Do you think she has autism? | Autism PDD
Hi! It sounds like your daughter has a lot of great qualities. As someone who has worked with autistic children, I'm sure you know your daughter's attempts at initiating play, her pretend reading, her babbling, and her good eye contact are all really great things.
For my youngest son, lack of language development was the biggie. However, he's never had an ear infection in his life. I'm wondering if your daughter's ear infections may have affected her hearing, and that's the reason for her lack of language and difficulty following directions at times.
Best wishes to you.
My question is this? Can you get her any interventions now without an
official dx? No words worry me. My son had maybe two words 24months
and a different two words at 28 months. He did not orient to his name
either. He however had great eye contact especially with new people. In my
heart I knew before he was 2 that he did have autism. There are some
signs. Your daughter seems to have some play skills which is good. My son
did not pretend play but he would also get up and dance. I would push for
early intervention because she is delayed language wise.
To answer a few of the questions posted:
I have has a hearing test done and it came back normal, so hearing problems are out the window.
We did take her to one ST appointment but the girl didn't seem to know what she was doing. She locked my daughter up in a room of toys, restricted what she had access to, let my daughter see that we were outside and then was ready to tell us she had concerns about autism after 15 minutes of my daughter not complying with her requests. So, needless to say we are searching for a speech therapist.
I have never really seen "mild" cases of autism so I was wondering if the language delay, even though her teacher says it seems to be emerging, is enough to put her on the spectrum given she is very social? Is it possible to have receptive problems as a result of not having language?
PDD/NOS
from the information above she does not fit the criteria for autism but may just get pdd/nos
shell
My ds has pdd-nos and would be considered mildly impaired. He was not
diagnosed until age 7. He had a speech delay by about a year. What I
noticed mostly was that he did not seem to comprehend the meaning of
language.He did seem to undersstand what questions ment for example,
He also has a big head and did not start walking till 15 month. He always
was on the late end developmentally but he always got there. He was
always very affectionate and very socially interested. The main problem is
more that he does not always read right what people want or does not
know how to approach other adults or kids the appropriate way. I knew
something was not quite right from when he was 18month old but it took
a long long time for me to put my finger on what it was.
It is a terrible feeling when it dawns on you that not all seems right with
your child. It won't always feel that way. I can't tell you hat your dd has,
but pdd-nos or a milder form of autism but it sounds like a possiblity.
I know it is very hard to do but try not to focus to much on the correct
label for now but look at the ways you can help your daughter catch up
on her delays. Keep her engaged with you as much as possible in ways
that build joint attention - games in which you share back and forth or in
which she has watch your faces for clues (peek-a-boo being a simle one
or hiding games ). Read 'The child with special needs' by S. Greenspan
which is an excellent book on how to engage and nurture any child that
needs a little extra.
Come back here and ask as much as you want.
I am a mother of a 22 month old little girl. We are currently going through a plethora of testing with no solid information coming in. Both my husband and myself have worked with children with autism for years. Being faced with Ella's possible diagnosis has us devestated and unable to make any solid determinations. We have doctors and CBA's from all over the state coming to observe her two weeks from now but I find myself just really wanting to hear one way or another just to be able to function. Here is a few little things about Ella that have us going around in circles to figure it out, please let me know what you think:
-She has no language at 22 months. She babbles all the time, pretends to read books, makes all the consontant and vowel sounds apparent in emerging language.
