Social communication difficulties = autism?

[gutted2014]

We have just received DS2's report from his second block of SALT & he has been given a diagnosis of Language delay & social communication difficulties. The recommended further action is that he be seen by a Community Paediatrician 'to offer a further opinion about his general development & whether a multi-disciplinary assessment may be of benefit'.

Does this mean autism? The SALT said to me during one of the sessions that she thought it was a possibility but wanted a second opinion as a paediatrician might say it was too early to tell & he could grow out of it. She also said in the last (of 4) session that she was very pleased with his interaction.

He is 3 on Tuesday, was 2.10/11 at the time of the sessions.

Yes, this means they are concerned about autism. It's the same process I went through when concerns were first raised about my ds. It doesn't necessarily mean he had it though. It sounds like they are being very proactive which believe me is a very good thing.

How are you feeling about it?

Sorry had should be had.

Had should be HAS! Phone keeps changing it.

gutted this is a very difficult time. The waiting game. I don't think she has given you a diagnosis because only a doctor can do so. But it's a multi disciplinary assessment.

How do you feel about starting intervention as if it's autism while you wait for the doctor's opinion? I did that and I think it helped us and our daughter.

she mentioned it in our second session 3 Weeks ago, but was then talking about referring straight to ados, do this to me seems to say she is less sure about autism. It also means we've had a while to get used to the idea.

The term diagnosis was on the salt assessment sheet we got.

I'd be happy to have any 'treatment' that could help him. We've already been fairly proactive I think - a friend whose son is just 2 days older & has language to a similar level is only just starting to do things that we we're doing a year ago.

My gut says it's not autism as the only signs he displays are language delay, a love of doors (but easily distracted) plus he stares at nothing sometimes. I feel that his language delay also holds up other areas & once he starts to catch up, we will see improvement there too. In the last fortnight he has started to say words more clearly & use 2 words together which us great . Overall, I feel he comes across as a just 2 year old rather than just 3.

But time will tell, we love him dearly whatever the case may be, he is still ds. If anybody is interested I will post the whole report later (have his birthday party soon!)

We were told this when DS was about 2.6. It took a further 18 months to get a diagnosis. He is autistic and dyspraxic. However, he has never done much stimming, is OK with transitions, and doesn't really have obsessive interests. The social communication issues are his major area of difficulty and he has a language disorder (or course there are other issues including social interaction and social imagination). It's taken LOTS of SALT to get him to a point where he can communicate at all meaningfully.

One of the reasons it took so long to diagnose is he didn't fit a classic pattern, and in many ways still doesn't. He's very much a passive kind of autistic, and prone to 'zoning out' a lot. Instead of meltdowns he simply gets lost in space, or hides. Lots of inexperienced people question his autism, however anyone with experience in the area spots it immediately.

The best thing to do at this point is figure out what your son's symptoms are and address those. It's not the label that matters in the end, it's addressing the problems and helping him learn ways of learning / coping etc..

The various people involved in diagnosis would want to be certain, so it may take a while - that's if autism is what's going on, it could be something else, or just a developmental delay.

In our case, I am so glad we just got on with stuff in the meantime. If we hadn't we'd have lost some very valuable time during DS's early years.

Good luck. Being in limbo is horrible, and uncertainty really difficult. Only time will tell, and during that time there is lots you can do.

autianarchy I absolutely agree with getting on with things in the meantime, but don't really know where to start.

Like I say, I feel it's his language which is the major issue, so to improve that we are having NHS SALT, going to a Talking Tots group, doing exercises recommended by SALT, watching lots of Mr Tumble. He is at nursery 2 full days per week, and they have him on an IEP & have access to special games & activities from the local council's SENCO (nursery is funded through 2-year funding for speech delay) & I am also giving him Omega-3 vitamin supplement. We went to group SALT just before he turned 2, but they said we couldn't go back as he's receiving individual SALT now.

SALT also recommended encouraging pretend play, so I have brought out his toy kitchen & garage (we have just moved & it got buried under mountains of stuff!), he has a dolly which he loves to play with (imitates me using 6-week old DS3's pram, bouncy chair etc). We have also bought him a Happyland village for his birthday.

We also go to one toddler group and Rhyme Time at the library each week, which I think help him to mix with other DC and learn words/actions through singing & improve his concentration as he has to sit still for the songs. We also have at least 1 playdate most weeks, sometimes with DS1 as well, which again encourages him to mix.

Is there anything I am missing that I could be doing with him? Like I said in my last post, his speech is coming on loads at the moment, he seems to be gaining new words every day, his existing words are clearer and he has started using 2-word phrases ('baby milk' 'Mummy hand' 'hello Daddy' to name but a few) literally in the last fortnight, and I am praising him loads, it makes me so happy to see this progress