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| So C is likely autistic; and I'm not handling it all that gracefully. | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 4 2013, 09:10 PM (2,319 Views) | |
| MayaTy02 | Apr 10 2013, 05:10 AM Post #61 |
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I thought of you as Ty told me this morning he couldn't sleep last night because he was in short sleeves... little things still plague him, and to your story Little Diva, Ty has known all the US Presidents, in order (and usually their wives and where they were from) since he was 7 yrs old. He can recite all the state capitals as well, and has for years. Unfortunately it takes him time to spit them out, so he did not win the "capital challenge" at school where he would have to compete against another kid to name them the fastest. He knows all the makes of cars and can even tell you what year the car is and he is almost always right within a year or two. He has done this since he was 5? He memorized what shape the headlights were and what the logos were. I am glad you are feeling more hopeful FG, and I hope that this is a situation where he will some services he will be able to improve. Thinking of you - HUGS. |
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| stephjm | Apr 10 2013, 06:14 AM Post #62 |
It'll be an adventure! We're going on an adventure!
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Thinking of you too FG. I'm glad you are on the path of getting help for C. Probably the earlier that starts the better, and I'm sure you will feel better also knowing he is getting help, and you and Marc can also learn how to help him become his own person and reach his potential. My DD is intending to get a Master's in OT (she starts college in the fall). She is thinking about working with kids, and I tell her about the good comments I hear on this board about OTs!  Every kid has his or her challenges. Some challenges are bigger than others. But I think your two kids are so lucky to have you and Marc as their parents. They will both be raised with love and acceptance and end up doing great things in this world, each in their own way. 
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| Kassandra | Apr 10 2013, 06:29 AM Post #63 |
Is the meadow on fire?
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Well by todays criteria, and many of the comments made on here, I am autistic! Wooohoo! Thankfully my parents were too busy ignoring me in childhood for anyone to notice. This crazy person grew up thinking she was normal and is pretty damn thankful of that. I finally made it to the age where even if someone told me now, I don't care. I worry about people turning eccentricity and uniqueness into a disorder requiring too much treatment. I worry for the individuals and for society. |
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| FlashGordon | Apr 10 2013, 08:49 AM Post #64 |
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K I do know what you mean-- with autism spectrum disorders becoming more prevalent, you wonder if it is being overdiagnosed? But in what reasearch I have done, 60% of autistic people are non-verbal. So that "sign" is pretty easy to hit on. The other 40%, well, C is considered "high functioning" because he is highly intelligent and IS (barely) verbal, but even he has such a unique set of behaviors/symptoms that are characteristic of autism that it'd be hard to miss. I guess I just thought autism was this vague "thing" but now that I see/live it in action I think I'd be able to pick an autistic person/child out of a crowd. Though yes, I do think many, many high functioning folks went undiagnosed previously, and did just fine! On the flipside, there is probably a percentage that COULD have done fine, with intervention, but slipped through the cracks because they were not diagnosed or treated effectively. It's definitely a weird balancing act. And I do wonder why autism rates have skyrocketed like they have over the last few decades. Especially since it is a neurodevelopmental disorder with actual physical markers. So what is causing the change in the nervous system? Does it happen prior to birth or after? I do think the various factions mostly agree that there is a strong genetic link. We spent all morning with a psychologist and speech therapist getting the results of some of his evals, and they were pretty spot-on and very interesting. They said he is clearly very bright, and that language skills are not indicative of intelligence. They said his communication skills are unusual but they think they are laying just below the surface. He has a couple more evals (luckily none of these are stressful for him-- mostly just interacting and playing in a controlled environment) and then we reconvene to discuss services. Going in, I was really tweaked because all these evals involve Marc and I answering a shitload of questions and having our lives scrutinized-- again-- lol. So there's a lot of self doubt and sometimes guilt about parenting, etc. Like am I doing this wrong? However, the feedback we got about him and the situation left me feeling very relieved, and hopeful, that with intervention he will be able to develop his social and communication skills and we can address his anxiety/ocd components. Anyway thanks again you guys for letting me vent and for sharing your own experiences. It has helped me feel a lot less lonely, and much more hopeful about this whole thing. |
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| MayaTy02 | Apr 10 2013, 09:23 AM Post #65 |
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oh good, glad you had that meeting, and I hope with some intervention and developmental services he will be chatting up a storm in no time! |
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| gunnar | Apr 10 2013, 10:19 AM Post #66 |
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Ditto! Keep talking to us ! |
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| JanM | Apr 10 2013, 10:42 AM Post #67 |
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Off visiting Candy Cave, be right back.