-She makes strong eye contact with people she is familar with
-She will only respond to her name about 70% of the time, especially if there are competing things in the environment
-If we give her a simple instruction she only seems to understand it 20% of the time though she always seems to look at us, then look around to try and figure out what we are saying
-She is extremely affectionate with people she knows, she laughs a lot, and will even try to initiate little games or reading books
-She had about 6 ear infections throughout her life and had a huge head just like her dad
-She has fallen at the end of each developmental scale such as walking or sitting up, but that has always been attributed to her head size
-She interacts with other children by bringing them books or dancing when they begin to dance, grabbibng their hand to go somewhere, etc...BUT is it age apprpriate
-Some say she has a problem with pretend play, but she plays dress up
-She does have a short attention span of only a few minutes but will watch an entire episode of Mickey Mouse or an entire show at a theme park
I guess I could go on all day long but I am hoping someone has some comparisons to other children her age with or without autism as I am not experienced with autism at such a young age. My husband has been so upset that he has almost ceased to function and I just would love if someone could give me their thoughts. Thanks
However, I do congratulate you on trying to figure out what is going on now. I felt the same way when my daughter was 2, but waited until pre-school when she was 4 to see if it was just 2 year old behavior...etc
Of course my suspicions were correct and she missed out on many early intervention services. I could smack myself in hindsight.
Good luck and I hope you find the answers you are looking for.
I'm hoping that you have had her hearing checked. I'm sure that tzoya, who is a member on this board, will put in her two cents as she has a son with a hearing loss, who also has Asperger's. But, it is my understanding that some of what you are describing could also be the result of a hearing loss. If you haven't gotten her hearing checked - and not just by a pediatrician, but by an audiologist - then please get it done ASAP!
I see some red flags in what you are saying - but I also see a lot of strengths. It's hard to tell from your post if her interaction with other kids is age-appropriate. I think it's great that she is trying to grab their hands and also that she is imitating what they are doing. The fact that she is trying to engage them is huge. My ds did not do that much at that age. I'm not even sure my dd did! She was aware of other kids, but very reserved and that has changed dramatically in the last few months since we moved - thank goodness!
Go to www.childbrain.com and take the PDD questionnaire - it will give you a better indication. Her eye contact sounds good - does she not make any with people she doesn't know at all? At this age, that's hard to say. The short attention span is pretty typical of a child who is 2 or less as well.
Huge head size can be associated with autism, but it can also just be genetic. Both my kids have huge heads, but one is NT. Both were also born over 10 pounds - which may have contributed in part to the huge head (and no I did not have a C-section!). We attributed both kids crawling and walking late to their big bodies - my ds crawled at 9 1/2 months, my dd at 10 1/2 months (but she army-crawled at 7 months). Both kids walked a few days before they were 14 months old. I walked at 16 months old, so this did not concern me at the time. I'm not sure if she should be able to understand directions at this time, but I think that is supposed to start emerging around 2. I know there are lots of developmental checklists that have been posted - you may want to search for those on this board.
I would say from your description that if she does have autism, she is pretty high-functioning - even though she doesn't have language yet. Obviously, you will be getting her into speech therapy as well. My main concern is her hearing - I really wonder if she has a hearing loss from what you are describing.
I just wanted to add that it is hard when you work with kids not to scrutinize every little thing that YOUR child does and over-analyze it. It also happens when you already have one child on the spectrum and then have another - trust me. Don't forget to enjoy your daughter as she is a precious gift and you will never get this time back with her.
Oh! And welcome to the board - I'm glad you found us and I think you will find that people here are very caring and supportive in addition to being able to provide you with a wealth of information!
I believe there is something called receptive/expressive language disorder as well as something like semantics pragmatic disorder. They sound a lot like autism to me, but some docs give these diagnoses.
Some of our kids are very social - just not appropriately so. I just want to make sure that you saw an audiologist - not just a routine hearing test. With six ear infections though - I would be surprised if you hadn't seen one. My dd had more than that and she had three different audiology exams to make sure that the infections hadn't damaged her hearing - and it hadn't. We didn't think so but wanted to make sure.
I would definitely look for a new speech therapist!
Hi! I just want you to know that finding out your child has Autism is devistating. BUT, once you get through the intital grief period, it will be easier and more positive. Not easy, but it will get better.
