just been told my ds has autism

[kieranandalexsmummy]

hi.i had known since my son was about 9mth old there was something different about him he's now 26mths rocks constantly no speech no real play just climbing,licks everything walls floors tv..ect loads of other issues with food sleep ect.saw the paediatrician this week and he did all the tests with my son and he said that he agreed with my dh and i that my ds has autism,but would have to see a child psychologist to have it confirmed for his medical records and will refer my ds for salt .i told my friends sister who also thinks her son is autistic and she went mad told me i was wrong that he wouldnt of said that as he cant tell that it is down to the psychologist to decide this. ive been told this is because her paediatrician said her child wasnt autistic i just dont know what to think now

I had to have a report from an educational pychologist before we could have confimation of autism. with autism 3 people have to agree before you can have a diagnosis, ed pych, paed and speach therapist. As your son, like mine has no speach then that is pretty obvious that the speach therapist would agree. dont listen to your friends sister the paed is the expert not her, and you are the expert of your son. My son is now 3.4 and thinking about it now we have known since he was tiny he was different, you knw you little boy best, not your friends sister.

Your friend is just hoping upon hope that her son isn't asd, so is taking it out on you and shooting the messenger. Concentrate on you and DS now - it sounds like he may well be on the spectrum. My son was similar to yours at that age, only replace climbing with bouncing and licking with biting! But he is now at mainstream school, with a shadow, starting to talk, using a computer, reading simple words etc. There is hope. If you have not heard of ABA or VB as a method of educating autistic kids look at a few threads on here using the search button, or google it. It was just the best thing that we came across in those early years, and I tried EVERYTHING! Up until the age of 5, the brain has "plasticity", which means you can quite literally change and add to the pathways in his little brain, by using behavioural training. You have caught it so early, don't lose the early years advantage like I did because I was humming and ha-ing over the diagnosis and waiting for endless appointments to come around. I also had endless well-meaning friends telling me "he's just a boy" or "my son's just the same, they'll grow out of it". My heart goes out to you, but he is only just 2 and you have time to change his behaviours. Good luck!

Can i add to your little "look-up" list?

I too had a 'licker', he also had major food issues. Hes now on a gluten free and casein free diet, commonly known as "GF/CF" diet. theres loads of info, but just have a browse and see if any of the "leaky gut" theory/syndrome fits your son - it is extremely useful for very many children on the spectrum. My sons pica (eating non-foodstuffs) has improved dramatically, and so has his licking habit .

Hes also much calmer and more attentive - its not a miracle cure, but just thought id mention it just in case it is worth looking into.

I don't think a paed would confirm autism unless he/she was very sure although it may be that the psychologist's opinion is needed for the records. Practice varies from area to area. How to dx autism is not set in stone although it is very common now for paeds to be the ones to do it now. Your friend's sister's child might be a borderline case (or not) or it may be that the process in her area is more drawn out. We had assessments in the early stages which noted delays but which did not give a dx of autism - though we did get one in the end.

thank you all so much
its nice to get advice from people who have been in the same situation as i really dont no anybody that has a child with asd and the health visitor doesnt seem to be able to offer much advice,so anything else any one can suggest would be great..xx

thank you all so much
its nice to get advice from people who have been in the same situation as i really dont no anybody that has a child with asd and the health visitor doesnt seem to be able to offer much advice,so anything else any one can suggest would be great..xx

I second the gluten free casein free diet

If you could just start doing one thing, for my money it would be to get him to start linking sounds made with his mouth (speech) with getting a good result. So, for instance, when my DS wanted us to push him on the swing, he had to make an attempt to say "p" and then "pu" and then "push me". Or we would get him to say "c" for crisps. It took a long while, required a lot of patience, but it set up in his brain the notion that making sounds with your mouth achieves results. This to me is the instinctive bit of speech that autistic kids don't always have - it has to be taught UNnaturally, rather than as I see in nf little 2 year olds where they pick new words up in seconds! The other thing you could do is start to distract him from any bad behaviours - either by a firm "no" and removing him, or just stopping them without comment. I know there is a school of thought that he has a sensory need to lick things (I was told the same about my boy's manic biting and bouncing) but I think common sense says it's not going to look good as he gets older, and may limit his choices in life, so why not try and crack him of it while it's early enough for habits not to have become engrained. Please do come on here and take advice from all the lovely ladies - there's more on here than many a paediatrician will ever tell you! Not everything works for everyone (for instance, I tried the diet thing to zero effect, perhaps it works best where there are also gut problems present?) but at least you will become familiar with all that is available. The other thing I would try and get into him is fish oil, perhaps hidden in his juice. There is some evidence that it helps the developing brain.

We had our diagnosis mainly from the pead she said she didnt need the pschologist to see our daughter but she would read the notes etc and discuss with her and then i got the call to say yes she has autism.

so I think your friend is wrong tbh.

good luck with it all and try not to worry really there is a lot worse its hard to imagine it but trust me there is.

x

we are off to majorca today so lets hope he copes with the change ok,just a bit worried about the plane as he is frightened of buses,but we have our trusty poratable dvd with in the night garden on (the only thing that can calm him when he starts)so hope he will be ok,going to make dinners when we arrive for the week as he will only eat what we would class as sunday lunch(food is a major issue lots of stress trying new foods he gets hysterical) so if i get that done should solve some problems,oh i have been giving him omega 3 boots do an orange flavour one and he will take it!! right going now to bath him (he now hates this used to love it tho?) wish us luck.

When you do go take a pair of head phones that fit around ears so to block out noise and can listen to fav prog. Have good trip.

wow how good was my boy on the plane he slept all the way there and back,the coach for the transfer there was an issue cry'd that much he was sick but comming back he was ok,the holiday as a whole though was hard try'd the beach but he was like a child alot younger just wanted to eat the sand and run for as long as he could it really broke my heart to see other kids his kind of age making sand castles and playing, all he wanted to do was get back to the hotel room and bounce on the bed, i realy felt for my older ds 13 who just wanted to do the pool thing and some trips out that we just couldnt of done with ds2 reaction to noise and crowds.