Vanessa Said:

Autism help! Please read & reply?

We Answered:

I'm not sure if I'll answer all of your questions but I'll try:

1. Yes, besides Aspergers or Rett Syndrome a child should be evaluated (I'd recommend a genetic counselor because it's more likely they are aware of the MOST accurate tests to run) for fragile X syndrome(fragilex.org or fraxa.org) or Angelman Syndrome (angelman.org). It's important to note that Rett syndrome affects females.

2. Yes, same examples as above, but I've also known children with speech delay and ADHD to be misdiagnosed, keep in mind both of these conditions can co-exist with autism. I do recommend the book by Diane Kennedy - The ADHD-Autism Connection. Keep in mind it could apply to other conditions other than ADHD.

3. Keep in mind autism, like fragile X, Rett and Angleman are all spectrum disorders, impairment could be mild or severe.

4. Diet, I'm assuming you mean GFCF, this is a therapy that doesn't take thousands of dollars to try, you've got little to lose by trying, if it doesn't work you just stop.

5. Is it normal for any child to have diarrhea? Hard to call, there could be other things that are a factor as well, you'll just need to monitor.

Felicia Said:

Need help with Autism?

We Answered:

1. Yes there are different levels of autism. It is a "spectrum" disorder. My interpretation of that means within the diagnostic criteria there are varying degrees if impairment. Some areas are more affected than others, yet the diagnostic criteria has been met.

2. Yes it's possible to misdiagnose autism. I've seen a three year old who's mother insisted he had autism. She'd brought him to several doctors until she finally got a diagnosis. He'd been in early intervention for a year and I just couldn't imagine how he would have gotten an autism diagnosis. He was referencing her from across the playground, came when she called, answered questions, pointed out something interesting. One year of early intervention would not bring a child with autism to that point.

Part two of 2. A child with a severe speech delay can look like autism if you're not familiar with autism. My son, now 12, had severe speech/language delay issues. He sounded alot like your son, but instead of engaging in repetitive activities like opening/closing doors, he rocked back and forth in place. In his high chair, in a chair, on the couch...the boy rocked a lot. He still does! His eye contact was inconsistent, and he would have horrific tantrums. He also had toileting issues and a tendency to hold in the poop. When my daughter was diagnosed with autism later, I was able to differentiate the behaviors and came to new understanding about my son. Imagine you can't communicate clearly or always understand what people want from you. Would you be more or less likely to respond or look them in the eye. Remember in school when you didn't know the answer? You would not look at the teacher, try to look busy...anything so you weren't called on. Same with children who have severe speech delays and can't communicate effectively. It's frustrating. Hence the terrible tantrums. If you want/need something and no one understands you, you'd get pretty angry as well. Then you don't have the vocabulary to express your anger and you're left with a tantrum.

3. I'm an experienced parent, and to me it does not sound like a typical autism diagnostic. While another answer is right in that there's no "typical" your son has a lot characteristics that are severely lacking in children who do have autism and are 4 years old. These skills can all be taught, as my 11 yr old daughter has them all, but it's not something she possessed at age 4. Things like pointing to what he wants. That's Joint Attention. That means he knows if he points that you'll understand what he's pointing at. Its a form of nonverbal communication that children with autism don't come by naturally. Your whole 2nd paragraph is an example of things that a child who has autism would not be doing at age 4.

4. The diet, which I'm assuming is gf/cf can work for some kids, but is not for everyone. Same with SCD (specific carbohydrate diet) Some children with autism also have "leaky gut" issues and have problems with absorption of nutrients. They often have diareah, constipation, bloating, and tummy issues almost constantly. If this is the case with your child, I would highly recommend trying the diet. GF/CF is more common, but may not provide the relief. SDC would be the next step.

This is a pretty good online assessment that you can do. I recommend that you open up two windows. One for the scoring guidelines http://www.childbrain.com/pddassess2.htm…
and one for the assessment http://www.childbrain.com/pddassess.html

When I take this for my daughter she always scores in the moderate range. A child who has speech delays can show in the "mild possible pdd" range. It might be worth taking this assessment and printing out the answers for your doctors.

Feel free to e-mail me if you like.