Are you on the autism spectrum, or is a loved-one?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Inspired by this thread, and since I’ve noticed that there are other members of the SDMB who’ve mentioned a loved-one on the autism spectrum, I thought I’d open this thread - meant to be a sort of sharing-place of stories, discussion of experiences, and so on.

My younger daughter is receiving special-needs assistance in kindergarten after testing for and qualifying under our school district’s autism-spectrum placement. She is the sweetest little girl, and great fun to be around (when she’s in a good mood), and people who know her only casually wouldn’t even classify her as that different from her peers. But she is not like other kids her age, and her way of relating to her world and to the people in it do differ compared to other kids. I will say that, even with the extra challenges that she presents to our family, not only do we love her every bit as much as her older sister (to which I’m sure all parents can relate), but also that we wouldn’t want her any different that she is.

To kick-start discussion, I’ll pose and answer a couple of general questions:

  1. Who is it on the autism spectrum?
    Our younger daughter, aged 6

  2. When was the condition diagnosed?
    She’s not been medically diagnosed, but has qualified under our school district’s autism spectrum criteria since age 4. Since medical testing would follow a similar eximination protocol and presumably deliver a similar diagnosis (and the testing can be expensive and stressful), and since we’ve been so pleased with the program put in place at each of her schools, we’ve not felt the need for further testing.

  3. Briefly describe the person and their condition:
    Our daughter is sunny and bright, and enjoys physical games and comedy. She has trouble relating to others, for which her mom and I facilitate frequently. She likes solitary games and make-believe, and it can be hard to break into her world, especially for people with whom she is not familiar. At school, she has a full-time classroom aid who mostly helps her with maintaining focus on academic tasks, and she also goes to Speech and OT 2-3x per week (which she hates if it requires her to leave the classroom). She is at or above grade level on some academic areas (reading, especially), but has trouble following multi-step instructions, understanding verbal directions, and performing fine-motor tasks. She also will happily read (or have read to her) the same books, watch the same video, or play the same game (such as sorting her little plastic animals) for days on end.

  4. What have you done to improve the functioning/capabilities of this individual?
    We read to her a lot, engage her in shape/sorting/math games, accomodate (to a degree) our family outings and trips, play a lot of one-on-one parent/child games. She tends to not like outings, but will usually enjoy family activities once started. She specially likes zoos, acquariums, petting farms, and pet shops.

  5. Any questions/concerns for your fellow Dopers?
    One of our daughter’s special interests is animals, and she loves playing with stuffed/plastic toys, and would love to have a pet. We’ve held off because our current apartment doesn’t allow pets, but when we move I’d like to add a pet to her life. It’s got to be low-maintenance, clean, and gentle. I was thinking a bunny (her favorite) or guinea pig, or maybe a box turtle, any thoughts?

I also have all sorts of questions about the long-term future: will she grow up generally happy, will she transition well to independent living, will she engage in a career, have a family, etc. Any comforting stories along these lines would be really cool.

2

  1. Who is it on the autism spectrum?
    Just little old me.

  2. When was the condition diagnosed?
    I was diagnosed in my early 30s. This happened because a friend of the family who is in the profession recognnized the behaviors in me that she had observed in her patients.

  3. Briefly describe the person and their condition:
    Just me. Not sure what you want besides that. I’m very, very happily married and have a lovely 8 yo daughter. I, unlike a lot of Aspies, am well employed (but probably wouldn’t be without my family).

  4. What have you done to improve the functioning/capabilities of this individual?
    Had some therapy that helped me create new ways to pretend to be normal when the need arises.

  5. Any questions/concerns for your fellow Dopers?
    Not that I can think of.
    [/QUOTE]

3

I have always gotten along very well with animals. I don’t know your situation or if you are against a dog or a cat but I would suggest putting her in a situation where she can interact with various animals and see how she does with each one.

