Autism diagnosis

My DD is 2.5 and was diagnosed with autism last week by a psychologist. I have been noticing some things with her lately like a preference to play alone, not responding to her name, excessive babbling and not progressing with her language. While I knew she needed services I was not expecting the diagnosis. I worked in special ed and taught children with for 10 years, but I just didn't think she fit the criteria. Now that she has the diagnosis I see it in some ways and in other ways I am not sure the diagnosis is accurate. In any case I am glad she is going to get services.

What has been your experience with ABA and speech? I know she will make progress but I am so scared. I worked with the very severe end of the spectrum and I am so worried about her and what the future holds for us.

I am not sure what I'm looking for here. I just feel lost

Re: Autism diagnosis

I have been in your shoes. Except my son was 19 months when he was diagnosed. I got him tested initially for speech but then I noticed other "red flags" such as not responding to his name, fascination with doors and cabinets, not following one step directions so I asked for a psych eval. It is not easy to hear when you get the diagnosis, in fact at first my husband was angry with me that I brought the psychologist in to get him tested and was in denial about his diagnosis but over time he came to accept it....The positive is now that your child is diagnosed, she will qualify for the therapies she needs that can help her. Every child is different- my son is on the lower end of the spectrum so he is still non verbal but I have seen some improvements in other areas. Right now he attends a special needs full day pre-k program where he gets ABA in the classroom (in the morning I believe) and then gets pulled out for speech, OT and PT. I can't worry about what is going to happen in the future because then I will drive myself crazy, I can only take it one day at a time and hope over time he will improve in all areas. PM me if you ever need to talk. I find it helpful to talk to other parents that have BTDT if I find that I need to hear other's experiences or have questions.

Autism diagnosis

I thought my son had a speech delay. He had none of the other classic "symptoms." At 3 years old, they told us they would've diagnosed him with PDD-NOS if it were still a diagnosis, and we are preparing ourselves for an inevitable Autism diagnosis. I was floored. I have a sibling with Autism. I lived with it right in front of me. How the heck did I not notice this?!

That being said, the services have been amazing. He is definitely closer to Asperger's, so we have not done ABA. As for his first speech teacher, I will be singing her praises forever. She was incredible. He is attending an integrated program this year, and we are very happy with his school. I was scared to death at parent/teacher conferences that they were going to look at me and say, "How could you not tell he had Autism?" But they were incredibly kind and gentle about taking him to a developmental ped to continue services for Kindergarten. We were all on the same page.

It's an incredibly isolating feeling. My friends have been incredibly supportive and my mother, having gone through it herself, has been a godsend. But it still can feel very lonely. Feel free to PM if you need to talk!

Autism diagnosis

Thank you both. It's helpful to know I'm not alone. We have her meeting on Wednesday and I'm hoping services will be starting soon after. DD is verbal and interacts with her 3.5 year old brother. But doesn't interact much with other people outside of us. She will get ABA but it won't be typical discrete trials. Thanks for sharing your stories with me. I have told my family and a few close friends but I'm not ready for everyone to know yet.

Re: Autism diagnosis

I am still convinced my daughter is misdiagnosed with autism. Her ABA therapist told me the first time she met my daughter she did not think she is autistic and if she is, it is as minimal as it can get. It did get her mores services. She gets speech and ABA but her aBa has been completely modified and is not a traditional ABA program. It's more or less a checklist and not discrete trials. All my friends that have backgrounds in special Ed have been floored k owing she has a diagnosis. I am ok with it though because she would have lost speech without it and that was her main area of concern.

Re: Autism diagnosis

Re: Autism diagnosis