What does this mean exactly? Does it just constrain communication skills? I'm just asking ... and working myself up before Catherine's speech/OT evaluation this week.

I can't help here, Lesley, but I just want to pass along tons of {{{HUGS}}}.

Don't work yourself up! Trust your gut... here's a link I found.. http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=255&a=3337 Describing High Finctioning Autism. Just take it one step at a time. Catherine is beautiful and I'm sure she'll test ok. ((hug)))

Don't work yourself up! Trust your gut...

That's the problem ... my gut says there's something wrong with her.

Thanks for the link, Ginette.

Oh Leslie, try not to worry yourself! Does she have other things that make you think of Autism or just mostly the speech delay?

So you're not buying that she's just moody anymore? Sorry if I missed the post listing her behavior...could you recap? I remember you saying that she rarely smiles for pics and well... always a rare find. Does she lash out at you a lot?

Lesley, I think I may have miss something...They are testing Catherine for High functioning autism or you are asking them too? Hobbes has High functioning Autism or some say mild autism. It is hard to explain. The link that Ginette has posted is a good one. With Hobbes, it is speech delay, repeating behavoir, gesturing, not responding, meltdowns to something when frustrated or if someone is too in his face, lack of eye contact, etc. I will try to find some more information for you. It is scary to think that your child could be autistic but it will be okay! High functioning autism (from what I am told)can mean that a child can lead a pretty normal functioning life. If you want to "talk" more, please Pm me if I can be of any help to you! (((HUGS)))Catherine will be okay ,autistic or not! She has a great mom!

As you may be aware, I was also looking into this a bit due to his spinning wheel issue and lack of communication/pointing...I haven't gotten very far though as I'm just waiting to see how things transpire over the next week or two w/some minor changes. I'll be interested to hear what happens at the next visit. I do agree with Shannon in that she will be just fine regarless, she has a great mom!

As you may be aware, I was also looking into this a bit due to his spinning wheel issue and lack of communication/pointing...I haven't gotten very far though as I'm just waiting to see how things transpire over the next week or two w/some minor changes. I'll be interested to hear what happens at the next visit. I do agree with Shannon in that she will be just fine regarless, she has a great mom!

Zacsmom-
what do you mean by spinning wheel issue? Allie loves to spin things, that is her favorite thing to do. She tries to spin things that don't spin too, like my face. Is that what you mean? Sorry for such a dumb question.

C

Zacsmom-
what do you mean by spinning wheel issue? Allie loves to spin things, that is her favorite thing to do. She tries to spin things that don't spin too, like my face. Is that what you mean? Sorry for such a dumb question.

http://www.infantrefluxdisease.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15125

Hi Lesley

Just wanted to wish you luck with Catherine's testing
I don't have any experience, but my friend's son is autistic and at 16mnths old my friend's sil's son was also just diagnosed with PPD-mild autism by a nuerologist
The same boy was just evaluated through early intervention and the therapists did not say a thing about autism (he is eligible for speech therapy etc
My friends advice would be to take your child to a nuerologist or developmental Dr/ped...they are the 2 Dr that can officially diagnose a child with autism

Good Luck

No, she's only being tested for speech and OT issues. No medical professional has ever mentioned autism, and I don't think she is. Not really. I'm just grasping at straws and want to at least have a rudimentary understanding of anything the SLP and OT might throw out.

She does exhibit some of the characteristic behaviors except for the lack of eye-contact, which seems to be pretty much a requirement. She not only will make eye contact but will stare you in the eyes for so long as to become awkward with strangers. No exaggeration, when told "no" she'll stare at me for a minute or more. She does always break away first because I'm not going to let her win that battle, if indeed it is just a contest of wills.

Lesley--sorry, I only have a minute and I didn't have time to read through all the posts.

