My Quest for a Healthy Child Never Ends

I agree with Mimi! I will also say you shouldnt worry just yet. You can get Jenny McCarthy's book, Mother Warriors and learn A LOT about Autism. If this is ANY question, please refrain from getting more vaccines for him! If he does have this, find you a good Chiropractor that uses DAN (defeat autism now). Thru his diet and chiropractic, he will come along way. I wiish you guys the very best!!!

I agree that the drs are too easy to diagnose autism and just about any disability. My niece was told she probably had autism after 1 visit with a new pediatrician just because she wouldn't answer the dr's questions at age 3. She's age 5 now and is reading at a 2nd grade level. My son at 18 mo was diagnosed with apraxia - a speech disability that they said would not get better without therapy. I took him to several sessions and didn't see that they were doing anything that I couldn't do. He is now 27 mo and is just about saying anything he wants. So, no one knows your child better than you and don't put all your trust in drs just because they are drs. Do what your gut tells you.

Autism is one spectrum of prevasive developmental disorder. Children develop at different rates. Seeing a developmental pediatrician will give you what you need. The experts for autism are at the Marcus Institute. Make an appointment as soon as you can. Children with any form of PDD do much better with early intense intervention. It may be that there is nothing to the drs concerns but get it from an expert to be sure. SErvices begin in public health then from the school system and are available the moment you get a diagnosis. Do not take no for an answer if your child qualifies for services. They must be provided under IDEA Part C.

God bless you I am a single mom full time and taking a class here and there with no family support or husbnad father etc to help out. It is difficult but at the forefront your child has to be the number one priority no matter what. Its been hard for me to swallow but if that means not getting a perfect score on attendance at work or a having to drop my college class so be it. We will not get a second chance to raise these toddlers healthy again or construct beautiful memories for them. After all that is why we had them. If it turns out your child has extra special needs of Autism so be it, face it get the best help you can and accept the path of a different kind of joy than you planned. If anything sounds like he will have a mild mild case and maybe no autism at all. Sometimes I wonder if emotional detachment is more about dropping youngsters off at daycare and absent mom than a disability. My son is mad at me for leaving him and tells me so in the evenings after giving me the cold shoulder and he is only three. It's unnatural but what we have to do and well practiced here in the USA.

First of all, he has not been diagnosed yet--relax if you can. Just because one professional sees some signs does not mean he has autism. I am an occupational therapist and when I see signs in the children I evaluate, I have to make note of it--it would be wrong for me not to say something to the parents. I would pursue further testing as recommended, but keep in mind that even if he is diagnosed autistic, most likely it is mild (especially if you don't see any signs). Most likely he needs some language therapy. Early intervention is key with these kids. Do some research and be as honest as you can with the evaluator. And, autistic or not, he is your son, your bundle of joy, and a label won't change how much you love him, right?

Day care center workers, while they do spend a lot of time around kids, are not qualified to diagnose autism. I would mention what you heard to your son's pediatrician -- if he/she seconds the idea, move forward -- otherwise, rest easy.

It very well could be that your son's inability to hear well during his early childhood effected his verbal communication and that's why your day care center reacted. As a child, I had ear infections constantly. My mother says I talked like a deaf person (not very clearly) and she assumes it's because I heard everything like I was underwater. Once the ears were clear, I changed that to speaking perfectly clearly.

I have a son that had ear infections we finally ended up with tubes at 18 months....he didn't talk but a few words. at a bit over 2 yrs old we had evals and he needed speech therapy I also had one doctor jump on the autism wagon but not to worry he may not have it. My son didn't the doctor that said he did was wrong. For some insight and support please consider calling focus-ga.org look up their website they were angels at helping me with information so i could make decisions for my child and someone to talk to when I needed an ear to bend. I would always get more then one opinion on my child and I did in our case I may be wrong but with infections and then tubes it sounds like developmental delay which is what my son had the child may not or is not hitting the milestones of development because the hearing problem set him back. At 3 yrs old my son went to a public school yes on a bus and was in a special ed prek not to worry it's not forever my child now is an honor roll student he can speak even better then me I got him the boost me needed to develop your case may not be the same but it sure sounds the same. I wish you the best and remember more then one educated opinion plus you are your childs only advocate, trust you feelings also.