As for what lies ahead what you really need to do is recognize that her brain is going to outpace her emotions for the rest of her life. When other girls are pining after boys she may still enjoy playing with dolls, etc. This will be true throughout her life. She may not feel ready to leave home at 18. She may not want the responsibility of driving at 16.

So she will probably do all the things that make a fullfilling life just later than you might think.

Some examples from my own life.

I got picked on for acting like a “baby” all the time I was growing up.

I didn’t get my drivers license until I was 18 and then only because my father insisted.

I never really did date.

I never had a romantic relationship until I was 29.

I fathered my child at 36.

Of course your daughter will have the enormous advantage over me in that she will have someone who knows what the heck is going on and can help her through the whole growing up process.

4

Thanks for starting this thread. I’ve just recently started a job as a care-giver for developmentally disabled adults. I was hired to provide extra coverage for a young women diagnosed with autism (low functioning). Even though I’m being paid, and haven’t gotten to know her very well, I already consider her a loved-one.

I’ve been reading everything I can find, but mostly it’s from the perspective of a non-autistic person. I’m not convinced that high functioning autism, low functioning autism, and Asperger’s are even the same thing, but there does seem to be a lot of similarities. I have a number of questions for anyone on the spectrum who is willing to answer.

I would really like to find a way to communicate with her. She is non-verbal and does not use sign or use picture boards. She seems to understand what I want, but I don’t understand what she wants. I keep wondering about the picture boards, are they too “flat” to be recognized? Did somebody try to present too many pictures? Is it the lack of movement? Anybody’s thoughts on visual communication is very welcome.

Another topic I am interested in is dietary. This women does have digestion problems, but I wonder if these problems bother the people who look after her more than they bother her.

There is a starter of my questions.

5

I was suspected of having high-functioning Asperger’s when I was a kid, and I’ll admit I have some of the superficial signs - I avoided social situations, was pretty tone-deaf when it came to relating to others, and never picked up on a lot of the social rules (which frankly in a few cases is a good thing - I had very little internalized homophobia or gender binarism to deal with when I came out, for example).

However, when I read first-person accounts of people with Asperger’s, it never seemed like what was going on in my head; and when I hit 15 and came out, I started wanting - and picked up on - social relationships pretty quickly. I still show a few of the tendencies from when I was a kid (I can rabbit on while other people get bored, and I am very bad at office politics), but actually my main enemy right now is just self-consciousness.

6

  1. Who is it on the autism spectrum?

    Our (Typo Knig’s and mine) son, referred to here as Dweezil. He is 12 years old. He’s considered high-functioning / Asperger’s. He doesn’t meet the usual “pure aspie” criteria in that he has more of the stereotypical symptoms (flapping/noises) and it impairs his academics significantly, though his intelligence appears normal. No way would he have made it to adulthood w/o being diagnosed with something.

  2. When was the condition diagnosed?

When he was just under age 3. We had noticed that his “terrible twos” were particularly terrible but didn’t know how off-the-norm he was until I saw him around other kids when he was 2.5 or so (I’d been laid low with a difficult pregnancy so had nothing to compare him to). He was very OBVIOUSLY not interacting/responding as well as his age-peers - I to this day remember the event I saw this at (a birthday party) very, very vividly.

I started making phone calls the next day and he was seen by the Early Intervention folks when he was 2 years 10 months old. A couple of weeks later, in a weekly session with the EI social worker, he (the SW) introduced the term PDD, and that it was related to autism.

  1. Briefly describe the person and their condition:

    On first glance, you wouldn’t know my son had autism. His speech is very good, he doesn’t “look” different (my nephew is a different story: one glance and you know Something Is Very Not-Right). On further conversation though, you get a feel for how he focuses in on subjects that are of no interest to listeners, he can zone out and ignore everyone else in the room, and though he wants friends / social interaction, he puts forth zero effort in trying to initiate that sort of thing. When he’s in his own world though, he’ll often bounce around the room and squeal with a look of utter joy on his face.

