Autism

[Cantthinkofausernametbh]

I found out my 19 month old toddler is autistic, I always pushed this thought to the back of my mind but knew as he showed a lot of the early indicators. I have a hv coming to give me some more advice but please can you let me know what you did with your autistic child to make life easier for them? Does a change of diet help? Speech therapy? How can I imply speech therapy at home? I feel completely heartbroken I had a very tough time in school whilst I was growing up and had no friends. Knowing my little one could go like this his whole life is horrible. I don’t know where to begin I am willing to do anything to make this easier for him.

May I ask how it’s been diagnosed so young? In my area they won’t diagnose until at least 4-5. My son is 9 and has autism. He was non verbal until 4.5, diagnosed at 5. Speech therapy did help him. His diet has never been great. He’s very very picky so couldn’t say whether diet would help or not.

Just take any support you can get. My sons 9 and after his diagnosis there was nothing.

Do any parenting courses offered to you, accept any professional support and help, accept any other means of support!!

Consider putting him into nursery or pre school once he’s 2 but prepare the staff for it and work with them. Things will need to be in place before he starts school! Seems so far away but it comes around so quickly!

I’ve been

19 months? That's terrifying. Many, if not most, 19 month olds would demonstrate autistic tendencies. That's a diagnosis he has to live with for life. I would be very wary of accepting it so early. A lot can change in a very short time for such young children.

I’ve posted before and got lots of comments to see a hv I did and she said it’s definitely a case of asd.

Well a HV can't diagnose autism?

That's not a confirmed diagnosis though, just the HV opinion.

Health visitors can’t diagnose ASD. Generally, they know nothing about it!

Your HV is is no way qualified at all to diagnosis Autism.

A health visitor diagnosed your toddler's autism?

Way beyond their remit.

He or she may turn out to be correct but I would have thought he or she would be in a heap or trouble for saying a 19 month old is autistic.

Hi op, my dc has joined a waiting list for possible autism assessment, but he will be three. I've had concerns a while but GPS and health visitors say they don't assess them until closer to third birthday as alot of young children can show traits of autism but it can just be related to age. I do appreciate that some get an early diagnosis at two, guess it depends on the area your in. 19 months seems very early though! Are you in the UK?
I can't really advise as we are still waiting but we have just started our speech and language now (at 2 and a half) but I wouldn't think its unusual at all for a 19 month old to not be saying many words. You may find it will just come with time, but I'd certainly chat to health visitor see if they can refer you, although they may make you wait until two. It's frustrating, but just lots of talking, books, singing, rhymes.... Modelling correct uses of words, repeating words, praising any attempts to say the word (even if it sounds unclear) it's a stressful time but I hope you get the support you need.

HV cannot diagnose ASD.

In my experience, HV know bugger all about autism, let alone any of the other developmental things that might be going on with your child. They certainly can’t diagnose.

A HV can’t diagnose autism, only give you an opinion and refer on to the necessary people.

I understand that you’re concerned, and I’d be the last person to talk you out of those concerns, but please try not to take what the HV said as read at this stage - wait until you get to the specialists who actually know what they’re looking for in detail and know how to diagnose.

Health visitors are NOT qualified to diagnose autism and it is way beyond her abilities and remit to say that.

Your son needs to be referred to a diagnostic team, usually paed, OT, SLT and maybe ed Psych - don't know for such a young one who will do loads of evaluations and assessments, then decide between them what if any diagnosis should be made.

See your GP and ask for a referral if the HV hasn't already instigated it.

Often before a child receives an official diagnosis, you hear a lot of he is likely to be 9n the autistic spectrum, as if to prepare you. I heard that from when my ds was around 20 months. He showed obvious signs, at that age he was given a diagnosis of global developmental delay with autistic tendencies.
Have you had something like that OP
It can be very confusing if you don't know what to expect

A health visitor should not be 'diagnosing' asd. She should refer to a paediatrician if she has concerns about his development.

Ah I see, I've read your update. Has she referred you to a diagnostic team, in my LA it is often Calle the social communication assessment team
Ask her if she has referred you to the appropriate team. Get a referral via your GP

I’m unsure your HV should have said that. In fact she could actually be completely wrong.
The majority of children develop at completely different rates. Some are late walkers, some late talkers. It really doesn’t mean anything. My ds didn’t talk until 3.5 really. Lots of kids don’t until late yet are completely fine. I appreciate your dc is really young still and may well have a condition SEN however it may well not be autism or it could be a few things.
A HV can’t tell in a visit. Certain assessments need to be carried out ADOS being at least one of them. For obvious reasons, it’s not always easy to do the assessments in really young children as lack of development in a certain area, may actually just be temporary. Children develop at different rates.
You need to go and see your GP. They will refer you to a PAED and then you will join a waiting list for an ASC assessment. This is really important because not only will they be able to diagnose your child, they will give you a report as to how it effects him etc or whether there seems to be any other conditions too.
Sooner you get on the list the easier it will be to manage and obtain the correct support.

The HV is just the person who will raise concers NOT DIAGNOSE. She might agree that she sees traits in your dc but at this stage you are at tbe start of a long duagnostic process. Hearing tests, speech therapy, paediatrician..........

You need a referral to the community paediatrian.
If you believe speech therapy is needed you can self refer in many areas, if not via hv or gp.

I would also suggest getting eyebtests and hearing tests.

@TheVanguardSix
Just wanted to say your post was very useful and reassuring to me too. I've screenshotted the whole thing to re-read easily when I need it!

You can’t possibly know how his autism will affect him. Just like a NT child there are no guarantees or assurances about what the futures holds. Early intervention is always positive in my opinion.

My DD has autism albeit high functioning and she was diagnosed a couple of weeks before she turned 4.
Things in some ways are better now she is a little older as she can tell me the things she finds difficult and we can talk about it. When she was younger she would scream and scream as she has sensory sensitivities and we wouldn't really know what was wrong.
Like a previous person said routine is very important, my DD is very structured so we and school use a visual time table so she knows how the day will play out.
She has had input from speech and language and dieticians as she has a restricted diet. The input and help you need will depend very much on your son and his development. It's definitely can't be changed by diet.
We also tend to avoid going places that make her anxious and let her try doing them in her own time.
She also needs a lot of quiet time on her own which can be difficult as DD2 always wants to play with her.
Although your health visitor may think your son has autism and may be able to refer you, it will be a paediatrician who undertakes the diagnosis and that process can take some time.
Good luck OP I would say 19 months is extremely early for a diagnosis. Although autism isn't without its challenges there are plenty of children as previous posts suggest who are happy and thriving.

In my experience autism diagnosed from 18 months is good. It's not too young. It's rare that it happens but it does.

From what I've experienced, at 19 mths some children can be showing enough traits for the suspicion to autism to be there, however there needs to be multidisciplinary meetings between several professionals for the diagnosis to be made official.

Has your child seen GP, Paediatrician, speech and language, occupational therapist etc? All these professionals may need to be involved to make a formal diagnosis.

In regards to helping your child with speech and language etc, have a look at intensive interaction as this explains how to interact in a way that gains attention from the child. Talk to your child constantly about what is going on, some children may need to repeat some of the steps we might do with younger babies such as sounds, repeating, rhymes etc. Just because your child may not make eye contact or speak in return they are still listening and taking things in.

Make sure you get professional support, the earlier you can get this the earlier strategies can be put in place to help your child's individual development depending on what areas need most support.