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Best time for autism testing? Update 8/24


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  You said it was done at 23 months, is there a time when its "too late?" 

 

If there is, it's not listed in the section on tympanostomy (the medical name for the procedure) in my intro to audiology textbook. I'm not an audiologist or ENT doctor, however.

 

The anatomy of the middle ear does change as the child grows and the Eustachian tube becomes more vertical. That allows for better drainage and a reduced risk of middle ear infections. Also, the child's immune system becomes stronger as antibodie develop against germs that he/she has encountered before.

 

The risk of the procedure is low and the potential benefits are high in a child considered at risk for recurrent ear infections. As a future SLP, I would encourage the families of my clients to proceed with it if an ENT recommends having it done.

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I don't know about ages.  I would consider asking about that on the chat board. 

 

His current behavior sounds a lot like my son, when he was that age.  But it is also how 3-year-olds can act. 

 

My son was not able to say he hurt or didn't feel good when he started ABA, and that is something that we worked on.

 

This is the advice I got:  anytime that you SEE him get hurt and you KNOW he is hurt, point to the place that is hurt, say "owie" or "boo boo" (or whatever), and try to help him to point and say it if you can.

 

This is literally how we taught my son to point and say something hurt.

 

If we saw him fall (or whatever) but didn't see exactly where he hit, and there was no mark, it was so heartbreaking to have him sit and cry, and not know where it hurts.  But he did pick it up fairly quickly once we started teaching it this way. 

 

Just a thought. 

 

Things that are "internal" like a headache or stomachache are a lot harder to teach, and may be harder for kids to identify what is wrong exactly, they may just know they feel bad.  But that is how 3-year-olds can be, too!  They may not even know they are hungry or need to use the restroom, and just be a 3-year-old being a 3-year-old. 

 

I hope you can find out at the appointment, and that he does good at the appointment!

 

 

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I have thought about this another minute, and I think that spinning can be associated with ear fluids.  I think it can relieve the pressure. 

 

I feel like I have heard this, I think I was told this wrt some head shaking my son did. 

 

Last year my son hurt his mouth and was in some pain from it for about two weeks.  He split his gum and had a tooth pulled at the dentist.  Well -- it was a bit of a hard time, but I did get to see how he acted when he was hurt.  Even though he is so much better at communicating now, it still give me a little bit of relief like "now I will know it when I see it."  I could not tell at first when the Tylenol was wearing off, but then I could see it as soon as it started to wear off.

 

It can be hard to tell, so whenever I *know* he is sick, b/c he has a fever, or his brother and sister are sick, then I do try to really pay attention to how he is acting. 

 

I do want to say, I hope you are going ahead with scheduling any autism-related appointments, just in case.  I think it is worth going ahead with doing that, just because I think it is a good thing to do. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Lecka
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I looked back, and the bumping into things ----- maybe there is a loss of balance associated with fluids in his ears. 

 

I think it sounds sensory-seeking, too, so maybe it is sensory seeking.

 

But maybe he does have a loss of balance.

 

I think it is worth asking/mentioning it at the doctor. 

 

 

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I think, too, hitting his head and rocking are also things that could a sign of ear pain.

 

It is vague ------ and it is maybe/maybe not in a huge way ------- but I would mention it. 

 

And definitely make sure the doctor knows, don't "expect" him to be saying "this hurts, that hurts," and count him as "well that doesn't hurt, or he would say it hurt."  It is something to let the doctor know, I think. 

 

I think, too, it might be worth it (maybe later in the month or next month) to call EI back, and share with them that he has some things that are a combination of new, and things they haven't seen before.

 

The scripted language is something, the spinning, I think are things where, if he wasn't doing that before or they haven't seen him do it ----- they are things where maybe it will sound like autism and maybe you can go back in to see if he qualifies for more services now.

 

It is also possible, if you are not happy with the speech therapist you are assigned, to ask for a different one. 