As far as red flags, I think the fact that she has no language at almost 2 is a big red flag. My DS was 22 mo. before he said anything but babbling. Not mama, dada, nothing. His first word was bug. He has mild/moderate Autsim and is doing fine, even though he had no intervention.
As the others have posted,your DD has a lot of good strenghts. With intervention I think she will be just fine! Many people on this board had children who were pretty severly affected and through intervention, their children are doing GREAT! Shelley's beautiful daughter Sarah is just one of them.
What really helped me is researching Autism and reading every thing I put my hands on about it. The more I knew, the less I was scared or felt helpless. Perhaps you can gently nudge your DH to do that, if he wants to. We all have to deal with it on our own way, so if he needs to grieve, or if you need to grieve, allow yourself to do that. HUGS to all of you!
Thank you all so much. I really appreciate all of the responses. I know I can handle it if she is in fact diagnosed with autism, but it is not knowing that is killing me. I have access to all the best care but it's just finding out what direction to head in that seems to be the problem. It is so hard to say because just when I start to face the fact she might have autism I ask her a question like "give me a kiss" and she comes over and does it. I am hoping for the best but preparing for what may be coming. Again, I appreciate it and I am so glad I have found a group like this.Sounds like she has a few red flags like lack of speech and some that seem to be partial, like not always responding to name, and not always seeming to inderstand what you say.Does she have repetitive behaviors like flapping or tiipytoe walking? or odd play interests? or difficult behaviors? or restricted diet? or sensory issues like touching things in an odd manner, smelling things, covering ears and being sensitive to sound or light or textures?
From what you said and if she doesn't have any of the things I mentioned, I'd say she is at risk but certainly not glaringly obvious. I'd like to know more about her and see some video before having an opinion.
Have you done any of the screening tests like childbrain?
OH Also have you done the MCHAT? It's hard to tell at such a young age. i also worked with Children with
moderate to severe autism for years before i had my own child. he is on
the mild end of the spectrum, and though i knew in my heart something
was "different" I couldn't really define it as autism right away. He had
great eye contact with us and hit his infant milestones within the "normal
range" (though late-ish for motor skills) his real issues weren't
universally apparent until he was nearly 3. He was referred by his first
pre-school teacher for evaluation at 2.5, but that was because she had
two sons on the spectrum and was very attuned to his problems. The
evaluators found nothing, and he was not officially dx'd until after 3.
I think if you are concerned about any areas of your daughter's
development, the best thing to do would be to get services for her
(speech and OT) as son as you can, and keep in contact with early
intervention. Our kids all have their own developmental paths, and you
may not have an answer of a proper dx until she is a bit older. But, I say
trust your gut. If you know she needs extra support and attention, get it
in place. If that means you have to push for a dx (even a pre-mature one
or a temporary one) then do it. If you can get her the extra help she
needs presently without a dx. then go that route.
My son was still within the late normal range for most things at 2.5. By
3.5 his delays were OBVIOUS.
All kids can benefit from special attentions and interventions--it's a good
place to focus your energy.
The most important thing is to identify delays and address them, a definitive diagnosis may have to wait a year or more.
The following topic on our forum has links to free search services where you can find experts in the United States (if that's where you live). There's one that is specifically for speech therapists, while other search services cover various specialties plus Early Intervention in your state.
http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=19141&am p;KW=expert
I'd also like to tip you about an excellent site for developmental milestones -- the Center for Disease Control/American Academy of Pediatrics' lists. Here's the one for 24 months:
Good luck with everything, and welcome to the forum.
I think she has some good skills.With that said, I am getting my 2 year old evaluated. He has about 10-15 words phrases. He has a lot of strengths (follows point, looks at me when playing, etc), but he only responds to name 1/2 the time. With my 5 year old having PDD-NOS dx and y 3 year old being eval. , I thought I should get him looked at. Although, I really do think they are going to say his issue is more a speech/language thing. But, I figured it couldn't hurt to have him looked at.
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