Here's a short explanation: Autism is what's called a spectrum disorder, meaning that children can be labelled anywhere from mild to severe. In more severe cases, children do not learn to communicate verbally, will engage in repetetive behaviors, such as rocking back and forth, pacing, headbanging, etc., have significant difficulty with ADL skills (activities of daily living, like dressing, hygeine, etc.) Children with more mild Autism might have delayed speech, flat affect and difficulty interpreting social cues, but might have average intelligence.

In order to make a diagnosis, children are usually seen by a team of specialists (OT, PT, speech path, psychologist, developmental ped, etc) who measure their skills in each area.

I'm sorry this is such a short response and it's not meant to be an exhaustive explanation. I'll try to get online later tonight after B goes to bed.

It's hard not to get yourself worked up before evals, especially when you're concerned. I think it's good to be armed with information and it will be great for you to be able to ask questions/understand more of what will happen at the eval.

I have no experience in this area personally, but wanted to wish you luck with your up-coming evalutaions. :hug:

She does exhibit some of the characteristic behaviors except for the lack of eye-contact, which seems to be pretty much a requirement. She not only will make eye contact but will stare you in the eyes for so long as to become awkward with strangers. No exaggeration, when told "no" she'll stare at me for a minute or more. She does always break away first because I'm not going to let her win that battle, if indeed it is just a contest of wills.
WOW...LOL I'm cracking up just picturing that stare down. What a stinker she is!

She does exhibit some of the characteristic behaviors except for the lack of eye-contact, which seems to be pretty much a requirement.
Not to scare you, Lesley, but not necessarily. One of the kids in Evan's preschool class was diagnosed with mild autism during the school year. I would never have suspected it, as he makes eye contact. I know that I've always heard that autistic people don't make eye contact, but maybe with the expanded spectrum disorders that is no longer a criteria? I don't know...

Lesley,

From what I have seen and read, it seems the term “high functioning autism” can mean different things. Jessie has been considered high functioning autistic by the school district and their team of experts. Her biggest problems have been speech and socialization.

Now if you look on the Internet, high functioning autism is a more general term they use for Asperger’s Syndrome. We were clearly told by the therapists/school district folks that Jessie is not Asperger’s… so go figure. We use the term “high functioning” because Jessie is… she can function just like any other child. Her speech is finally getting where it should be after years of therapy. Socially she is doing great. She has friends and makes new ones quite easily. Considering two years ago she didn’t even want to be around other kids, she has come so far.

As far as eye contact, Jessie would at times have difficulty holding eye contact, but she wasn’t one to not make it at all.

From what I have learned over the last few years is that autism can be such a mystery. Jessie didn’t have a lot of the classic signs. There were some sensory issues (mostly tactile), the loss of her speech at 18 months, and lack of socialization. I am glad to see you that you are exploring these things. I have found that education was my greatest tool when it came to working and dealing with therapist and doctors.

Even if you do eventually find out that Catherine falls in the spectrum trust me when I say it will be o.k. I was of course devastated with the diagnosis of autism, but in a way it was a relief because I finally got answers as to why Jessie was acting/behaving the way she was. Yes we have had to change the way we do things in our house and when we go out, but now it has just become normal for us. Schedules are very important. Routine is even more important. We have been so fortunate with Jessie’s school. The Pre-School Program For Children With Disabilities (PPCD – formerly called Special Education) program at Jessie’s school is just wonderful. They use schedules and PECS (the Picture Exchange Communication System) in the classroom and it was amazing to see how the kids respond to it. PECS is just little picture cards, but is gives the kids a way to communicate when they can’t verbalize their needs. Jessie use to bring us cards with cereal, milk, cookie, movie, etc. to get what she needed without having an all out tantrum. I know a lot speech therapist/OT use PECS too.

As far as making Jessie’s diagnosis, it was done by the school district and their testing at 3-years-old. The neurologist and development pediatrician kept looking at other things (Fragile X Syndrome) and just putting her into therapy. Actually Jessie’s first OT was the one to initially mention Jessie’s few signs of autism.

Hope this helps… I could talk for hours about this. It has been such a learning experience for me. Please keep us posted on Catherine and her evaluations.