If his speech is delayed, it could be due to the recent past problems of hearing and he will catch up in good time. My grandson was nearly deaf and until they realized it, they just thought he was delayed in development! After his tubes were put in, speech came to normal within a couple of months. Autism diagnosis is nothing to do with his intelligence. Yes, he can be very smart, but he could still be autistic. Do read up about it on the links provided in a previous posting. You will learn all about autism and have the information at hand that you are seeking. Good luck to you.

My daughter is almost 3 and has had many ear infections and 4 set of tubes. She doesn't put 2 words together and frankly didn't speak at all until Christmas. She has been in speech since 18mo and they also thought she was autistic. But she had many other signs than just not speaking. Well, she doesn't have it. Because of the ear infections, she wasn't able to hear for the first 1.5yr of her life and it left her with sever speech delays. That's all. Autism is so often the first thing that people think of when there is only a tiny problem. If your child only has a speech issue, believe me, you are just fine. Don't worry yourself about that. My money is on no. And I'd bet alot of money on it. He is just a little behind because of all the fluid he has had in his ears. Don't let them freak you out. Speech is the best thing for him and he will come around quickly. You will see :)

Hi Tamala,I think you read my mind! Except that my girl (who is also 3) is going for an evaluation this coming Thus. and I'm so worried I can't stop thinking about it. It was my decicion to ask for an eval. from Richland 2 because, she is also very bright and know #'s colors etc. but is shy in the dayschool/classroom setting even though she will not stop talking at home:)I would like to know more about how the process is facilitated and if you find it helpful(if you had a school district eval.) It would be nice to have another Mama to compare notes w/ if you end up in the same boat, or even if not. My mother was an Ex. Director for "Family Connection" which is a support network for parents of children w/ special needs and that's a good reasource for more info. about the disorder( if you actually need it. My instinct says not to worry your son is probably just fine, do not belive everything you read because every child is different and ASD is a a popular diagnosis right now, Sorry this is so long and I wish you all the luck in your quest for a healthy child...I share the same struggle! Kind regards, C. ( I work pt. as a RN but always check e-mail @ night...hope to hear from you:)

I wouldn't freak out just yet, speech problems are common at that age esp with the ear problems he has had, it seems that every problem a child has they want to label them autistic. Dont get me wrong, I believe it's a real problem and am trying to keep my kids as natural and holisitc as possible, but I also know it seems they get you into this medical system and want to keep doing tests, use your motherly instict. If they do label him autistic early intervention is helpful as well as diet (gluten free ect...) but for now I wouldn't stress, plus there are many levels of autism, my husbands sister is fully functioning, graduated from a tech high school and is able to keep a job and pay bills, obviously she is on the mild side.

T.,
I am excited to tell you that there are many functional forms of autism. I am not an expert, but my best friend has a 6 yr old with autism and is the leader of an autism support group in her home town. She knows PLENTY. If interested you can emial me at ____@____.com and I can get you in touch with her. She would be happy to assist you to make you a little more aware.
J.

Hi T.,

Autism is on the rise in this country. 1 out of 150 children are diagnosed with Autism. This is a crime! We have exacerbated this disease over the last 50 years by the onset of everything chemical. You, as a chemist, know how synthetic chemicals contraindicate. There are in so many household products, cleaning supplies, bath and body supplies. These are dangerous alone, then we mix them together and don't expect anything to happen from them. They can become a toxic brew.

Before you stress over whether he is Autistic or not, I would detoxify your house and his little body and see if his symptoms go away. My daughter was diagnosed with ADHD and when I detoxed my house, her diagnosis was removed by her doctor. I have a friend with a son who was diagnosed Autistic and he is symptom free except when he's at his Dad's house. (Yes, I'm implying that Dad doesn't get it!) Her house is detoxed and she watches his diet and supplements his nutrition. His diet and nutrition are under control at school but Dad doesn't monitor anything so her little one comes home full of symptoms all over again.

Detoxing can be simple and can be inexpensive as well. Let me know if you want more information. I'd be glad to help.

Regards,

M.
www.squidoo.com/ifyourbabycouldtalk

I am a retired teacher. I sometimes substitute in a classroom for autistic children. Autistic children don't communicate very well with their parents and other children. They stay off to themselves and you literally have to force them to communicate with you. The children in the classroom have a very simple computer which they use to communicate their needs(bathroom, water, to say the day of the week, to say the teacher's name, etc). If your child communicates with you and other people, I would say that he isn't autistic. He might just be a little bit slow.
P. S