Early signs of autism

[Jimjams]

I'm reading a book at the moment (kind of browsing it really) called The Boy who Loved Windows- by Patricia Stacey. It's about her son who had lots of problems since birth. Anyway at 8 and a half months he was assessedn (this IS America ) and told to wait and see how he developed. Anyway the next passage contains this:

"MOre than 15 years of experience had taught her that even relatively subtle signs on babies and toddlers could turn into autism. She insisted that ours was a fight against time. "what looks like not much in a baby could be very serious in a toddler and devastating in a school age child" said Dawn. "In my pracice I've seen many babies with signs of autism go unnoticed by doctors and parents (I might dispute the parents bit but still) until they've receievd very serious diagnoses, sometimes veb years later"

This got me thinking about our first visit to the "autism specialist" SALT (referred on at my request). NOw DS1 had fairly good eye contact, and was affectionate and calm during the appointment BUT

I told her he couldn't point (he was 26 months)

I told her he couldn't follow a point

I told her he'd lost words

I told her he used an adult hand as a tool (using my hand to point rather than his- putting my hand on things he wanted etc etc).

I told her he was obsessed with lights

And she commented on his play (looking at things from funyy angles).

Now surely a TRAINED MONKEY could have spotted autism in all of that. Not so subtle- even if his eye contact was good and even if he came to me for a cuddle. Instead he was given a dx of "mild language delay" and we were sent away for 8 months (was meant to be 3 months but this was the NHS). In the emnd he wans't diagnosed for a year later. I just tink now what a wasted opportunity. Given the dx then we would have probably set up some sort of home programme. By the time we recieved the dx he had settled into a nursery.

I se the same thing happening to friends. My friend whose son imo is- at almost 4- showing some possible signs of HFA, AS- enough to be given extra help at nursery can't get past the behaviour team and pre-school advisory- with an occasional visit from an ed psych. She's nowhere near someone who is actually allowed to diagnose.

sorry but it makes me cross. Why not bring in the CHAT screen- that would pick up many children- and actually provide early intervention from 18 months.

Rant over- but that passage descriebd exactly what happened to us.

As an aside- the book is a bit rude about ABA- but even the woman who is being rude about it says that she thinks is is good for children who really can't imitate. This is my son- so it confirmed think that it is worthwhile and we have made the right decisioin going for it.

Yeah, I agree. I'm just feeling over anxious about dd at the moment. Ever since we have had the computer all I do is look up things and as my dh says I am filling my head with s**t (sorry to be explicit but that's what he said).
It's really weird but before we had the computer I was happy with the SAL disorder dx and of course am extremely happy with the school etc. Due to the communication dd does have mild autistic traits but for every 1 reason I think she could be asd, there are 10 that are saying NO! I suppose it's like looking up that you have a headache and end up diagnosing yourself with a brain tumour (sorry but that's the only way I can describe it). Sorry (again) to ramble on but I needed to get it off my chest !!!

ds got 111 - moderate PDD. A bit confused though as I thought PDD was diagnosed when there wasn't enough criteria for autism. Anyway fits in with his original 'mild' autism diagnosis.

fio2 - a child would ahve to have signifiant difficulties in all 3 areas to be deemed autistic, not just have communication difficulites.

KPB - ramble away... that's what we are here for

Thanks Eulalia, it's just sometimes I am fine about dd's SN and other times (like at the moment) I get really annoyed, stressed and anxious. The only way to describe it is that i feel as though I am on an emotional rollercoaster (heavy stuff). I just wish I could wave a magic wand so that it would all go away, but I can't. Thanks for listening.

Agree Eulalia it is a bit weird. I suppose the full term for PDD is PDD-NOS- so maybe this covers the whole spectrum (in which case ds1 is severe yikes).

TBH I think the whole positioning on the spectrum using these tests is a bit false. DS1 is classed as moderate bsaically because he's quite keen on social interaction and will initiate communication. HOWEVER whether or not he want shtat is irrelevant as he can't do that. For all intnts and purposes he is severely disabled and unable to function remotely normally.

I do think these things can be useful to chart an improvement (or not as in our case). BUT I don't think they necessarily tell you all that much. Also it was impossible for me to score some of the points eg "talks about one subject" but there was no way of saying n/a (or did I miss it?) Depending on how you score that sort of thing can make a difference to the overall score.

Personally I've found the best way to judge a child's needs is to compare them to their normal peer group. oooh I've spent too long this week filling in DLA forms

I read something a while ago written by an American that basically said that PDD-NOS doesn't exist (Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified). They say that it is often used for ASD when the parents are resistant to an ASD dx. However, I do know children with learning disability who are NOT autistic but don't really have a dx at all, so maybe PDD-NOS would be useful sometimes? I always understood that it isn't a classification used in the UK at all.
KPB, your DH is right about how easy it is to fill your head with sh*t if you spend a lot of time on the Internet BUT you may also find out a lot that is useful too so its probably worth the risk of looking at "too much" stuff I suppose. The thirst for info is all part of the process, its just that the way we get info these days is soooo different. Do you get a chance to chat to any of the other parents at the unit/school? That might help to keep the anxiety down a bit. Obviously I don't believe in just relying on the "professionals", whether health or education, to give guidance and access to services, you just have to read this thread back to see that mostly doesn't work I suppose its another stage after trying to get used to there being a problem, realising that you're going to have to be very active (usually) to get what they need.

Just done the CHAT test on dd and she 'passed' everything except that hse doesn't point to ask for things as she has very little speech and rarely seems to want anything (if she does she attempts to get it herself). And I couldn't get her to point to show me something basically because the only things outwith her reach are boring ie the window - she tended to just go and get whatever I was pointing at. She doesn't point much in books if I say "where's the teddy" on the page she tends to point at something else but that is becase she is more interested in that than a boring old teddy. So on balance I don't have any concerns at the moment. Also I met a local mum yesterday with a dd who is one week younger and she is hardly talking at all.

dd is more advanced than average in other areas -she is extremely agile, will balance very easily and never falls over, jumps well and climbs a lot etc. and at the school visit yesterday she grabbed a pen and the teacher pointed out that she has a brilliant pencil grip just like an adult, so feeling quite proud