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He is not currently receiving services. We're waiting on an eval appt with the school system and I am waiting to hear back from the autism center and private Pysch we were referred to.

 

The frequency of the physical behavior is new, in the past 3 months. He's been saying his little knock knock script since he was 18 months. Whenever he was upset or wanted to change the subject or just wanted to talk. His immediate echolalia could be chalked up to his language delay. We'll just have to see. Either way, he clearly needs a good speech therapist, and some OT maybe. I will be sure to fully investigate his ears and consider ENT after our audiology visit. He is just so totally different that any 3 yr old I've ever encountered. It's so hard to know what is within the range of normal.

Edited by Joyful Journeys
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The physical behavior being recent doesn't sound like autism to me but it does raise a "red flag" for ear problems. I'm not a psychologist, physician, audiologist, or Applied Behavioral Analyst, however. I'm just a mom with life experience and a halfway complete bachelor's in Communicative Disorders. :tongue_smilie:

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You said it [ear tubes] was done at 23 months, is there a time when its "too late?"

 

I got ear tubes when I was 10 (I was by far the oldest kid in the ward). They did help, though within a couple of years my hearing got a little worse again, though not bad enough for the GP to refer me back to the ENT. That said, if toddler/preschooler is having hearing issues, the longer those issues aren't addressed, the bigger of a language delay is likely to occur, so the sooner the better. I was old enough that my hearing problems didn't affect my language development, but when most of the social scene takes place in a noisy school cafeteria, it is bad for your social life.

 

I currently hear much better with one ear than the other. Standing on one side or the other of me doesn't usually matter all that much though. It's very obvious when I'm lying in bed with one ear on the pillow, or talking on the phone.

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The physical behavior being recent doesn't sound like autism to me but it does raise a "red flag" for ear problems. I'm not a psychologist, physician, audiologist, or Applied Behavioral Analyst, however. I'm just a mom with life experience and a halfway complete bachelor's in Communicative Disorders. :tongue_smilie:

More than me, I'll take it!

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Well his ears were clear for this assessment. I'm not sure what to do? He has only had 3 distinct ear infections last year and his hearing as of today and back in September is and was fine. I can't see a doc recommending tubes. It makes so much sense to me, but I don't have any tangible proof.

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I think there are still ways to follow up with your doctor, especially if he seems like he is having more symptoms. Or see about allergies? My older son has a bunk bed and sleeps on the bottom bunk, and sometimes I forget to dust and then he wakes up congested and I dust the slats and stuff of the top bunk, and I get a ton of dust.

 

I am having trouble with links, but I am wondering if you have watched any videos where they show kids playing and things, and point out autism traits. It was really helpful for me.

 

I don't know exactly what video I watched, but I googled Kennedy Krieger autism video, and there was one showing early signs. It looks really good.

 

http://autismnavigator.comI think this is also early signs videos.

 

I have already linked a book I think is really good, the one that is a bright start or an early start for your child with autism.

 

There is a woman I really, really like who works with kids who are toddlers and in pre-school, and she has quite a few videos, and a book, and she has an e-book now.

 

When my son was younger, she only had about 3 videos and one book. Those are the main things I have seen with her.

 

Now she has expanded with more videos and stuff.

 

But she is more for someone who is already pretty confident it is autism, and wants to do ABA. That is where I was when I read her book, but I think some things would have been big turn-offs for me a year earlier.

 

There is a whole thing with the verbal behavior approach (which is ABA) where you help kids learn to ask for things they want.

 

Then as their ability to ask for things they want improves, some difficult behaviors decline.

 

This is based on the idea that some difficult behaviors are a result of not being able to ask for things.

 

There is more to it than that, but this is what was recommended for my son, and it was a really good fit for him.

 

But if you want to see videos of how people would do ABA with little kids, she does have videos like that.

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http://autismnavigator.comI think this is also early signs videos.