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I think the rising number of autism are from two factors. If there is a genetic component, and there seems to be, then people are just producing kids that are now being diagnosed. I think there must be a genetic component in some cases, because that's my only way to explain families with three and four autism spectrum children. Years ago, I'm sure autism was underdiagnosed, just as ADD or ADHD has been. With ADD and ADHD after it was accepted as a diagnosis, and when Ritalin and other drugs were prescribed, then I'm sure there were lots of misdiagnoses. Remember that a few years ago that it was found that some schools had a huge majority of boys on some kind of ADHD drug, or were advising the parents send them for testing, and it's a behavior pattern that used to be considered 'high-strung' or something similar, but now it's a syndrome. I'm glad you are finding accurate diagnoses, and help. I am sure that with help from you, his dad, and others who help, that Colton will find his own path, and be a wonderful adult. I was recently reading that because he was a late-bloomer, that Einstein was considered slow and probably unteachable-fooled a lot of people didn't he? |
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| onwego | May 11 2013, 04:27 PM Post #68 |
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Flashy, I saw this today and it immediately made me think of you... http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2013/05/toddler-autism.html |
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| FlashGordon | May 11 2013, 05:01 PM Post #69 |
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Thank you so much for sharing, onwego! Lots of helpful information. He starts more intensive therapy later this month. Right now we are just working on (hopefully) getting him more up to speed in language/speech and OT/life skills. He has mild to severe delays across the board, and his cognitive testing is characteristic of a kid on the spectrum.... testing way high in some things, and way low in others. We *finally* switched pediatricians, and I love the new one. We saw them this week and the doc was very hopeful and said that much of his developmental delays could be due to his illness. He essentially missed out on 8-10 months of prime time in terms of development, and when you are only 3 years old, that's like a 1/3 of your life! He said he could likely be on the spectrum also, but he feels that we will make great strides by addressing the delays as we are and that he may even out quite a bit once he hits school age, which was very good to hear. Also, he still gets supplemental nutrition, and we recently switched to a different brand with a different forumla. He is *unbelievably* better. His anxiety is non-existant, he is sleeping better, he has put on albs. It's crazy. No one can tell us why there is such a difference, or why his nutritional intake seems to impact him so much. There is still something we are missing on the medical end, I don't know what it is, but for now I am just thankful that he is doing really well these last few weeks! |
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| Kikki | May 11 2013, 08:46 PM Post #70 |
It'll be an adventure! We're going on an adventure!
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What an awesome update! |
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| Trialbyfire | May 12 2013, 03:55 AM Post #71 |
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You know, I hate to even say it because it sounds sort of dumb, but whenever we talk about imperfect animal behavior (perfect example: horse under saddle); the very first question that we are asked is "what are you feeding him?" For some reason, this is not the first question to be asked to humans, but in so many cases it SHOULD be! I think it's very possible that C's diet, medical issues, and subsequent delays could very possibly be completely related to his potential "autistic" behavior. Or very possibly a contributing factor. I think you said you were working with a nutritionist - can they compare the ingredients of the formula to maybe figure out what is better and what might have been causing problems? That would be amazing if you could pinpoint either things to keep up with, or even better - specific things to avoid! Go Colt! |
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| Trialbyfire | May 12 2013, 04:04 AM Post #72 |
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ETA: forgot to mention that when we adopted my younger dd, she was VERY delayed, to the point that we were not sure if there was a serious underlying condition. But, nope, just developmental delay (caused primarily by a rocky first six months, and then nearly a year in institutional care.) Despite the fact that the kids receive adequate nutrition, they don't get enough sensory stimulation, encouragement, individual attention, love. I thought about a funny story while reading your thread a few weeks ago - where my pediatrician was checking on her development and said "well, it's ok if she doesn't say the word *nose*, or *eye*, but if you ask *where is your eye, does she point to it?" and I almost cried -- what a horrible mother I was -- I've never asked her "where is your eye?" Haha...so hard to be a parent.  Anyway, my dd was like an infant at 18 months. She didn't feed herself, didn't walk until she was nearly 2, didn't potty train until 3, lots of other things...language was a challenge. And there wasn't anything *wrong* with her - certainly she didn't have the medical issues that C has had to contend with over the last year. So to sum up -- yes, definitely, I think his delays are definitely related to his being sick -- 1/3 of his life! Think about it. For me, that would be 11 years of feeling really bad! Mind boggling when you put it like that.
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| Indy | May 12 2013, 08:58 AM Post #73 |
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Yay for good updates! Little C is a lucky kiddo to have you as his mom to fight for him to get every opportunity he can. Even if he doesn't "catch up" with his peers, he's going to be the best C possible and that's all that matters. I'm glad he's doing better on the new formula. That's got to make such a difference in how he feels overall. |
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| Trialbyfire | May 12 2013, 09:22 AM Post #74 |
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Haha...just noticed that I subconsciously made myself 33 (instead of 44).  
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| gunnar | May 12 2013, 09:25 AM Post #75 |
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Glad to hear Colt is doing well! Continued jingles for the sweet little man! |
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