ds (3.2) was diagnosed with ASD just before his third birthday. This has totally shattered us - ds has gone from being affectionate, bright boy with language problems that we will overcome with lots of hard work to child with terrible prognosis & we should suddenly regard the NAS as our parenting gurus (yes I'm bitter & angry still).
His problems are still primarily language related - receptive language has improved massively over the last couple of months (we're using Teach me to Listen & Obey), expressive is up to about 80 words (including some social language - bye bye, please etc) though still very few two word combinations (green star), he uses words for a variety of purposes including demands & still signs when he hasn't got the word. His pronunciation is very poor, we have a long way to go still.
The only behavioural issue we have is climbing out of the car seat, he's doing well at nursery & with the CM. He eats & sleeps well, no obsessions, stims, issues with routines or sensory difficulties. He is sociable & friendly, loves being part of a group, transitions well, no meltdowns. He still doesn't do imaginary play (will join in if it's modelled - his imitation skills are excellent - but not spontaneously), likes to initiate games/play by bringing toys over, miming game, shouting catch or kick etc.
He's potty training atm, gross & fine motor skills are age appropriate (has just started using a cross pattern on the stairs, learning to pedal) as are his other self care skills. Nursery aren't aware of his autism diagnosis (& we intend to keep it that way unless someone can provide a compelling reason to tell them), he gets extra support for his language difficulties. Cognitively the paed put him at around 40-46 months - he's very good at puzzles, knows colours, shapes etc - though she only spent 15 minutes with him so really what does she know.
The only help the diagnosis has given us is 45 minutes a month of SALT with the 'complex communication difficulties' team which (we've had two visits now) consists of 'keep doing what you're doing' or 'read More Than Words'. They aren't interested in ds only some stereotype of 'autism boy' & are constantly surprised when he can do what I claim he can 'oh his attention is good isn't it!' 'he does like sharing with us doesn't he'. We also get an hour of portage a week where they set targets such as 'build a tower of 4 blocks' (WTF) or 'respond consistently to name' (with no advice as to how that's magically going to happen). We provide ds with 8 hours of 1:2 with a very experienced (ABA methodology) CM, 6 hours 1:1 ABA (will increase to 12 hours when we've got some funding sorted out), and 6 hours of nursery (with 1:1 from the SENCO) a week, swimming & BIBIC activities for OT. As well trying to make every waking moment a learning one.
DS will not be educated in mainstream state education, we will not be asking the LA for anything - no statement. So ... getting to my point ... what can the paed offer DS? Why are we going back to see her? Is there something missing that I should be demanding? Is 45 minutes a month is really all they've got.