  2. What have you done to improve the functioning/capabilities of this individual?

Weekly family therapy sessions since his diagnosis (Typo Knig used to joke, before having kids, that our kids would surely need therapy with weirdos like us for parents. After Dweezil was diagnosed, we looked at each other in horror and said “We always knew… but we didn’t think it would be before his THIRD BIRTHDAY!”)

Accommodations at school: smaller classes, self-contained a fair bit of the time, more flexibility with deadlines / homework. He went to an autism program for much of elementary school; he started in our neighborhood school in 4th grade.

Dietary modifications: he’s mostly dairy-free. We’ve slacked off on that restriction some, but there’s a definite behavioral impact (more bouncing / squealing, likelier to ignore us, bed likelier to be wet in the morning) when he’s had something with dairy.

  1. Any questions/concerns for your fellow Dopers?

Just general thoughts on what to do about him as an adult. We expect he’ll live with us but we don’t know if we’ll have enough put by to support him for his entire life once we’re gone.

  1. Family history, related problems etc.?

We have two nephews who have major issues. One is far more severely autistic than my son (can barely read at age 16, some scary behavior, etc.). Another has major emotional / temper issues combined with a genius-level IQ. His first (and so far only, thank Og) suicide attempt was at age 9. My other child, Moon Unit, has a similar combination of emotional/temper/IQ though toned down compared with her cousin, thankfully. One brother (mine) with a severe case of APD (Asshole Personality Disorder, I’m hoping it’ll be added to DSM VI ;)) who has been unable to maintain a relationship or a job for any length of time.

And Typo Knig and I see many, many Aspie-like traits in ourselves - when we got our son’s diagnosis and did some reading, a lot of things started to make a LOT of sense to us.

  1. Do you believe any event “triggered” the syndrome? e.g. vaccine, other medical issue?

Not in our case. Maybe some prebirth exposure, or just the combination of the genetic predisposition from both sides of the family.

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  1. Who is it on the autism spectrum?

My 14 year old son.

  1. When was the condition diagnosed?

When he was 4. He seemed “normal” up until age 2 when he stopped talking. He was healthy and happy so we weren’t too concerned. After several people suggested having his hearing tested, and those tests showed no problems. He was enrolled in special ed.

  1. Briefly describe the person and their condition:

I don’t think I can describe him briefly.
He’s absolutely amazing, (not just from a mom’s point of view). Everyone who spends any time with him (especially teachers) are awstruck. He taught himself Algebra at age 6, Calculus at 9. He’s very sweet and happy. His social skills could use improvement, but I think it’s more due to staying inside learning. If he’s extremely happy or upset, he hums and/or flaps his hands and/or rocks. If he likes you, he’ll tell you the “Interupting Cow” joke… a dozen times. Or until I come to your rescue. :slight_smile:

  1. What have you done to improve the functioning/capabilities of this individual?

I’ve just recently started letting him do errands by himself like going into the store alone to make small purchases.

  1. Any questions/concerns for your fellow Dopers?

I’ll think of some after hitting submit.

8

What’s the ‘interrupting cow’ joke?

9

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Interrupting cow.
Interrupting c—
MOO.

10

My youngest daughter, age 6.

Early. I don’t recall exactly. Between 2 and 3.

Severe autism. Started talking, then stopped. Hasn’t learned to talk. Some people thought she had a hearing deficit at first because she wouldn’t respond to her name (or anything else for that matter). She’s got a great smile and likes people, which leads lots of people to tell us she’s been misdiagnosed. In fact, that was my first reaction.

A good picture of her is here: 4 Paws for Ability: Home - 4 Paws for Ability (Sage). Her mom maintains two blogs: http://sageallen.blogspot.com/ and http://sagedakotahnews.blogspot.com/

We did 40 hours a week of ABA (applied behavior analysis) for a few years. Ironically, I got my undergraduate degree in behavior analysis. She goes to school now. She’s got a talker and an Autism Assistance Dog.

Nothing comes to mind.

11

Wow - thanks a bunch for sharing your experiences everybody. Our family is pretty isolated as far as ASD support/interaction, so it is nice getting these perspectives.

