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ohbaby08
Winter is Coming
Member since 10/07 1718 total posts
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? about age of diagnosis
I hope no one minds me posting here. I just have a question about the age at which a child is typically diagnosed on the autism spectrum. A friend of mine has a son who, according to the people that have evaluated him, has possible asperger's, but they refuse to give him an "official" diagnosis until he is close to 5 (he is a little over 4 now). I also have another friend who's son shows some signs of ASD (hand flapping, other stimming, no spontaneous speech at 2.5). He has been receiving speech and OT therapy through the county since 15 months (he is now 2.5) and as far as I know, he has only been labeled as a "preschooler with a disability" because, according to his mom, they don't diagnose ASD until later on. I've been reading people's posts on here saying that their child was diagnosed at much earlier ages and I'm just confused why there is such a difference in what I'm hearing from my friends. I was hoping someone on here would be able to shed some light. Thanks!
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Posted 10/22/12 10:08 AM  |
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A3CM
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Member since 9/08 3762 total posts
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Mommy
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Re: ? about age of diagnosis
Aspergers is a DX that is usually a TRUE DX after the age 5 (kids are usually DXed between 5-7) a DX of Aspergers usually isnt true if given before 5.
PDD-NOS or Autism can be diagnosed as young as 3-6 months old.
my DS was DX with autism OFFICIALLY at 18 months old, 15 months by his therapists and 6 months old by me.
does your friend whos DC is 2.5 get Special Ed? was he ever evaluated for Special Ed?
my friends DS was DXed with Autism at 4.5 months old.
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| Posted 10/22/12 10:12 AM |
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ohbaby08
Winter is Coming
Member since 10/07 1718 total posts
Name:
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Re: ? about age of diagnosis
Posted by A3CM
Aspergers is a DX that is usually a TRUE DX after the age 5 (kids are usually DXed between 5-7) a DX of Aspergers usually isnt true if given before 5.
PDD-NOS or Autism can be diagnosed as young as 3-6 months old.
my DS was DX with autism OFFICIALLY at 18 months old, 15 months by his therapists and 6 months old by me.
does your friend whos DC is 2.5 get Special Ed? was he ever evaluated for Special Ed?
my friends DS was DXed with Autism at 4.5 months old.
He has been getting the speech, OT and feeding therapy through the county and he is just starting a preschool program. I don't know if he was evaluated for spec. ed. Is that different from the county eval? I know they will be going through the process of transitioning him to the school district for services once he turns 3.
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| Posted 10/22/12 10:31 AM |
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anon1234
LIF Zygote
Member since 8/12 24 total posts
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Re: ? about age of diagnosis
Tell her to ask EI for a psych eval. Autism can be diangosed very young and in fact it is better to get treatment as early as possible, so if she thinks he will qualify, best to do the evaluation now.
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| Posted 10/22/12 1:59 PM |
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A3CM
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Member since 9/08 3762 total posts
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Mommy
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Re: ? about age of diagnosis
Posted by ohbaby08
Posted by A3CM
Aspergers is a DX that is usually a TRUE DX after the age 5 (kids are usually DXed between 5-7) a DX of Aspergers usually isnt true if given before 5.
PDD-NOS or Autism can be diagnosed as young as 3-6 months old.
my DS was DX with autism OFFICIALLY at 18 months old, 15 months by his therapists and 6 months old by me.
does your friend whos DC is 2.5 get Special Ed? was he ever evaluated for Special Ed?
my friends DS was DXed with Autism at 4.5 months old.
He has been getting the speech, OT and feeding therapy through the county and he is just starting a preschool program. I don't know if he was evaluated for spec. ed. Is that different from the county eval? I know they will be going through the process of transitioning him to the school district for services once he turns 3.
it is a different eval. usually they do a SE eval before OT. what does his therapists "think." they cannot DX but usually an OT or ST will hint to a parent that they should have a SE or psych done.
i would def req a psych before he turns 3.
