One day I’m sure..the next day I’m not... | Autism PDD
Hi There!
The thing with the spectrum is... If you've met one child on the spectrum, you've met one child on the spectrum 
It is really hard to know by reading about your child and/or comparing him to my child...
That said - if you are concerned - even only sometimes - then I'd take him to a specialist. It will either confirm your suspicions, and you can get him some help - OR - it will set your mind at ease...
That said, Check your PM box...
Welcome to our forum!
I live in Chicago. I would definitely find a developmental ped or pediatric neuropyscholgist that specialize in autism and go from there.
I second that the developmental pediatrician is the next step. Take this questionaire on your son and see what it says. http://www.childbrain.com/pddassess.html
Thank you for the websites....I appreciate it.
I have done that questionairre before. It said that he probably did have deficits. I don't remember exactly what the wording was.
Here's my question though....when I answer YES to a question it's more like a "yes, but not all the time". Does that still count??
For example....
Poor eyecontact or staring at an unusual angle? yes he definitely has a problem with this...but other times he can look you right in the eye and have a full conversation? (about dinosaurs of course! LOL)
Stubborn about rituals, resistant to change? yes, but then there are times that he will just change and stop doing a ritual and not do it again...sometimes he'll eventually replace it with another. As far as routine goes..he always wants to know the plan..but it can change and he's ok as long as I give him a heads up and explain to him why.
Do I say yes to these things ( and many others ) if sometimes he can cope and not have problems? Are these questions black and white or do they have gray area???
liza
Welcome to the forum. Don't let the urge to figure it all out slow you down -- I've made that mistake myself. To be on the safe side, take your concerns to a specialist. It's important that you find someone who's familiar with the mild, high-functioning end of the spectrum. To find out who to go to in your area, you can contact a local support group or ASA chapter (do a search using www.autismsource.org).
You're doing a great job observing your son, and that will definitely be beneficial. Online diagnostic checklists can help you prepare to share your observations with an expert -- it helps to know what kinds of questions to expect, so you can think about them and make observations beforehand. In addition to the childbrain questionnaire posted above, the Aspergers checklists linked below might be helpful.
Good luck with everything! Keep us posted.
Diagnostic checklists from the book "Parenting Your Asperger Child":
http://printables.familyeducation.com/forms-and-charts/skill -builder/51750.html - Part 1, Difficulty with Reciprocal Social Interactions
http://printables.familyeducation.com/forms-and-charts/skill -builder/51751.html - Part 2, Impairments in Language Skills
http://printables.familyeducation.com/forms-and-charts/skill -builder/51755.html - Part 3, Sensory Sensitivities
http://printables.familyeducation.com/forms-and-charts/skill -builder/51752.html - Part 4, Narrow range of interests and insistence on set routines
http://printables.familyeducation.com/forms-and-charts/skill -builder/51754.html - Part 5 - Cognitive Issues (including mind-blindness)
Developmental Pediatrician.
Good luck. You are among many with common interests! For better or worse.
http://www.autismillinois.org/
http://illinoisparents.org/stateres.html
He met most of him milestones at the apprpriate times. He has just had a lot of little quirks.
He cried a lot as a baby/toddler. There was a period between 9mo and 2yrs where I couldn't leave him hardly at all. If we would go out of town or anything he would just cry until we came home. His first word was WHALE..and he has always loved ocean life and around 3 that turned into dinosaurs too. Now EVERYTHING in his life is dinosaur.
We had his hearing tested at about 3.5 yrs and it was fine...we had wondered because sometimes we could talk to him and get no response at all.
He's a little slow with fine motor stuff. He cannot button or unbutton his pants, etc. He can write and draw but still uses a closed fist to do it. Until last April he was not at all interested in letters, books, crafts, writing...none of that. Then all the sudden he got interested in letters and within weeks he new the alphabet and could recognize everyone's name in his preschool class as well as family. He can now read at a first grade level at least. He taught himself all of that.