I think if we did this, we could end up with a cat, a dog, a goat, a rabbit, … :slight_smile: To give an example, she has collected a large apple-crate full of toy animals, which she will lug around the apartment and dump out to play with. She loves the pet store, the zoos, etc.

We’ve noticed that there are some things at which she is delayed relative to her peers, and other things that don’t map well to “normal” kids. For example, her pragmatic skills are quite delayed (dressing, tooth brushing, etc.), but her interpersonal interactions are just different (low verbal interaction, lots of repetitive physical play [tickling, chasing games, “Land Shark” like hiding games, etc.]). She tends to like books that can incorporate word games, jokes, or physical play - like adding acting-out parts to Mr. Putter & Tabby, or over-dramatization to a Hunny Bunny Funnybunny, or reading/acting-out Calvin & Hobbes. We’ll read the same book a couple of times a day for a week or more. She can also be very low-maintenance - I can hang out with her for a couple of hours playing with plastic animals, and we’ll not talk very much at all. Other times, she’s really high-maintenance - she’ll pick out a project, and I’ll end up drawing with her a dozen different animals or making a project from a book. She is getting better with other kids, but it is hard for her to relate - ask questions, respond appropriately, engage in play, etc.

We so hope that she develops into a happy older kid and then with a fulfilling adult life.

Our daughter’s digestion is also problematic - she will get constipated, and then worked up about using the toilet. She doesn’t have accidents, but it is always a stressor trying to anticipate her next bathroom break. She tends to drink very little, and eat sparingly and choosily. Her palate is limited - rice, pasta, hot dogs, cheese, carrots, toast, eggs, quesidillas, but otherwise no fruits/veggies (I guess not as bad as some), and she’s picky on drinks as well and is never as well-hydrated as we’d like. She is stubborn, and would rather go hungry or thirsty rather than submit on certain foods - and we’re not about to make this a periodic showdown, as we have to pick our battles carefully. She is also a wandering eater, and we’ve gotten used to her coming and going at the table while the rest of eat. We tried a no-wheat diet for a few days, and didn’t notice any change - we’ll try Mama Zappa’s suggestion above about low-dairy to see how that goes (she eats cheese, but doesn’t drink milk anyway). She is also petite for her age - 6 ½ years and ~35 lbs. This is actually a blessing, since it means that she’s size-appropriate with younger kids.

This is our daughter, too. She is just bright and normal-looking to most people.

It can be difficult to get her attention, although it’s slowly improving. The method that works for us (and it’s frustrating when other people don’t follow this procedure) is to say her name loudly (maybe more than once) until we have her attention, and then say something, ask a question, or give her an instruction. She has trouble articulating herself and her wants sometimes, so modeling sentences to her helps a lot. An example could be: “How was your day?” <Silence> “Was your day fine?” “My day was fine, daddy.” She’s actually gotten a lot better at this, and it gives me a thrill when she’ll ask “how was your lab today?” She can be very demonstrative to those with whom she is close - she’ll hop up and hug me like a limpet sometimes. Other times she is distant, and she’ll definitely withdraw from people who try too hard with her.

I sometimes think the same things. She is a joy to spend time with (except when she’s not :slight_smile: ), and I could imagine a fulfilling life where she is with us indefinitely. But if she wants more than this, and is capable of more, then I hope that she can transition to independence. She’s only 6 now, so I can’t even imagine her once she gets to young-adulthood. (She could be hell-on-wheels as a teenager)

  1. Family history, related problems etc.?

Nope. I’m a bit withdrawn and non-social in group settings, and fairly high-focus on tasks, but not that far from the norm.

  1. Do you believe any event “triggered” the syndrome? e.g. vaccine, other medical issue?

Not for us - her birth was a bit early, but nothing out of the ordinary. She was “different” as a toddler, but not something that you could really define.

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  1. Who is it on the autism spectrum?

My sister, age 21.
2. When was the condition diagnosed?