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| Posted 10/22/12 2:00 PM |
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ohbaby08
Winter is Coming
Member since 10/07 1718 total posts
Name:
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Re: ? about age of diagnosis
I honestly don't know what the therapists and evaluators have said to them about it. I think they are mostly in denial about their son's issues and also don't know to ask for the right things. I'm curious if the school district will evaluate him differently than the county has been. Will a psych eval automatically be part of the district evaluations or is that something they have to specifically ask for?
Thanks for your replies so far 
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| Posted 10/22/12 5:23 PM |
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Jbon630
LIF Adult
Member since 12/11 1340 total posts
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Re: ? about age of diagnosis
Autism can be diagnosed BUT as far as the IEP, it would be "preschool student with a disability" until 5. Could this be what she's referring to?
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| Posted 10/22/12 6:07 PM |
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A3CM
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Member since 9/08 3762 total posts
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Mommy
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Re: ? about age of diagnosis
Posted by ohbaby08
I honestly don't know what the therapists and evaluators have said to them about it. I think they are mostly in denial about their son's issues and also don't know to ask for the right things. I'm curious if the school district will evaluate him differently than the county has been. Will a psych eval automatically be part of the district evaluations or is that something they have to specifically ask for?
Thanks for your replies so far
a therapist cannot diagnose, but they can make suggestions on getting other evaluations done.
the school district will only do other evaluations based off his test scores or if a parent asks for other evaluations to be done if reports can back the claims of why they should be done. otherwise they can seek a private evaluation through their insurance.
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| Posted 10/22/12 6:29 PM |
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anon1234
LIF Zygote
Member since 8/12 24 total posts
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Re: ? about age of diagnosis
Maybe I am overly sensitive due to my own experience, but I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that the parents are "in denial" about anything. If you've never had a special needs child before, a lot of this can be very perplexing, especially because so many pediatricians downplay parents' concerns about late-talking children. When a doctor tells a parent "you have nothing to worry about," or "don't worry just yet," you take their word for it. That's not denial -- it's being given, well, not all of the information.
It also sounds, from what you have written, like the parents had the child evaluated and are getting some services through EI. So it seems to me that they are not in denial at all. Maybe someone told them that ASD isn't diagnosed until later, and they honestly believe that.
But it's not the case. Autism can be diagnosed very early and the earlier treatment begins, the better. If they want to evaluate him for autism or even just "rule it out," they should ask EI for a psych eval. I hope they can get their child the services that he needs, whatever his condition is.
Message edited 10/22/2012 8:03:20 PM.
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| Posted 10/22/12 8:01 PM |
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ohbaby08
Winter is Coming
Member since 10/07 1718 total posts
Name:
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Re: ? about age of diagnosis
Posted by anon1234
Maybe I am overly sensitive due to my own experience, but I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that the parents are "in denial" about anything. If you've never had a special needs child before, a lot of this can be very perplexing, especially because so many pediatricians downplay parents' concerns about late-talking children. When a doctor tells a parent "you have nothing to worry about," or "don't worry just yet," you take their word for it. That's not denial -- it's being given, well, not all of the information.
It also sounds, from what you have written, like the parents had the child evaluated and are getting some services through EI. So it seems to me that they are not in denial at all. Maybe someone told them that ASD isn't diagnosed until later, and they honestly believe that.
But it's not the case. Autism can be diagnosed very early and the earlier treatment begins, the better. If they want to evaluate him for autism or even just "rule it out," they should ask EI for a psych eval. I hope they can get their child the services that he needs, whatever his condition is.
I don't feel like I'm jumping to conslusions, but maybe denial was the wrong word. The reason I said it is because sometimes I feel like I do more research and are more informed about things they should be asking about for their son than they are. It just seems like they are not very proactive. Yes, they are getting him speech, but only because when he wasn't even babbling at 15 months, many people were telling them that they should have him evaluated. He is going to be starting preschool, but again, this is because they have had outside friends telling them that it isn't good for a 2.5 yr old to have zero social interaction. He has no friends, they don't really take him anywhere and he basically sits in their house 24/7. I've never been in their shoes, so I can't imagine what they are going through.
I'm sorry if I offended anyone with my questions. I just wanted to be more informed. Thanks again.
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| Posted 10/23/12 7:58 AM |
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