So my 2 year old son seems to be displaying a lot of the classic signs of autism. He is the sweetest, loveliest little boy, and although he obviously struggles with communication he is so affectionate and loving and a pleasure to be around 🥰
He seemed to be developing normally for the first year of his life, was saying a few simple words and following along to actions to nursery rhymes by his first birthday. But then his speech and general communication seemed to grind to a halt, in fact I’d say he seems to have gone backwards.
He is exactly 2 years and 6 months old now. He doesn’t speak at all, he just babbles. He doesn’t make any attempt to communicate with us, no pointing to things or gesturing in general. He looks at our face if he’s sat on our lap and we’re singing or playing peekaboo with him, and he will laugh and squeal and seems to enjoy it. However at any other time it is very difficult to get his attention, if he’s playing with his toys he is so focused! He likes to order his bricks/figures etc and gets very upset if we pick him up and take him away from his toys when he’s in the middle of ordering them, and gets very upset if we move a toy from the place he has put it in. He doesn’t respond to his name, we have had him checked out by an audiologist who had confirmed his hearing is fine, which we did kinda think anyway as her seems to enjoy music. He just doesn’t respond to his name or any other attempts to communicate with him.
There’s a few other little habits he has and behaviour that he displays that would suggest that he may have autism, but it’s hard to know as some of this stuff could also just be normal 2 year old stuff???
Anyway, he was seeing a speech therapist for a period of time. The speech therapist he was seeing also worked in a school for children with additional/special needs. I voiced my concern to her about my son potentially having autism, she said she would refer him to an autism specialist to get the ball rolling, however she didn’t want me to worry too much as at two years old it can be difficult to tell, and her referring him didn’t indefinitely mean he was autistic, however she wouldn’t have referred him if she didn’t think he was displaying signs of autism in her opinion.
So I had some paperwork in the post, questionnaires to fill out etc, sent them off. So we are on the waiting list with the NHS, however both my health visitor and the speech therapist had both advised me it could take years for my son to be seen on the NHS. I was also told the earlier the diagnosis the better the outcome for children with autism.
So is it worthwhile going private? My SIL paid for her son who has recently been diagnosed with autism to be seen privately. My nephew was seen within a couple of months. He was diagnosed very quickly, however he is 7 years old, so I’d imagine it’s far easier to diagnose a 7 year old as opposed to a 2 year old. SIL also paid £1000.
We can’t really afford to go private, we have a lot of existing debt already, and although a £1000 isn’t a lot to some people it’s a fortune to us, however obviously for our son we would find the money if it’s gonna make a huge difference. However if we spend a grand we don’t have only to be told ‘well he’s only 2, he probably does have autism but we can’t say indefinitely’ then it’s a waste of time and money we don’t have. Anyone else gone down the private route with a child as young as ours? Are they able to diagnose a child so young? And if so what treatment options are available?