I’m not sure, she’s just a couple years younger than me so I’ve known about it as long as I can remember.
3. Briefly describe the person and their condition:

She can only communicate on a very basic level. She’ll talk with people to get what she wants from people but otherwise she’ll mainly talk to herself. One way she loves to interact with people is telling jokes. She has a great sense of humor and appreciates the absurd. Her jokes usually involve situations that are wrong in some way, like wearing ski-boots in a movie theater, or her long-haired gym teacher Mr. Green being bald. If she’s in a good mood, just mentioning something like this to her, even if she’s heard it a million times, will get her laughing. She’ll often pose the beginning of a joke as a question to someone, like “Where’s Mr. Green’s hair?” with the correct answer being “All gone!” to send her into hysterics. She also likes making fun of the commands people give her to discipline her, like “Follow the rules!” and “No screaming!” She’ll often just tell these jokes to herself and make herself laugh.

For most her childhood she would have outbursts where she’d repeatedly scream really loud. If someone else in the room was distressed, like a baby crying, it could set her off, or sometimes she just set herself off somehow for reasons we couldn’t discern. When she got to be an adolescent, her outbursts became violent. She became jealous of my other non-autistic sister who had a normal life that she could never have. She would go into screaming fits where she would sometimes physically attack my mom or my sister, scratch her face or bang her head against something, or just start destroying anything she could get her hands on. Eventually she became too much for my parents to control and had to be moved into a home. She still came by to visit every week, until a couple months ago when one of the attendants (whom she really liked) leaving her home sent her into an emotional downward spiral and she ended up practically destroying the place. She had to be strapped down onto a stretcher and taken to a mental hospital for a while. Last I heard she’s going to be moved back into another home eventually.
4. What have you done to improve the functioning/capabilities of this individual?

My parents were very nurturing. As a child she had therapy sessions with various people who would come to the house and work with her. We traveled a lot to various cities and we’d always bring her along. She loved all the places we’d visit, with staying at various hotels and eating at various restaurants. We used to go skiing often, at least once a year, and she really enjoyed that (with a special private instructor). Once she got to be a teenager though, she became too difficult to deal with and couldn’t accompany us on vacations anymore. My parents would buy her all kinds of nice things, like video games, which she was really good at. She got to enjoy as much of a normal life as was possible.

13
  1. Who is it on the autism spectrum?

My oldest son, age 5.

  1. When was the condition diagnosed?

When he was 4, but it took more than a year of tests and evaluations to get a real diagnosis.

  1. Briefly describe the person and their condition:

He is autistic, with Sensory Integration Disorder, ADHD, and severe developmental delays. He doesn’t really speak, except for 3-4 words. He refuses to use the toilet, much of the time. He has frequent tantrums, which even he seems unable to control.

Other than that, he’s a sweet, happy little boy. I know, it doesn’t sound like it, but he can be so loving and caring at times.

  1. What have you done to improve the functioning/capabilities of this individual?

We have obtained speech and occupational therapy for him, and he attends a special education preschool five days a week, where he also receives ST, OT and PT. We chose not to try regular kindergarten this year, because he was nowhere near ready for it. His preschool is solely for children with various disabilities, and he does fairly well there.

We have also learned sign language along with him, so he now has some way to communicate with us. His little brother is picking it up as we go, and occasionally teaching a spoken word to the older one. I’ll say, it’s comical to see a 1-year-old trying to teach a 5-year-old how to say “dad,” but hey, whatever works.

  1. Any questions/concerns for your fellow Dopers?

Yep. Gfactor, what’s this about a talker and an Autism Assistance Dog? I’ve not heard of those, yet. Could you please clue me in?

14

  1. Me, aged 21.

  2. Sometime in the last few years, I’ll need to find the documentation to remember exactly when.

  3. I have Asperger’s, and tend to demonstrate most of the normal signs for it- high intellegence, repetitive behavior, obsessions with subjects (strangely, in my case it is with a lot of subjects instead just a few), highly formal speech with a tendency to use words oddly, some social difficulties (though I do a better job at covering it up than most), and motor skill problems.