 

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I have looked at countless videos, but this site is amazing. They have really nice comparisons that show some of the more subtle things that I would not notice. Where I read the dsm and say oh no he doesn't do that, or he can definitely do this, but then see that criterion very briefly in a not so glaring way in a video is super helpful. It has given me a lot to think about. I see my son in quite a few of the situations. Edited by Joyful Journeys
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  • 1 month later...

I just wanted to thank everyone again for their input. Things are about the same or worse around here unfortunately. He easily qualified for special Ed prek in the fall, being a full year or more behind in all areas except motor skills. We had our intake meeting at TEACCH, the local university autism center, and they recommended coming back for a full day eval. We'll find out the results on Aug 24th.

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The hard part is taking those steps.  It doesn't get easier, but at least you'll have more company and people helping you.  

 

Glad you're getting connected with good resources!  So that was your ps intake?  Have you also done your county developmental disabilities or EI?  I know it's crazy, but things are separate.  So the county can help, the ps can help, etc.  The county developmental disabilities board can give you more resources.  That university center sounds really good.  That's what you want, very thorough, multi-disciplinary evals.  It will give you a ton of info and help you advocate for him.

 

Keep going!  You're doing the right thing!   :)

 

Oh duh, just reviewed and realized you've already brought in EI.  Well glad you're getting everything connected and eval'd.  

Edited by OhElizabeth
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The hard part is taking those steps. It doesn't get easier, but at least you'll have more company and people helping you.

 

Glad you're getting connected with good resources! So that was your ps intake? Have you also done your county developmental disabilities or EI? I know it's crazy, but things are separate. So the county can help, the ps can help, etc. The county developmental disabilities board can give you more resources. That university center sounds really good. That's what you want, very thorough, multi-disciplinary evals. It will give you a ton of info and help you advocate for him.

 

Keep going! You're doing the right thing! :)

 

Oh duh, just reviewed and realized you've already brought in EI. Well glad you're getting everything connected and eval'd.

That is the hard part. When we went through the county's early intervention to see about preK, their pysch said she didn't get an autism vibe at all. He pointed to things when we went outside, he was in heaven as a plane and a fire truck went by.

 

He didn't truly look at anybody the entire time. We were there at his happiest time of day in a room full of new toys and he did not engage her in play at all.

 

I thought it was funny that there was a toy police car that had a siren. He would push it and listen, then keep playing with the little batman motorcycle. Every so often he would realize it was off and turn in back on, but not to enhance his play, just to have the noise continue in the background. He did it at least 5 times. After the pysch gave her opinion, I prepared myself for the folks at the center to say the same, even though I knew they had different goals in mind. The EI folks didn't really take his behavior into account, offered him no OT since his motor skills were fine. He's not going to get any one on one speech therapy despite being a year behind! Trust we will pursue private help.

 

The researcher at TEACCH says he does have good eye contact..when he wants to! Yes, that's it exactly. He didn't engage with her either, and "hurt self" about 10 times, falling on purpose or randomly pointing at body parts a toy touched in the 45 minutes we were in there. I'm thankful we live near both UNC and Duke, places leading in research so if a dx is to be given I imagine it'll be there! She also said that if it's not autism, they would be able to tell me fairly well what his struggle is, whether it be just speech holding him back, sensory things etc.

 

Now to just try to enjoy the summer and get through each day one moment at a time. He can be so happy and engaged some days, and then a complete basketcase the next.

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Some things are more obvious over time.  The average age for diagnosis of aspergers (when it was in the dsm, but roll with me) was like 8-10.  Look it up.  There are whole flocks of kids who aren't as glaringly obvious when they're 3 but who, over time, have more obvious discrepancies.  For a long time *we* saw things but there were just these little excuses and oh but he...  NOW there aren't, now that he's older.  

 

Intervene anyway.  I personally think the whole oh it's this, not that, is splitting hairs.  There probably will be a social learning disability and there will probably will need to be a LOT of explicit instruction in a variety of things that come more easily to some kids, irrespective of what his label is when he's 15. So gear up for it, get funding, and spit on anybody who stands in your way.

