Re: 3 year old Aspie

[Guest guest]

Hi Sandy,

My son is also 3 and we are on the waiting list to have the ADOS test to confirm

AS (he was already dx with sensory processing disorder, and we have every

expectation that testing will confirm a dx of AS as well). Anyway, I was

wondering what particular issues you are facing these days with your 3 year old?

Thanks,

Bridget

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> My son is 3. I have seen many posts mostly from moms of school kids. My son's

issues seem to be a little different at this moment, thought I know I will get

there and I will prepared after reading all your posts. For example, my child's

teacher wants me to send him different " new " " varied " food every day. If I do

that he won't eat anything the whole morning. So I try to add something new for

each meal for him to familiarize with it, and I know it may take months for him

to try it.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Shirley,

As it was explained to us at TEACCH, the ADOS test involves two parts: a lengthy

survey for the parents, and a test administered to the child by a psychologist

(or two). The test is to measure things like eye contact, socialization, and

other areas which are commonly deficient in autism spectrum disorders (TEACCH

does not differentiate between Asperger's and high functioning autism). An

example I have heard is the tester might tell the child about her dog and then

see if the child asks appropriate questions in return (what's your dog's name?)

or if they do not understand that sort of social reciprocity. Or they might blow

bubbles to see how long it takes for the child to look back to the face of the

person blowing the bubbles. There are several units for the ADOS test based on

the age and verbal abilities of the person. The ADOS is supposedly the " gold

standard " in testing. HTH!

Bridget

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> > My son is 3. I have seen many posts mostly from moms of school kids. My

son's

> >issues seem to be a little different at this moment, thought I know I will

get

> >there and I will prepared after reading all your posts. For example, my

child's

> >teacher wants me to send him different " new " " varied " food every day. If I do

> >that he won't eat anything the whole morning. So I try to add something new

for

> >each meal for him to familiarize with it, and I know it may take months for

him

> >to try it.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

My son (now 21) was also a picky, or very limited, eater. I could probably not

use much more than 10 fingers counting what he would eat back then. I'm with

you, send something he likes, you want him to eat. My son would only eat ham

sandwiches, or just plain mayonnaise sandwiches, so that's what I sent. Else

he wouldn't eat, as you said. We did encourage him to try things at home.

Curious as to why the teacher is asking this? I don't want to say " what

business is it of her's " but that's sort of what I'm thinking. I think she can

ask you if he's picky or something, maybe following up as to why it may be the

same thing (or even not that healthy) a lot of days, but...well, maybe she

thinks if SHE asks he will try something new. Kids do that sometimes, will do

better for others than mom/dad, etc.

Just FYI, he began trying new foods in high school. Why then, I don't know.

But he eats a wide variety of foods now, tries new stuff all the time, but still

will not eat (or bother trying) fruit. Any fruit has to come from juices.

single mom, 3 sons

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> My son is 3. I have seen many posts mostly from moms of school kids. My son's

issues seem to be a little different at this moment, thought I know I will get

there and I will prepared after reading all your posts. For example, my child's

teacher wants me to send him different " new " " varied " food every day. If I do

that he won't eat anything the whole morning. So I try to add something new for

each meal for him to familiarize with it, and I know it may take months for him

to try it.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi. I'm new to all of this as well, and I hope I'm not hijacking this thread or

being a Debbie Downer, but I just wanted to share what I was told recently about

the ADOS by a pediatric psychologist who specializes in psychodiagnostic and

psychoeducational evaluations: The ADOS is only as good as the person who is

administering it. And it should be used in conjunction with the ADI-R in

addition to observing the child among a group of peers and/or at school.

Having said that, from what I understand the ADI-R is a lengthy parent

interview/developmental history that takes about 3 hours to complete and the

ADOS is administered to the child by a psychologist and takes about 30-60 min.

So maybe Bridget and I are talking about the same thing.

Anyway, just wanted to put that out there. For those of you who do not get the

answer you expect from the ADOS, make sure you understand the testing that was

done, and don't give up if your gut tells you the results are not right.

chey

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> > > My son is 3. I have seen many posts mostly from moms of school kids. My

son's

> > >issues seem to be a little different at this moment, thought I know I will

get

> > >there and I will prepared after reading all your posts. For example, my

child's

> > >teacher wants me to send him different " new " " varied " food every day. If I

do

> > >that he won't eat anything the whole morning. So I try to add something new

for

> > >each meal for him to familiarize with it, and I know it may take months for

him

> > >to try it.

