Signs of autism/asperger's in my child?

thegirlintheattic

ASD will not be diagnosed until age 3-4, to prevent misdiagnosis. If you are concerned give your HV a call or your GP. Babies develop at different rates and some seem behind but catch up overnight.

daska

the_pink_panther wrote: »

Slightly confused by this particular example... it's just that Einstein is thought to have been aspergers... I agree though, although possible your child has aspergers, it seems unlikely at this stage. I understand it's so so easy to worry about it though.

Sorry, I was using Einstein as an example because the OP is obviously concerned that her child isn't meeting the milestones. It doesn't matter that he may or may not have had aspergers, the point is that you can't necessarily predict how intelligent, successful, beautiful someone is going to be based on them meeting or not meeting an milestone bang on target. DS2 was walking at 10 months and he still moves like a marionette at 4.

daska

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

ASD will not be diagnosed until age 3-4, to prevent misdiagnosis. If you are concerned give your HV a call or your GP. Babies develop at different rates and some seem behind but catch up overnight.

We've been told repeatedly that DS2 won't be referred yet because they won't diagnose under 7. Yet friends of ours in a different part of the country have a diagnosis at 2. It seems ASD assessment is another post code lottery.

JBD

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

ASD will not be diagnosed until age 3-4, to prevent misdiagnosis. If you are concerned give your HV a call or your GP. Babies develop at different rates and some seem behind but catch up overnight.

This isn't true. My daughter was diasgnosed at 2 1/2, and in fact showed very strong signs at 2. The earlier the better, as early intervention can be quite effective. In any case it wouldn't matter if they were misdiagnosed, as there is no 'treatment' as such.
We noticed delayed development at around 8 or 9 months, as she wasn't 'keeping up' with the developmental milestones in her red book [not sure if they still have that].
You have to get the balance right, try not to worry too much. On the other hand don't assume that 'they all do things at different times and will catch up'. We just kept in touch with our health visitor, who referred her to the peadiatrician when appropiate.

thegirlintheattic

JBD wrote: »

This isn't true. My daughter was diasgnosed at 2 1/2, and in fact showed very strong signs at 2. The earlier the better, as early intervention can be quite effective. In any case it wouldn't matter if they were misdiagnosed, as there is no 'treatment' as such.
We noticed delayed development at around 8 or 9 months, as she wasn't 'keeping up' with the developmental milestones in her red book [not sure if they still have that].
You have to get the balance right, try not to worry too much. On the other hand don't assume that 'they all do things at different times and will catch up'. We just kept in touch with our health visitor, who referred her to the peadiatrician when appropiate.

In my area they refuse to diagnose till 3-4. My neghibours son showed symptoms from a very young age but the doctors refused to progress things further until he was older and got told - and I quote "We don't give a diagnosis until the child is between 3 and 4, as otherwise some children would be misdiagnosed."

As has already been mentioned on this thread some areas seem to wait till they are older and some diagnose earlier.

JC9297

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

In my area they refuse to diagnose till 3-4. My neghibours son showed symptoms from a very young age but the doctors refused to progress things further until he was older and got told - and I quote "We don't give a diagnosis until the child is between 3 and 4, as otherwise some children would be misdiagnosed."

As has already been mentioned on this thread some areas seem to wait till they are older and some diagnose earlier.

I don't think it really matters if they choose not to label the behaviour/symptom as ASD as long as it is being addressed appropriately and the right support is there. If they are saying we can't offer any help until a diagnosis is given (whether that be at 3, 4 or 7) then that is a problem.
I find it unbelievable that some areas refuse to diagnose until the age of 7. I know some children at the milder end of the spectrum may only be picked up in primary school when their differences become more apparent, and diagnosis would not be possible at a younger age. However for many children with more severe autism, who have displayed symptoms since an early age, what is the point of delaying diagnosis until the age of 7? Are these children just sent to special schools with a vague diagnosis of developmental delay?

JBD

JC9297 wrote: »

I don't think it really matters if they choose not to label the behaviour/symptom as ASD as long as it is being addressed appropriately and the right support is there. If they are saying we can't offer any help until a diagnosis is given (whether that be at 3, 4 or 7) then that is a problem.

I agree with this point. In fact I found the support and the information very helpful in dealing with my middle son who had developmental delay but wasn't diagnosed as being autistic. He had 'autistic traits' but wasn't placed on the autistic spectrum.

[Deleted User]

daska wrote: »

We've been told repeatedly that DS2 won't be referred yet because they won't diagnose under 7. Yet friends of ours in a different part of the country have a diagnosis at 2. It seems ASD assessment is another post code lottery.

Don't let them fob you off, they can easily diagnose from age 3. early intervention is very important and he would need a statement at school. After the age of 7 the brain is less flexible. If you are concerned, push push push for a referral.

OP ~ my son is autistic and walked at 10 months, I don't think it matters. However my son was not a smiley baby. He would laugh, but not smile back at me. He babbled but that stopped when he was 13-15 months and he also stopped eating. He doesn't flap, never has done.

JC9297

My now 19 year old son was identified as being autistic before he was 3, I would have thought that with increased awareness diagnosis would come earlier now rather than later, however, I wonder if this is to do with the diagnosed range of the spectrum growing.

At one time many people who probably now would have been put at the mild end of the spectrum would never have been diagnosed as ASD, it was only more obviously affected children who were diagnosed. These days parents and professionals pick up on any little thing that might be different about a child and can be very quick to wonder if it is a sign of autism, working in a school I often hear colleagues questioning whether certain children may be on the spectrum.

I can understand doctors not wanting to rush into a diagnosis on what can at times be 'circumstantial' evidence. However if a child of 2 or 3 is showing obvious signs of the triad of impairment and is obviously not developing normally, then what is the point in delaying diagnosis.

Another factor in the postcode lottery in getting the right diagnosis, is which professionals you see and there is a lot of luck in whether GPs know where to refer you to, we were lucky to have access to a Clinical Psychologist who was an expert in autism.

the_pink_panther_2

http://uk.health.lifestyle.yahoo.net/early-signs-of-autism-detected-at-six-months.htm

I don't know if this is of any use to you...