  4. I haven’t been following any sort of plan, to be honest.

  5. None

  6. None that I know of.

  7. Almost certainly not.

15

  1. Who is it on the autism spectrum?
    My son, aged 17

  2. When was the condition diagnosed?
    When he was in first grade, the school (child study team, principal, teacher) thought he had ADD and sent him to a psychologist for evaluation. The day before I took him to his evaluation his babysitter showed me an article in the paper about Aspergers and said it seemed like he had the same symptoms. When I talked to the Psychologist about him I mentioned the Aspergers. Her diagnosis was ADD, not Aspergers. That was 1993. My son took Ritalin for a few years. My (now ex-) husband took him for another evaluation in 1999 and this time he was diagnosed with Aspergers.

  3. Briefly describe the person and their condition:
    My son is a sweetheart (all the people in this thread are - maybe they’re onto something?) and very intelligent. He learned to read at 3 and all through school he’s tested at very high intelligence. His grades are another problem as he can’t seem to concentrate on homework. He gets distracted very easily from things he has no interest in. He too “focuses in on subjects that are of no interest to others”. I noticed that he doesn’t make eye contact with people he doesn’t know while he’s talking to them (cashiers, waiters, etc.). He likes to go to a video game store (hang out? computer cafe?) where guys his own age go, but he usually sits in a back corner and doesn’t interact socially all that much. He doesn’t want to get his drivers license and doesn’t have any girlfirends, but he does tell me he talks to girls at school once in awhile. He said he wants to be a math teacher. When he was in preschool he refused to join the circle and sing songs with the other kids. He always had a mean stubborn streak, but that could just be a trait he inherited in spades from his Dad and me.

  4. What have you done to improve the functioning/capabilities of this individual?
    He goes to a special high school (Sage Day) and has therapy every week, had some therapy to teach/improve social skills. Whenever I go anywhere on weekends, I take him with me to get him out in the world and have some new experiences.

  5. I am concerned that he will use Aspergers as an excuse to not try to be the best person he can be. I talk to him about this and encourage him to try new things.

  6. Family history, related problems etc.?
    Jeez, where to start? My cousins’ son has full blown low functioning autism. My sister and aunt are paranoid schizophrenics. My niece has also been recently diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic. Alcoholism and depression runs in my family, but my mother is the only one currently having those symptoms since my grandparents and uncle are deceased. My father is not too firmly based in reality, but that’s a whole other thread. “You can pick your friends…”

  7. Do you believe any event “triggered” the syndrome? e.g. vaccine, other medical issue? My ex husband had issues with having my son vaccinated, but when it came down to it, they wouldn’t let him enroll in school without them.

Some may want to look into Social Security benifits for disabilities? I think my ex mentioned he was going to do that for our son. And we have a cat who my son loves very much, but he pretty much terrorized her by wanting to give her hugs and loving while she wanted to be left alone.

16

Talkers (AAC devices–several varieties.): http://www.sforh.com/communication/speech.html
Dogs: 4 Paws for Ability: Home - 4 Paws for Ability

17

Sorry, I overlooked the link in the GD thread to here.

  1. Who is it on the autism spectrum?

    My son, aged 11

  2. When was the condition diagnosed?

    PDD at 4, AS at 9. Misdiagnosed along the way with Early Onset Childhood Schizophrenia, because he heard voices. The voices turned out to be from the TV in the other room, and the AS prevented him from tuning it out.

  3. Briefly describe the person and their condition:

    My son is bright, outgoing and funny. He loves snakes and reptiles, which I blame for being fascinated with Steve Irwin from about birth (and devastated when he died, I’ve never seen my kid cry that hard, ever.) His interpersonal relationships are strong with family, but he has difficulty at school because he can’t tell if the kids are friendly or making fun of him or getting him to do things so they can point and laugh. It gets him down from time to time. He’s a great kid, though.

