Re: Is it PDD/ASD/Asperger's?

[Guest guest]

> So, I totally understand what you mean about not WANTING it to be

> true, but if it is true then you just want to get your child what he

> NEEDS! Good for you. I know it's tough, but good for you.

Exactly! I did not want to believe my son was on the spectrum. What parent

does? However, I knew in my heart he was, and I knew denying it served no

purpose. It's a tough decision to make, when you're talking about your own

child. However, denying it or ignoring just causes the child to become

farther behind. I had a friend who allowed this to happen. Unfortunately,

it really wasn't her fault, but rather the idiot doctors who eval'd her

child. He was totally nonverbal, yet they were continually told her he

merely had ADHD. She kept telling everyone she suspected autism, but each

time she was consoled and told " no way " . Well, he turned 5-1/2, she

finally got him dx'd, and now she's playing catch up with him. Trust your

instincts and find a new doc, definately a Ped. Dev. Specialist.

a - Madison WI

[Guest guest]

> So, I totally understand what you mean about not WANTING it to be

> true, but if it is true then you just want to get your child what he

> NEEDS! Good for you. I know it's tough, but good for you.

Exactly! I did not want to believe my son was on the spectrum. What parent

does? However, I knew in my heart he was, and I knew denying it served no

purpose. It's a tough decision to make, when you're talking about your own

child. However, denying it or ignoring just causes the child to become

farther behind. I had a friend who allowed this to happen. Unfortunately,

it really wasn't her fault, but rather the idiot doctors who eval'd her

child. He was totally nonverbal, yet they were continually told her he

merely had ADHD. She kept telling everyone she suspected autism, but each

time she was consoled and told " no way " . Well, he turned 5-1/2, she

finally got him dx'd, and now she's playing catch up with him. Trust your

instincts and find a new doc, definately a Ped. Dev. Specialist.

a - Madison WI

[Guest guest]

We had a difficult time getting a diagnosis for my oldest son. It was

obvious that something was " wrong, " but no body really agreed. Some

said he was too " odd " for autism. I would thank the doctor for

admitting s/he was not sure or that it was questionable. Now you can

take that information and maybe see another doctor. We had a doctor

at a Children's Hospital say she KNEW it was a bad case of ADD(I KNEW

it wasn't), and we wasted a lot of time there, even after all their

suggestions were not producing any results.

If you need a label to get something, there is no shame in that. We

ended up doing all the therapies and interventions ourselves so we

didn't need that. After months of researching, I could see that the

treatments were all the same no matter what label you got. And the

treatment is ... a free-for-all. Maybe something will help your

child, maybe not. So you end up being the main " doctor " anyway. You

may get a particular " specialist, " but not get quite the results you

were hoping for. So it is on to the next thing. My kids are now

finally " recovered " enough there isn't a problem. They don't need an

IEP or aide now for public school, and I still keep close tabs on

their learning and behaviour. I quit worrying about a specific label

and got busy getting them better, because they were always going to

be my loves no matter what.

Best wishes.

.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 6/15/01 12:40:13 PM Pacific Daylight Time,

kip.sara@... writes:

> Many doctors went to school when they were only talking about severe,

> classic autism. The children who sit in the corner rocking and

> biting themselves, are essentially non-verbal, and show very little

> affection. The new wave of autistic children, or the " little A's " as

> Dr. Kartzinel likes to call them, are often very affectionate.

>

I agree, I wish we could get them to see this as a very different disease.

It's not your grandfather's autism.

I have found that older MD's are more receptive to seeing our children's

regressive autism as a mystery to be explored because it's not like the

autism they used to see.

Younger docs say " oh, yes well, all autism starts with regression at 18

months even though it was caused before birth. " They can't seem to see the

differences, because the old, classical Kanner's Syndrome (dramatically

present at birth) is still as rare as ever, and so they've never seen these

cases.

How can we dare to educate these doctors (especially when they're younger

than we are and have never raised even a normal child)!?