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Some things are more obvious over time.  The average age for diagnosis of aspergers (when it was in the dsm, but roll with me) was like 8-10.  Look it up.  There are whole flocks of kids who aren't as glaringly obvious when they're 3 but who, over time, have more obvious discrepancies.  For a long time *we* saw things but there were just these little excuses and oh but he...  NOW there aren't, now that he's older. 

 

If it hadn't been for the speech & language delay (or if the hearing loss had started earlier), I think this would've happened to my DD. At 7.5, the differences between her and her typically developing same-age peers are way more obvious than when she was a preschooler. This is true despite the major improvements we have seen in her symptoms over the past 5 years of intervention. Think of it like a long-distance race where the gap between the average racers and the stragglers becomes more and more obvious as the race progresses.

 

Now if you compare her with typically developing kids a couple years younger, then the differences become a lot more subtle again. So the question becomes which challenges are due to a simple delayed developmental curve and which reflect permanent disabilities.

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Some things are more obvious over time. The average age for diagnosis of aspergers (when it was in the dsm, but roll with me) was like 8-10. Look it up. There are whole flocks of kids who aren't as glaringly obvious when they're 3 but who, over time, have more obvious discrepancies. For a long time *we* saw things but there were just these little excuses and oh but he... NOW there aren't, now that he's older.

 

Intervene anyway. I personally think the whole oh it's this, not that, is splitting hairs. There probably will be a social learning disability and there will probably will need to be a LOT of explicit instruction in a variety of things that come more easily to some kids, irrespective of what his label is when he's 15. So gear up for it, get funding, and spit on anybody who stands in your way.

Indeed! This is becoming more clear. Even though I thought the speech therapy he received before was only so so, she did work explicitly on turn taking, something I would never have thought to do as my older two just picked it up. She said my turn, waited, made sure he was looking at her even if he tried to grab the ball or whatever and performed the action then said "your turn" before she gave him the ball. Something so simple but wow, he does it now with me and yells "my turn" to his siblings. I'm most looking forward to help in this area as I just can't see how he'll get where he needs to be any time soon without this type of instruction.

 

And ready to spit! >.< I'm not confrontational at all, and I can already see it's time to get to work and be *that* mom lol.

Edited by Joyful Journeys
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If it hadn't been for the speech & language delay (or if the hearing loss had started earlier), I think this would've happened to my DD. At 7.5, the differences between her and her typically developing same-age peers are way more obvious than when she was a preschooler. This is true despite the major improvements we have seen in her symptoms over the past 5 years of intervention. Think of it like a long-distance race where the gap between the average racers and the stragglers becomes more and more obvious as the race progresses.

 

Now if you compare her with typically developing kids a couple years younger, then the differences become a lot more subtle again. So the question becomes which challenges are due to a simple delayed developmental curve and which reflect permanent disabilities.

On your last sentence yes! He is improving, ever so slowly, so I think we'll maybe I'm not giving him enough time. But he's only up to say a 2 yr old level and gosh in a couple months his agemates are off and running in prek acquiring an immense amount of skills and language he is nowhere near ready to grasp. So in a year, he'll be where a newly 3 yr old is at a time when kids are getting ready to enter K and that is a huge huge difference. But yes, my question for sure is this a lifelong difference or something that with targeted instruction he can overcome and be completely on par later on.

 

 

And I'll put this link here for anyone else reading, lots of videos on different methods and it was nice to see TEACCH in action specifically! There is actually a video on the "best time for diagnosis" which answered my original question!

 

http://www.interactingwithautism.com/section/understanding/diagnosing

Edited by Joyful Journeys
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I think it's a really dangerous thing to go oh, he just has a different timetable, and not intervene.  You'll look back later and realize you missed whole windows for intervention, assuming things would magically come together later.  

 

And yes, our ds' SLP also was bringing in a lot of that.  They KNOW these kids will have these issues.  It's part of why it's less easier.  I show people who know ABA our videos of our early speech therapy, and they say oh I can see the ABA.  To me it was just speech therapy, but they were weaving it in.  