  4. What have you done to improve the functioning/capabilities of this individual?

    The main best thing was finding after school classes to teach him to function in the world around him and to read social cues. Also, we’ve managed to keep him off the anti-psychs.

  5. Any questions/concerns for your fellow Dopers?

    None, really - but I’d be happy to answer any.

Cheers,
G

18

Although I’m sure it must have been very stressful at the time, I can’t help but laugh at this. Evil television!

I don’t really know anyone on the autism spectrum, except my parent’s neighbour, but I don’t know him very well. He’s going to be 9 next week, and is fairly high functioning, though I know he has special aides at school. His verbal skills are ridiculously high level (he speaks like a stuffed up college professor!) but motor skills and math are difficult for him, IIRC. He likes animals, but didn’t quite have a “normal” kid reaction when their family dog died recently… he did cry, though, but that was mostly because his mom was crying and he didn’t like seeing her upset. He has a little brother, who is about 18 months old, and he gets jealous of the attention his brother needs, but at the same time he can be very caring and helpful if he’s charged with a task while his parents/my mom takes care of the toddler.

So I don’t know much about his day-to-day life, but I know he’s lucky in one respect… he lives next door to my mom! She’s a teacher and loves children, and she often takes care of them, and she’s been able to act as an additional aide/resource for him after school and in the evenings. She has enough experience to set him up with tasks/activities he’ll like while still working on the various things that challenge him. His parents are always telling us how lucky they are to have that extra help once in a while.

I was reading the 4 Paws website… that made me cry! Service dogs are just so amazing, for any special needs people have!

I can’t imagine the challenge these children must present 24/7… it must be so frustrating and at the same time, the love and patience you all seem to have… these kids are lucky to have parents that care as much as you all do!

19

bumping this thread as I understand that zombie threads are now kosher

We located from China back to the US to get help for our youngest twin about 5 weeks ago. Got in the queue and finally spent time today with the Seattle Children’s Hospital Neurological Nurse Practiceoner. Her recommendation is for a full eval at the autism clinic. This of course can take months to schedule. :frowning:

China bambina has issues stemming from hypoxic damage at birth. Now she’s 5 1/2. I’m learning that since there is no proven medical cause for autism, the diagnosis is based on behavior. China bambina certainly has some of the behaviors (hand flapping, delays, less than normal eye contact, etc). It doesn’t seem to matter what the *cause *of the behaviors is only that one exhibits the behaviors.

Good news is that we were assured that because she clearly can not join a mainstream kindergarten class, and therefore she will get a fast evaluation at school once everyone back from summer vacation.

[rant]One thing I’ve learned since coming back to the US of A is that freaking *everything *seems to take forever. I’m used to Asia/China efficiency and it’s frustrating as all hell how slow stuff takes here. [end rant]

Anyhoo, china bambina is a happy sweet kid. She’s a 5 1/2 year old with the mentality and restraint of a toddler. It’s sweet and dangerous and exhausting all at the same time. Luckily I work for the only major corporation in America that pays for (most) of ABA costs. We’re plugging into everything now.

We’re started down the spectrum road, and would appreciate any thoughts or experiences that other Dopers have…

20

ChinaGuy, I would also see about doing a full evalution at a cerebal Palsy clinic or something with Easter Seals or another place that is experianced with dealing with general developmental delays.
There IS “dead on” classic autism out there, and it does affect a lot of kids.
HOWEVER, I do think that a lot of docs and medical experts are forgetting that not all nereological oddities = autism. Like a kid with a learning disabilty can have a social-emotional delay but that doesn’t mean they have autism/Asperger’s…it’ just that they have a developmental/nereological issue. Silmaialrly, someone with intelelctucal disabilty who has a social delay is simply manifesating that they have full blown developmental delay rather then just autism.
Make sense?
For example, I have some social emotional issues, BUT that’s due to a combo of being raised orally deaf (oral deaf kids have severe non Aspie/autism social issues) and growing up in this Stepford town.