Dd 2 paed appointment today She may have Autism....

[Marne]

Hi,
Dd2(2.5) had a paed appointment today after being refered from the GP. We kind of expected her to be refered to the hospital as we have been through this with Dd1 who has As. Today she had to do a number of things/tasks most of which she could'nt do apart from a puzzle which she pulled out of the box which was ment for a 4 year old. She does not play, make eye contact or respond to comands. She's also non verbal which is starting to become a problem.

Anyway she has been refered to the hospital to be assesed for possible Autism and we have been told she may need special needs help when she starts school.

I would like to know what help we can get for her and if there are any local Autism groups etc, i hav'nt got a clue where to find this out as the doctor was'nt very helpfull.

Hi, our paediatrician wasn't very helpful either - you'd think they'd have info on local groups and stuff at least wouldn't you! I know in my area there was a toddler group for special needs children (which I was only told about when ds was starting nursery!) Does your dd get SALT at the moment? If not mention it at the hospital appointment (although I'm sure it would come up anyway). There's portage too - but again I'm in the dark on that as was told about it too late. I'm sure someone more useful will be along soon and hopefully your hospital appointment will be more helpful!

NAS might be a good starting point Marne

JJ has a site too but that's more for useful links and useful stuff

She starts SALT next week and Portage will be visiting us at home. I have had a look on the net and can only find our local special needs school which has a pre-school. Just trying to get my head around it all.

Hope you're doing ok, it's horrible to realise but at least you are able to sort things like SALT and Portage. The school might be able to put you in touch with parent groups and the like - although probably on holiday now.

There does'nt seem to be much in our area , The Early Birds program looks good but the closest one is 30 miles away from us.

The main worry is her speach so i cant wait to start SALT, she's such a happy child and it would be great for her to express herslf more through speach. At the moment she likes doing 50 piece puzzles (she will do this all day if i let her)

Marne, just saying hi as I have two on spectrum also - very high-functioning DS1 who is now 9, and DS3 who is just about to turn four and has autism, not high-functioning.

It is great that you are starting Portage soon - we found DS3's Portage worker very helpful - and I would recommend the Early Bird course if you can possibly work out a way of getting there - DH did it with DS3 last year and it has turned out to be very useful.

Although DS3 is still non-verbal, he is making headway with PECS (picture exchange) now and we have seen improvements in his general ability - and desire - to communicate.

DS1 made a lot of progress with PECs too - even though he came to it quite late and his language was already developing it helps reinforce his language and take things to the next level. It's great you are starting all this while he is so young - my ds did have SALT but that was it.

I don't want to hijack but how did PECS help with developing speech? My DS1 has some speech and is starting to tell us more than just his basic needs - ie what colour things are or what size things are, he knows the difference between been, going, gone etc. But long sentences are rare. He doesn't seem to respond much to visual learning though.

ps Marne - he said zilch til 3 and a half so your DD is still very young is ASD terms so it's great that you're getting SALT so soon

My ds was just starting to ask for basics when he started at a school that used pecs. I had some concerns to start as I thought using the pics might make him lazy about finding the words but actually it helps because it supports him. It has helped with initiating communication and is very useful when he is upset and finding it hard to communicate or we are finding it hard to communicate with him. Not explaining very well but I know it has been more help than hinderance.

The National Autistic Society website will direct you to local groups.

Good luck

Yes - the NAS - I was trying to think what it was called!!! That's how hectic my day's been!

the other ladies have the practicalities covered, just want to say I've read your post, and hope you are OK, it's a stressful time going down the assessment route.

Hi, thanks for your lovely post's, im feeling alot better today, we have had a lovely day out which has helpped clear our heads. The NAS are great and the website is very helpful.

What helped me a lot was reading books and blogs.

whittereronautism.com is my favourite, she lives in the US and has two boys on the spectrum. DS1 was diagnosed when he was 2.5 and at the time I was so frightened of the future, this one helped me see that we'll still be a family with normal milestones - Christmases, birthdays, starting school etc. Another good one is www.autismvox.com

If you have a SALT referral that's great, they can get things started. Lots of people here can tell you about different interventions and support at school.

Welcome