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From what I hear, often they can't predict outcomes with young kids.

 

I think there is a chance of not finding that out, or finding it out in an extremely vague way.

 

I hear that they may know more after a period of high-quality intervention, and seeing how well kids do with it.

 

But even with that -- I think that often they don't know.

 

There is a researcher I read an interview or something with, and she is saying, that she is an expert in the field, and she cannot predict outcomes of 3-year-olds.

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I think it's a really dangerous thing to go oh, he just has a different timetable, and not intervene.  You'll look back later and realize you missed whole windows for intervention, assuming things would magically come together later. 

 

There's two separate issues: (1) whether to begin intervention or take a "wait and see" attitude and (2) whether a child will ever reach a point where he/she catches up with typically developing peers in a particular area.

 

When it comes to intervention, I'm definitely in favor of "do it sooner rather than later". I got told, "oh, she's young, just wait a bit" twice when it turns out there really WAS something wrong. First with the autism and then with the hearing loss. Neither one was on my radar screen initially but because I was pushy about getting the evaluations, the doctors were able to figure out why she was struggling & begin intervention.

 

What is not clear at this point is which things my DD is simply delayed on and will at some point be within the normal range for, and which she will have permanent deficits in. It would be fantastic if she did only have a developmental delay, but I suspect that isn't going to be the case across-the-board. We'll keep on with the intervention and see how things turn out.

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My son is 7, too, and I feel like the sky is the limit.

 

He has responded well to therapy and made a lot of progress.

 

But it is very "take each day as it comes," because he is so young. There is just too much time and too much variation, I think.

 

I think that you could have a situation where they can make more of a general prediction, but that was not my situation. They just do not know how to make these predictions yet.

 

They are starting to have some more studies, but so far it seems like they can say a bit about where kids were when they were certain ages, but it is not at a level where they can make a prediction to a parent of a 3-year-old.

 

I think you are going to a very well-known center, though, so I would not be surprised if they could tell you more!

 

At mine they said it was very promising that my son showed problem-solving skills, and that showed that he had some good cognitive skills. But it was no kind of prediction about how he would do.

 

This is only a small part of it, too, lol, but you may have non-responding at times, too, where you just have to wonder how accurate some things can be.

 

Unless it is actually looking at non-responding type stuff, and then -- that might seem like it is accurate, lol! But how a 3-year-old does with that one time, I do not believe it can be that meaningful in a long-term way.

 

And then, there is the language issue, too.

 

Between the two of those, it is just not easy to think that you can find out very much, in a way!

 

But in another way ----- you do find out a lot. It is just, you find out more about the present and what to do in the present, I think.

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My son is 7, too, and I feel like the sky is the limit.

 

He has responded well to therapy and made a lot of progress.

 

But it is very "take each day as it comes," because he is so young. There is just too much time and too much variation, I think.

 

I think that you could have a situation where they can make more of a general prediction, but that was not my situation. They just do not know how to make these predictions yet.

 

They are starting to have some more studies, but so far it seems like they can say a bit about where kids were when they were certain ages, but it is not at a level where they can make a prediction to a parent of a 3-year-old.

 

I think you are going to a very well-known center, though, so I would not be surprised if they could tell you more!

 

At mine they said it was very promising that my son showed problem-solving skills, and that showed that he had some good cognitive skills. But it was no kind of prediction about how he would do.

 

This is only a small part of it, too, lol, but you may have non-responding at times, too, where you just have to wonder how accurate some things can be.

 

Unless it is actually looking at non-responding type stuff, and then -- that might seem like it is accurate, lol! But how a 3-year-old does with that one time, I do not believe it can be that meaningful in a long-term way.

 

And then, there is the language issue, too.

 

Between the two of those, it is just not easy to think that you can find out very much, in a way!

 

But in another way ----- you do find out a lot. It is just, you find out more about the present and what to do in the present, I think.