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

, and his twin - not identical and no Aspergers - both delayed talking

until around age 3. They continued to mostly point. And when they did begin to

talk, it was more jibber-jabber (as I called it), couldn't understand them. But

then as a child I also had to have speech therapy, so that problem I just

considered genetic.

Gosh, can't recall about answering questions. I think once they started that

jibber-jabber they would answer questions.... A lot of times though, I think

(due to Aspergers) really didn't know how he felt about something, the

" why " of it, etc. It was later I realized he had food texture problems, it

wasn't something he could tell me. So it may not be taste related for some food

refusals. And of course if they won't even attempt to try something new, then

it's neither, LOL. I know when young, there could be food on my plate that I

would look at and not want to try...can't tell you why either! Tho sometimes it

was the smell/odor.

They have an older brother, and he was typical, great vocab at a young age, on

target at all the developmental stages...as I recall at this moment, he's 25

now. He did have some minor articulation problems and got speech for that in

school.

Gotta go,

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> > My son is 3. I have seen many posts mostly from moms of school kids. My

son's issues seem to be a little different at this moment, thought I know I

will get there and I will prepared after reading all your posts. For example, my

child's teacher wants me to send him different " new " " varied " food every day. If

I do that he won't eat anything the whole morning. So I try to add something new

for each meal for him to familiarize with it, and I know it may take months for

him to try it.

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[Guest guest]

Hey, thanks Chey. That is good information. Since the test is somewhat

subjective, it makes sense that the ADOS is only as good as the person

administering it. It could well be that at TEACCH they administer the ADOS and

the ADI-R together. What the counselor described was a full morning, followed by

a couple of hours off for lunch and for them to review everything, and then

another meeting in the afternoon. The amount of time involved for each person

evaluated probably explains the 9 month waiting list to get tested at TEACCH!

They said that they will follow up with a school observation if they cannot come

to a conclusive diagnosis from the ADOS and parent questionnaire.

Thanks again,

Bridget

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> > > > My son is 3. I have seen many posts mostly from moms of school kids. My

son's

> > > >issues seem to be a little different at this moment, thought I know I

will get

> > > >there and I will prepared after reading all your posts. For example, my

child's

> > > >teacher wants me to send him different " new " " varied " food every day. If

I do

> > > >that he won't eat anything the whole morning. So I try to add something

new for

> > > >each meal for him to familiarize with it, and I know it may take months

for him

> > > >to try it.

> > > >

> > >

> >

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[Guest guest]

Hi Sandy,

My son at 3 is very verbal and has a large vocabulary (can also read, spell, and

do simple math), however he does not always use it to communicate well. Often

when frustrated he will scream or make noises, rather than using the words to

tell us what is on his mind. Lately, he has been making cat sounds instead of

using words at times. He is in the process of being evaluated for school

services, and one thing they noticed was that he was not good at asking for

help. They did some messy painting (and my son has sensory issues and does not

like messy stuff on his hands), and they tried to get him to ask to wash his

hands, but could not draw the question out of him. It was very interesting to

see how certain pragmatic speech functions can be lacking when the overall

vocabulary is vast.

Our other main concerns are the sensory issues, peer interactions, emotional

regulation, rigid thinking, unusual interests, and of course, the intense

obsession with the Tank Engine. And no, he is not potty trained yet,

although we are starting to make a little progress in that direction. My guy is

also particular about foods, but will eat a wide range of things. They have to

look clean (no " speckles " as he calls any visible seasoning), be the right

texture (no mashed potatoes, applesauce, cheese, that kind of thing), and few

combination foods (like sandwiches). Oh, and no sauce. That said, there are

foods that he will eat from every food category, including fruits, veggies, and

meats, so we feel pretty lucky.

It's nice to hear more about the other little guys, thanks for sharing!

Bridget

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> > My son is 3. I have seen many posts mostly from moms of school kids. My

son's issues seem to be a little different at this moment, thought I know I

will get there and I will prepared after reading all your posts. For example, my

child's teacher wants me to send him different " new " " varied " food every day. If

I do that he won't eat anything the whole morning. So I try to add something new

for each meal for him to familiarize with it, and I know it may take months for

him to try it.

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