He's not really good at getting himself dressed and other things like that...he CAN but won't.
He's obsessed with water...loves being in it and throwing rocks in it.
He's NOT good at sharing at all. I can tell that he really wants to have friends and of course says that everyone is his friend...but he has a hard time know how to start a conversation. Or he starts it with something no one cares about..or something he has told people a million times.
He's also sensitive to sounds...he frequently needs to wear earplugs or plug his ears.
He loves "squishy" lizards and dinosaurs, especially ones with long tails. He will hold them very close to his face and look at them out of the corner of his eye while moving them slowly....he has done this since age 1.
Just when I have convinced myself that there is something definitely wrong...then he'll have a totally "normal" day or even week. He can go without showing any signs. Now he is in an at risk prek program at our public school and he is doing well. Not just well....but the teachers see NONE of this. I have visited his class room and I saw none of it too!! BUT then he gets off the bus and can hardly form sentences and spends the evening crying is someone even looks at him funny.
I think at this point I would have a hard time convincing the teachers of anything.....my ped is no good, she's part time and hardly sees him.
I have done a lot of research. I've even attended a conference by Tony Attwood about Aspergers Syndrome. I've read all these websites and book and there are parts that I say YES and others I say NO he doesn't have that.
Can you be HFA somedays and not others? LOL
What do you think????
What would you do??????
I would appreciate any help you have.
lizaI forgot to mention I live in Illinois...so if you know anything about the system here that would be great.
Thanks
lizaThank you Norwaymom for those links!
So I'll bug you all one more time with a more specific question...
If this was your child what would you do?
Right now I feel that my choices are...
find a dev. ped. and see if my ins. covers it or if I can afford it.....and they will probably be a distance from my house.
or
write a letter to the school psych. detailing my concerns and the reasons I suspect this and see if he has anything to offer me.
Do I have other choices? Is there something I'm not thinking of?
Thanks everyone.
Well, I guess I don't have a strong opinion but the school has to be on board with this no matter what, so I guess I'd start with them. They also have to respond in a timely basis, whereas a developmental pediatrician may have a looooooooong waiting list.
Cute picture, btw.
What you need to do is contact the school. However, when they do an evaluation it NEEDS to include at least TWO observations of him done OUTSIDE of school. One absolutely must be at home. They need to see how he is outside of school. I would also videotape incidents that you are talking about - this will be beneficial for everyone, but particularly for your dev ped when you go see him/her.
Document EVERYTHING. Phone calls, messages left, print out e-mails - everything.
My ds is on the very mild end of the spectrum. There are days where things go great and even now, I start to think maybe he isn't on the spectrum - and then BAM! he has a day where his symptoms fly right in my face and I wonder how I ever wondered... Today was a day that was in-between. He had some really positive moments, but when I tried to get him to sit down after school to do his homework (after a half-hour break) we had a near-meltdown.
Your child NEEDS social skills training. He may want to be social and think he has friends - but I would guess those "friends" don't consider him a friend, or at least not a good one. If he is doing nothing but talking about dinosaurs - this is not going to help him in the long run. But perhaps it is different at school? They need to get an autism specialist in his classroom observing on several occasions.
You mention lots of red flags and I would definitely be concerned. The childbrain questionnaire allows for answers that aren't black and white. I believe "1" is for resolved, "2" is for mildly, "3" is for moderate and "4" is for severe? And yes, if your child does these behaviors some of the time but not all - you need to mark 2, 3, or 4 depending on how often and how severe it is.
Welcome to the board and I hope you get some answers soon! Keep us posted - you will get lots of great advice and support here!
Snoopywoman...Your post was just what I needed this morning. It was very soothing for me for some reason. I've had a tough night...my dh and my ds are very much the same and my dh came home from his 2nd counseling appt. last night and it's quite apparent that this counselor knows nothing about aspergers or pdd-nos because he's not even considering it for my dh. I feel a little defeated right now.
Your words were very encouraging and I just wanted to say thank you.
liza
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