Guest guest Posted July 8, 2012 Report Share Posted July 8, 2012 Hi everyone, I have an 18 month old son. We have an appt with his pediatrician on Monday morning. My husband and I have been seeing signs of autism in him. Such as not responding to his name, no pointing or waving, no clear words, he shuffles his legs when excited. He is very loving and gives hugs. I would like advice on how you first heard your child had autism and what you did. Please give us support too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 My son was dx at 20 months at UCSF's Autism Clinic. I was relieved to finally hear I was right!!! I had thought my son had autism almost from birth and NO ONE would listen to me!!!! Finally, a SLP agreed she saw what I was seeing and suggested I get him formally tested. I already had the appt anyway, even though most didn't dx under 2, 8 years ago!I felt empowered! I immediately called all the ABA companies in the area to find out if they were contracted with Early Intervention. When I found one I really liked and they were, I demanded a meeting with EI and by the age of 24 months he was in a 25 hour per week playbased ABA program, along with 1 hour of SLP, 1 hour of OT and 4 hours per week of a playgroup run by a SLP and OT.LoriSubject: Need supportTo: autism-aspergers Date: Sunday, July 8, 2012, 12:25 PM Hi everyone, I have an 18 month old son. We have an appt with his pediatrician on Monday morning. My husband and I have been seeing signs of autism in him. Such as not responding to his name, no pointing or waving, no clear words, he shuffles his legs when excited. He is very loving and gives hugs. I would like advice on how you first heard your child had autism and what you did. Please give us support too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 Thank you Lori for the good information. I'm still struggling with the reality. How is your son doing now? Leah > > > Subject: Need support > To: autism-aspergers > Date: Sunday, July 8, 2012, 12:25 PM > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Â > > > > > > > > > > Hi everyone, I have an 18 month old son. We have an appt with his pediatrician on Monday morning. My husband and I have been seeing signs of autism in him. Such as not responding to his name, no pointing or waving, no clear words, he shuffles his legs when excited. He is very loving and gives hugs. I would like advice on how you first heard your child had autism and what you did. Please give us support too. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 I’m still struggling with my 26 yr. old sons AS diagnosis. Eileen From: autism-aspergers [mailto:autism-aspergers ] On Behalf Of iris24@... Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2012 6:01 PM To: autism-aspergers Subject: Re: Need support Thank you Lori for the good information. I'm still struggling with the reality. How is your son doing now? Leah > > > Subject: Need support > To: autism-aspergers > Date: Sunday, July 8, 2012, 12:25 PM > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Â > > > > > > > > > > Hi everyone, I have an 18 month old son. We have an appt with his pediatrician on Monday morning. My husband and I have been seeing signs of autism in him. Such as not responding to his name, no pointing or waving, no clear words, he shuffles his legs when excited. He is very loving and gives hugs. I would like advice on how you first heard your child had autism and what you did. Please give us support too. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 Oh, you know. Good days, bad days. They told me he would probably never speak and would end up in an institution. Within 10 months of intensive play based ABA, they changed their tune. I took him back and they said "Now, let's think about mainstreaming him!" He was mainstreamed until this year (with a full time aide). I am now going to homeschool him. He still struggles alot with emotional regulation and articulation issues. He tested gifted though. He is super duper bright...but, is very slow. He has low tone and has a hard time writing. And, his focus is horrible! ;-) The kids at school loved him...but, his emotional outbursts were really getting in the way of success in the classroom.He is still very flappy. He does it when he plays video games, is excited, happy, and when he is stressed out (like trying to do a big math problem). His eye contact is good and he is really social (inappropiately so!) LOL!LoriSubject: Re: Need supportTo: autism-aspergers Date: Sunday, July 8, 2012, 4:00 PM Thank you Lori for the good information. I'm still struggling with the reality. How is your son doing now? Leah > > > Subject: Need support > To: autism-aspergers > Date: Sunday, July 8, 2012, 12:25 PM > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Â > > > > > > > > > > Hi everyone, I have an 18 month old son. We have an appt with his pediatrician on Monday morning. My husband and I have been seeing signs of autism in him. Such as not responding to his name, no pointing or waving, no clear words, he shuffles his legs when excited. He is very loving and gives hugs. I would like advice on how you first heard your child had autism and what you did. Please give us support too. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 It gets easier at times, but I don't think it ever becomes something we cease to struggle with. On 9/07/2012 1:20 PM, Ollie Dillon wrote:  I’m still struggling with my 26 yr. old sons AS diagnosis. Eileen  From: autism-aspergers [mailto:autism-aspergers ] On Behalf Of iris24@... Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2012 6:01 PM To: autism-aspergers Subject: Re: Need support   Thank you Lori for the good information. I'm still struggling with the reality. How is your son doing now? Leah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 Hi, Iris,I'm so glad that you reached out for support around this.Our son is 10 and his diagnosis is Asperger Syndrome. Overall, this hasn't been a big struggle for him or for our family. We don't see his autism as a disease or something that needs to be cured or change. We see it as something that makes Max uniquely Max. We understand that we are very privileged to be able to see it this way and I have no idea whether that would be the case if he was more profoundly impacted. I wasn't in his life when he was diagnosed. He was four and a half, and my wife has often said that she is VERY glad that ABA wasn't around at that time. She thinks she'd have gone whole hog with it, then had regrets about having him spend so much of his early childhood being told how wrong he is about everything. This is NOT to say that folks who choose ABA are wrong or that you shouldn't, it's simply a different perspective. Max is in a regular classroom--he has an IEP and takes his tests separately and under modified rules, he gets some OT and social skills and there are some accommodations made for him in the classroom (e.g., there's a balance board and a large bean-bag chair for his use). He's in a weekly social skills group at the autism center near our home. He has done some individual therapy when there's been a particular issue with which he's needed support. We have a therapist we see for parenting " tune-ups " when we need them. We have never adjusted his diet or given him supplements--what I've described above is the sum total of interventions we do/have done with/for him.I'm happy to field questions or whatever, should you want to hear more. All best to you and your son!tt Hi everyone, I have an 18 month old son. We have an appt with his pediatrician on Monday morning. My husband and I have been seeing signs of autism in him. Such as not responding to his name, no pointing or waving, no clear words, he shuffles his legs when excited. He is very loving and gives hugs. I would like advice on how you first heard your child had autism and what you did. Please give us support too. -- Terri D. Eagen-TorkkoFull-time feminist event planner, freelance editor, 24/7 bonus mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 My husband and I would like to thank everyone that responded to my post. We are about to leave for the doctor's appt now. We have heavy hearts. We know that we are not alone in this journey. Thank You again. Leah Iris > > > ** > > > > > > Hi everyone, I have an 18 month old son. We have an appt with his > > pediatrician on Monday morning. My husband and I have been seeing signs of > > autism in him. Such as not responding to his name, no pointing or waving, > > no clear words, he shuffles his legs when excited. He is very loving and > > gives hugs. I would like advice on how you first heard your child had > > autism and what you did. Please give us support too. > > > > > > > > > > -- > Terri D. Eagen-Torkko > Full-time feminist event planner, freelance editor, 24/7 bonus mom > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 My son was not diagnosed until two weeks before he turned 3. I did not notice anything that worried me until he was 2.5, but as I did reading and research on my own, I highly suspected they were going to tell me he was autistic. So, it was not a shock when they came back with that diagnosis. He is on the more mild end of the spectrum - he mainstreams 90% of the time at school, likes to be affectionate with family, and is self-sufficient in many ways. However, it was still a relief for me to hear that the had the official diagnosis so that I knew I wasn't crazy and to get the ball rolling on whatever services he might need. For me, it was all about moving forward to give my son the best life he can have, just as looking at giving my typically-developing kids the best life they can have. > > Hi everyone, I have an 18 month old son. We have an appt with his pediatrician on Monday morning. My husband and I have been seeing signs of autism in him. Such as not responding to his name, no pointing or waving, no clear words, he shuffles his legs when excited. He is very loving and gives hugs. I would like advice on how you first heard your child had autism and what you did. Please give us support too. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 We suspected "something" wasn't right with our daughter was 7 months. She was formally dx'ed when she was 3.5 with Aspergers by Children's hospital after a year of LONGGGGGG appointments. Our daughter is loving from time to time, but often devoid of emotions. You wrote "I would like advice on how you first heard your child had autism" As far as hearing the actual dx..... It was validating to know an answer to what we saw 24/7. Especially since we had very little support and everyone had a negative comment or judgement. It felt good to say this is why she is this way. It felt good to tell them to quit judging until they educate themselves about Aspergers. You wrote "and what you did". We have been seeing a specialist for a couple years. The doctor has been giving us suggestions and guidance on how to help our daughter. We have been learning a little bit about ABA. Our insurance doesn't cover it so it is very informal, however many aspects of ABA work for us. ABA is not a cure all but what we have learned, it helps our our daughter in a social settings (sometimes). If guns kill people then pencils cause misspelled words To: autism-aspergers Sent: Sunday, July 8, 2012 2:25 PM Subject: Need support Hi everyone, I have an 18 month old son. We have an appt with his pediatrician on Monday morning. My husband and I have been seeing signs of autism in him. Such as not responding to his name, no pointing or waving, no clear words, he shuffles his legs when excited. He is very loving and gives hugs. I would like advice on how you first heard your child had autism and what you did. Please give us support too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 We had a tearful but informative visit with the doctor. We are being referred to the autism center at Vanderbilt. We hope to get him looked at asap. > > > > > ** > > > > > > > > > Hi everyone, I have an 18 month old son. We have an appt with his > > > pediatrician on Monday morning. My husband and I have been seeing signs of > > > autism in him. Such as not responding to his name, no pointing or waving, > > > no clear words, he shuffles his legs when excited. He is very loving and > > > gives hugs. I would like advice on how you first heard your child had > > > autism and what you did. Please give us support too. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Terri D. Eagen-Torkko > > Full-time feminist event planner, freelance editor, 24/7 bonus mom > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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