I understand what you're saying, a crystal ball would be nice. I should be concerned with the here and now, especially with the way he interacts within our home. I hate to put so much weight on a label, but it really is something I need right now. I need something to cling to, that this "thing yet to be determined" is what is rocking his world. I know therapies cross over anyway, but the ADOS would at least be measuring things no professional has focused on yet so I'd have more information to sift through. And gracious I filled out every diagnostic questionairre known to man, typed up a page and a half on our daily life, I pray that's enough for something to hold on to. Now whether he cooperates or not? Mercy. They seem to prefer I not be in the room and I can't imagine he'd recover from that to even do anything. He has not been left with strangers in well over a year.

 

I look back on today..he's asked me how old I was about 3 times. I asked him his name and he said "me." He is currently putting together 5 Legos in the shape of an airplane that I made for him, and has been taking them apart and putting them back together the same way off and on for the last few hours. He'll likely sleep with them. My sweet boy. "Is that autism?" I ask myself. Doesn't matter really I guess, it's just him.

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So will Aug. 24 be the results of the short eval or the long eval the center wants to do?

 

Yes, the more you can tell about the echolalia, repetitive behaviors, stereotyped behaviors, that's all good.  

 

They'll learn as much when he *doesn't* work with them as when he does.  Don't worry about it.  There's nothing he'll do that they're not used to seeing.

Edited by OhElizabeth
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It would be the long one. They would be with him for about 2-3 hours in the morning, we break for two hours while they compile results and then we come back that same afternoon for a parent conference. The short intake was about an hour where she just observed him playing and asked me lots more questions. Perhaps later in we'd still need a nueropsych eval? Are those much longer?

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Roll with it and see what they get done.  It sounds like they're going to be really thorough on the autism question.  He's so young that there are other things it's just not time to do, like learning disabilities, IQ, etc.  

 

Well I'm glad for you that you're going to get the results so quickly!  Honestly, although it's a hard thing to get results, the WAIT is really hard between the evals and that sit down talk.  So the way you're doing it will be good.  You'll have sitters for your other kids and have a support person with you, yes?  It can be a lot to take in.  You may have a lot of questions or need time to process.

Edited by OhElizabeth
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Yes between all the grandparents I think we'll have it covered! I've not been away from the baby all day, my last nursling, but he'll be 13 months then and may be mad, but will be ok. My husband is taking off work and coming which is huge. I do all of this alone normally, he has never been to any child's appointment (no paid time off), but I refuse to do this one alone.

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It would be the long one. They would be with him for about 2-3 hours in the morning, we break for two hours while they compile results and then we come back that same afternoon for a parent conference. The short intake was about an hour where she just observed him playing and asked me lots more questions. Perhaps later in we'd still need a nueropsych eval? Are those much longer?

 

The developmental pediatrician who initially diagnosed my DD with autism back when she was 2 years 10 months did something similar though the initial intake appointment was just interviewing me and the report review was on a separate day. But it was about 3 hours that she was interacting with DD and that included an ADOS and some other toddler development assessments (I can't remember the names off the top of my head).

 

The neuropsychologist we held off on seeing until my DD was 6. That was an all-day appointment and the NP deliberately did not perform any autism-related testing because she didn't want to jeopardize the ABA funding we have. She did a non-verbal IQ test, the working memory subtests of the WISC, the Children's Memory Scale, a rapid naming test (the RAN/RAS), some of the subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson, a test of visual-motor integration, a neurological test to determine hemispheric dominance, and the expressive language part of the Bracken Basic Concepts.

 

I do think it's worth going back at a later age to see a neuropsychologist, especially for a complex kid.

 

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My son is not very complex, I think we get information we need from therapists he sees (who do update some testing).

 

He has had a non-verbal IQ test that his ABA agency wanted him to have. They want to have it as a baseline in case they ever need a baseline later for insurance purposes.

