Help!

[orangeereddbluue]

My son has just started school nursery, 3 hours a day.

He is August born and just turned 3 before starting.

When he started we knew he had very delayed speech and a few social issues.

He has had referrals put in today with MAAT and CLASS.

Can anybody give me any idea what I can expect going forward? Are they thinking autism already?
Or is this just the starting point for any child with problems like these?

MAAT stands for Multi-Agency Autism Assessment Team and CLASS for Communication, Learning and Autism Support Service so the nursery clearly has autism concerns, did they not discuss these concerns with you? It does sound strange that a referral would be made so soon after he started, normally they would observe him over at least a few months before raising concerns which they would discuss with you prior to any referral. If it is the first time going to nursery many things could be going on like him being shy or anxious as starting nursery at 3 years old tends to be on the late side (I.e. at 4 they start reception/school) and other children there could have there from 2 years or younger so would have a big advantage over him in terms of socialising - it does sound too soon for a referral in my opinion.

Thank you for your reply.

He is very behind in terms of speech. Can't speak in sentences and only says 1 or 2 words in one go. He has about 20 clear words but often uses hand gestures and noises, nodding and shaking his head.

Social skills have never really been a major concern for me but they have picked up on sporadic eye contact and not responding to his name every time. But he does have good eye contact sometimes and does sometimes respond to his name. It's usually when he is engrossed in something he can switch off to what else is going on around him.

He does get very frustrated at times but I have always put that down to his struggle to communicate effectively.

Honestly they haven't gone into any huge detail about the referrals, I read the abbreviations on the forms I was asked to sign.

The teacher seems to be wanting to avoid discussing what he may or may not have as at the moment these are just her concerns and things she has noticed and wants to have everything assessed to see if he needs more professional support.

I just don't know what to think really!! I've calmed down a little now but I have been very anxious about it all.