Hi everyone ~ New here

Post Reply New Topic

Hi everyone,

I recently joined this site and I'm loving all the info here. So far it's my favorite of all the autism websites I've been looking at.

My name is Laura and I have 3 children. My middle child, a 5-year-old girl, was just diagnosed with autism a week and a half ago.

I'd always felt that she was 'different', from a very young age. Probably from infancy. She was a late talker and was diagnosed as having a language delay when she was a toddler. However, I felt there was something more going on besides a language delay. When she was 4, she had some assessments done by a pediatrician and the pediatrician said that she had a cognitive delay in addition to the language delay and was therefore 'globally delayed'. Whenever I raised the subject of autism, the pediatrician always dismissed my concerns. She seemed to have 'old school' ideas about what autism was and probably only recognised the severe cases.

So I got my daughter to see some other specialists for a second opinion. She ended up seeing one of the top autism specialists in my city, who diagnosed her with autism. She was also diagnosed with a severe receptive language delay. Her expressive language is only mildly delayed now - she speaks pretty well. It's hard to get people to understand sometimes that a child can speak well but have a lot of trouble understanding what other people are saying!

At the moment I'm waiting for the pediatrician's official report with the diagnosis and then I'll be put in touch with some early intervention programs.

All in all, I'm accepting of my daughter's diagnosis. She is what she is, I say. I think, when it came to diagnoses, that the 'not knowing' was worse than the 'knowing'. I'm glad I finally know what she has. I just want to make sure that I can get her whatever help she needs to make her life easier in the years to come.

Cheers,
Laura

Hi Laura,

Welcome. It sounds like you've got a great attitude and a great daughter. Delays don't mean that she won't get there, she just might need longer to develop some skills and maybe some things will always be hard for her. Then again who can say that some things aren't hard for them? Everybody has their strengths and weaknesses.

I've got three sons all of whom have some spectrum issues. My eldest two have Asperger's and the youngest...nobody knows quite what to make of him. He's not typical, but he's not fitting any particular diagnosis, not even PDD-NOS. Whatever the label they are all great kids. The labels are just tools to understand them and help accomodate their needs.

See you around the boards!

Welcome to Wrong Planet. I am glad you have found this website. I have found great support here, and I hope you do too.

Welcome. We had one of those dismissive pediatricians, too. She pretty much told me that autism was hip now and every parent thought their kids had it.

Welcome! You sound very grounded and I look forward to having you in our community.

Welcome!

Allow me to give you hope. My son was diagnosed as Autistic at age 2.5. His ABA started at age 3. It had worked wonders. He is a 2E Child. I have a blog in which I chronicle his life to the present (9 yrs. old now) and the methods employed to change his life.

http://2echild.blogspot.com/

Start early and be consistent.