 

So the more routine kind of "the speech therapist is going to run a test, the OT is going to run a test," stuff has seemed adequate, since he is doing it anyway and they do the updates anyway.

 

I also feel like right now, VB-MAPP and ABLLS (some developmental checklist things) are giving us really good information for my son.

 

But when he is older, then yeah ---- I think we may need to go back.

 

But for now, it is not on my radar, b/c I can see that what he has in place is working well and providing some information about his progress.

 

But he is also not complex right now. It is pretty straightforward to see what he needs, priorities, and how to meet his needs.

 

But even though it is fine right now, I can see that it is something that is likely to come up again in the future.

Edited by Lecka
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  • 2 months later...

I guess I would say to anyone, don't listen to any professionals until the testing has been done. Whatever glimpses they get of your child cannot replace what you observe at home and what an in depth eval like the ADOS can display. No less than 3 professionals, one a pysch, and two speech therapists said there was no way he was autistic. But it was the most cut and tried conversation where he clearly met the criteria when that was looked at specifically. It doesn't matter if he points and will occasionally have good eye contact. The deficits across the board are glaring and the repetitive behaviors and restricted interests and ever increasing rigidity, seal the deal.

 

Off we go to now get his IEP updated and figure out next steps.

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:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

 

SLP's are not trained in autism diagnosis and many (most?) don't have any ASD-related training at all. Few grad schools in SLP offer an autism specialty track and while Hanen and some others offer Continuing Education trainings, it's totally up to the individual SLP to choose that vs. CEU's in some other area.

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:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

 

SLP's are not trained in autism diagnosis and many (most?) don't have any ASD-related training at all. Few grad schools in SLP offer an autism specialty track and while Hanen and some others offer Continuing Education trainings, it's totally up to the individual SLP to choose that vs. CEU's in some other area.

Yes! She actually went so far as to say everyone that goes to teacch gets an autism dx so take it with a grain of salt. I kind of was comforted by that, thinking that with progress -and intervention he might not meet the criteria.

 

They sent home tons of forms, CARS-2, Adaptive behavior scales, and open ended questions to describe him more in my own words. Then, they met him for an hour and THEN they said ok, he can come for the full eval. I'm sure all of that weeds out the folks that just have other things going on so that yes, they are likely only spending their limited time doing an all day appt with kids that truly need it and most of the kids that go there come out with a dx. Apparently one of the authors of the ADOS works there so I'm figuring they know what they are doing!

Edited by Joyful Journeys
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That is how the place we went was... we had a questionnaire we filled out with the doctor, that they require to make an appointment, and then we also had a long phone interview, and a long on-line questionnaire, that they also required before the appointment.

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Yes! She actually went so far as to say everyone that goes to teacch gets an autism dx so take it with a grain of salt. I kind of was comforted by that, thinking that with progress -and intervention he might not meet the criteria.

 

I highly doubt that TEACCH gives every single child evaluated a diagnosis. It's more plausible that the families who make the effort to seek out an evaluation at TEACCH vs. just sticking with EI are disproportionately the ones whose children actually have ASD. Selection bias IOW.

 

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I highly doubt that TEACCH gives every single child evaluated a diagnosis. It's more plausible that the families who make the effort to seek out an evaluation at TEACCH vs. just sticking with EI are disproportionately the ones whose children actually have ASD. Selection bias IOW.

Bingo. He does have decent joint attention and such. He definitely doesn't fit the classic idea of a child with autism. But she can't make judgments about that really having only accessed his speech for 45 minutes and neither can the school psych that took none of his behavior at home into account.

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I think there's just some variety too.  The joint attention with my ds didn't show up glaringly until I put him in situations where it was more obvious.  Like when he went in swim lessons and SHOULD have been scared and never looked to the side, never looked for me.  He was just this lone island, really pathetic.  The lead teacher, who had a lot of experience with kids, picked up on that as being really different.  And then in gymnastics, when other kids were distracted by their parents being there or by the crowds, not my kid, lol.  

 

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