ASD

[helpme40]

ok I hope I can get some advice from you mums out there. I have a son who is 28 months old. he was born around 1 month early. GP says his ears are fine. His father left us just before he turned 2. He does not point but recently started waving. He is NOT talking, lots of babbling and incredibly happy. Laughs, loves being tickled and understands most instructions like "please get the milk out of the fridge". He has toy vehicles but likes to play with the moving parts like bonnets etc. MAINLY he has a serious obsession with doors, ALL doors. he will open and close them for ages. Especially if we are in a new environment that is all he wants to do much to the annoyance of other people. I have no family in this country (English is my mother tongue and only language I know) and he has no siblings. So most of his time is spent with me and he attends no groups at present. However I am arranging to change this. He does watch television ceebeebies and has favourite programmes. He will take my hand and lead me to things he wants like snacks. He used to say Amen but has stopped. He has a little mate 8 months younger than him who he plays with once in a while and last Friday they played a chase game together. He had a referral to the Paediatrician who specialises in child development last Friday and she said he is on the autistic spectrum. This after just over an hour of seeing him and of course hers was a small office with doors and window which he played with the whole time. He was giggling away the whole time as well which she said seems to be his only expression. He spent some time pretending to say hello into her toy telephone and when asked built a tower with some plain wooden bricks. She found that he did not make enough eye contact with her and seemed to ignore her. Perhaps you will say I am in denial but I am sure he is NOT autistic. Is there any advice for me PLEASE????

[Toni27]

I couldn't say if your son has asd or not as I'm no doctor but our son was assessed for 3 mornings a week for 6 weeks in a special assessment nursery and the assessors also saw him in nursery and at home incl not only his doctor it a big team of professionals ie speech therapist, educational psychologist etc. then at the end we got his autism diagnosis. He also had a CARS test to determine the severity of his autism in the assessment period. It doesn't sound like he has been properly assessed so I'm not surprised you cannot believe the diagnosis. I would push to have a proper assessment if I were you x

[helpme40]

Thank you Toni27 that is exactly what I think, it was far too early to use any condition to diagnose him. I am waiting for further referrals. He is 2 years and 8 months not 28 months. I know he is slow developmentally but I will not love him any less regardless of the diagnosis.

[insanityscratching]

From what you write I think the paed was advising you that she suspects ASD and is referring on for assessment rather than giving a diagnosis and again from what you write I can understand why she might be questioning this as there are quite a few red flags just in your OP.
My dd had her diagnosis soon after her second birthday and tbh it's probably the most useful thing that has happened because we managed early intervention and the child she is at ten is nothing like the child she was at two but she still has autism.
The assessment and diagnosis period is really tough on parents so be kind to yourself and think about asking whether you can be referred to Portage and any SN groups so that you can have some support and advice on how to help ds to make the very best progress he is able to.