie and then scream.
Your child has many strengths. Keep up with the therapy and if you still have questions, see a developmental pediatrician.
[QUOTE=mamajot]Welcome - you're certainly doing the right stuff. EI is crucial if there is an autism dx in his future.
Not trying to scare you, but my son (dx of pdd-nos) had single words at that age to. He pointed at things or brought us to things he wanted. I didn't realize at the time that other things were not quite right. He talked enough to get his needs met but no other "engagement" with us.
I have another son who will be 2 in a few short weeks. Watching him, I realize all the things his big brother was not doing. He uses two words. He knows what we think is funny and will repeat it to get us to laugh (whether it be words or actions). He's very "engaged" with us. He's already started using pronouns (very few but he'll say "I running" or "he night night"). He understands action words - it took his big bro a long time to understand action words.
My son with pdd-nos had very poor receptive langauge. If I said "let me help you" or "let me see you jump" he would have no clue what I was saying.
With all that said, my guy will be 5 in a few weeks and has great conversations. He's doing wonderful in pre-school. He has friends and plays with his big brother all the time. He's now very "engaged".
ETA - and you're a full year ahead of me on EI.
[/QUOTE]
Mamjot,
Thanks for your reply. My guy will dance if we ask him to and loves to play chase, although he doesn't know what do do when he catches us. If he calls to us we'll ask him if he needs help and if he does he says hep , hep, hep. He can also follow most two part directions. He receptive language seems to be and tested very good by EI. When he hears something he will look to where the sound came from look at us and say ooooo.
Hi there -
My little guy who just turned 3 started giving me red flags around 27months.
With being on wait lists - we started speech and OT a few months ago and finally got in to see a neurologist who was heistant to put any label on him as yet.
I would say what you are doing is a good start and like someone else said - get an eval from a developmental ped.
My DS was doing things I thought were typical boy behaviors but found out through research they are sensory seeking - Always distracted by planes and lawn mowers, puts hands to face, smashes into pillows and blankets...also started hand leading..these are more red flags I just recently picked up on.
It sounds like you DS has many strengths - that they will build on through therapy - as long as you aware of what could or could not be - you are on the right track!!!!
Looks like you are certainly doing all the right things -
Its not really the daignois but what your son needs - This philosophy takes a ver long time to sink in ( atleast it did for me- I am slow
The big thing in getting a diagnosis is that it qualifies you to receive ABA which is pretty amazing
Your ds sounds not unlike my son at that age. Only I was unfortunatly not