I am constantly worried about my 2.5 year old's development. It began with a trip to the GP when he was about 9 months old and not responding to his name. The GP mentioned the possibility of an autism spectrum disorder so off we went to the paediatrician who said he was fine. Since then we have been back to the paediatrician again, to a psychologist and a speech pathologist for numerous reasons. Mostly regarding him being a late talker (he only had about 3 words at 18 months but now has over 50 and uses 2 word sentences), behaviour that we couldn't understand like screaming instead of talking, hitting himself in the head and hating the car so much to the point that we didn't leave the house for 3 months. He has trouble in social situations with unfamiliar children, he can engage with adults that he knows but if he is faced with children he doesn't know he just screams and tries to run away. He repeats a lot of what we say instead of talking to us, struggles to answer questions and is so defiant. I always tell myself that he is just a challenging toddler but when I see other mums with their kids I wonder why they are not constantly struggling, why they can enjoy play dates, why their children can speak to other children and they are able to go out to public places easily. I have a 6 month old daughter who is so amazing but I feel she will always be held back by her brother. I have given up on getting help from health professionals as we have already spent to much money and time for no help or support. I guess I am just wondering if there are other mums out there who have experienced anything similar? Some days I just wonder what has gone wrong.
5 Replies
Go back to the paed, please - find one who will listen. He needs to be assessed. You are describing many ASD traits including echolalia (repeating someone's words). It may not be severe but I am very much betting that he's on the spectrum. I'm sorry to be so blunt but it sounds like you need to push harder.
Find a different pediatrician, it can be difficult to diagnose ASD under the age of 2.5 but all the things you describe would be red flags for ASD.
A lot of parents with children who may not fall into what health professionals label as autistic etc but they feel, know...something isn't quite right, have success with GAPS. Gut and psychology syndrome developed by Dr Natasha Mcbride a neurologist with an autistic son. There are a lot of success stories, there is a lot of science to support it. Look into it, it may or may not be for you but at least may open up some different treatment options. Start with a good fish oil too, Nordic naturals is a reputable brand that you can get in a lot of chemists. All the best x
Request genetic testing too. You describe alot of my son's symptoms. We were continually brushed off and treated like idiots when we voiced our concerns until we found a wonderful paediatrician who listened to our concerns and did testing despite himself not being too concerned. From that, we ended up with a diagnosis of Fragile X Syndrome. I'm not saying this is what your son has but alot of kids with fragile x are placed in the autism basket when that's not truly what's going on so try and get some genetic testing as well.
Please go to a different paed. The earlier you have a diagnosis the better. My daughter was diagnosed with Aspergers and ADHD at 4 and she has only had therapy starting this year and starts school next year and I fear she will struggle due to not being diagnosed and getting help earlier. Because girls present differently to boys, we didn't pick up on it until she was 3 and then had a 6 month wait to get into a paed (we live in a small country town).