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Nikkir26

2 yr old first paediatrician appointment what to expect?

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My son is 2yrs 9months and is currently going through the stages of a diagnosis off paeditrician, he has had reports from nursery and his health visitor they were waiting till he was 3 to see doctor but HV put immediate referral through he said my son has traits of aspergers but it on the autistic spectrum and did a referral in October to paeds and is seeing them in December, he is on the waiting list for speech and language, has a group called esco and portage involved with his development as well, I have lots of photo and video evidence with assessments from his HV and nursery any ideas what I can expect from the appointment please would be very grateful as don't know wether he will get a diagnosis or how long it will take ect ? thank you

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Welcome, Nikki. I find it very odd that they say he has traits of Asperger's at such an early age, especially as he's on a waiting list for speech and language. By this I'm assuming he has a delay in that area. Asperger's syndrome is one of the autism spectrum conditions - often known as 'high functioning autism', but it can't be diagnosed at such an early age - for one of the major differences between Asperger’s and classic autism is that, by definition, there's no speech delay in Asperger’s. Actually children with Asperger’s usually have good language skills. To be diagnosed with Asperger’s, a child must have normal language development as well as average or higher than average intelligence. Obviously, this can't be until the child is somewhat older., say about 5 - the average age for AS diagnosis in boys is around 7. (In girls it may often get overlooked). I'm sorry that I can't help any more.

 

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Hello yes I know he doesn't speak unless it's copying adverts on the TV he won't talk directly to you and never really uses his speech only high pitched screeches ect, I'm unsure why the doctor referred to aspergers As I would say it was autism more than anything, I think it's because the HV sent a list of things he does to doctor and a few were aspergers symptoms but 85% was more autistic symptoms I don't entirely understand though this is a totally new thing for me I'm trying to learn about it so I have a better understanding as I feel quite helpless. I have learnt that him covering his ears constantly it because he can hear something we can't that hurts his ears so I have got him some ear defenders which also settled him massively over fireworks season. He flaps his hands and jumps and stands on tip toes all the time and all he does is line his figurines from wrestling and his dinosaurs up day in day out in different places, he won't eat hardly anything which is very difficult as he hates new textures and unwilling to try new things, he has to stand on every Leaf or every drain or stones as he walks coz he likes the noise I assume, he has no sense of pain and no sense of danger and he hates children going near him or anyone going in his zone when he is playing but kids he won't go near at any time he will allow adult interaction sometimes. He chews everything and anything and won't go anywhere without his fluffy blanket I got him the same new blanket but diff colour and he moves it away using my hand he hate a it even though it the same but softer as not as washed out, he uses our hand to point or do things for him he just guides our hand with his. And he won't sleep at night there is lots but won't go on but gives you a rough idea of what he is like

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Can I just say my son had very obvious traits of autism from as young as a few months old. WHilst his speech was ok, it was all things he picked up from telly or other adults, he still lacks in the language side of things as he could never say a meaningful sentence..created on his own accord. He was diagnosed at 6 but that was due to us moving around due to domestic abuse, otherwise he would have been dx'd probably age 3 as that's when nursery picked up on problems.

 

He was verbally dx'd as being aspergers but actually because his behaviours are more autistic if you like his written diagnosis is autistic spectrum disorder and since his dx most children are now dx'd as autistic spectrum disorder regardless of where you are on the spectrum. This helps when getting any help because previously everyone assumed if you are HFA or aspergers you don't need as much help.

 

People with HFA/aspergers do need SALT my son has been having it through his ASD unit since age 7 and he is now 11. Personally I would request that they give him the diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder, they may already do this anyway but once they have verbally said its aspergers or autism just check with them how the will word the diagnosis report.

 

As for assessments they do vary depending on where you live. Sam had just 2 sessions with a paediatrician who gathered information from myself, family members, school and the GP who referred him. He then done various puzzles/games to see how he interprets things. They checked mobility/co-ordination and weight height etc. The whole process took about 2.5 months, but the school kept pushing because he was uncontrollable and they couldn't get any support for him.

 

My other son Dan was seen age 4 and his situation was more complex, we had first been seen by a dietician due to the eating problems but once they knew about his brother ASD they thought he best get seen by CAMHS even though that wasn't where Sam was dx'd so they didn't help and finally referred to the paediatric centre where Sam got dx'd. This time it was a different paediatrician, had to give the history, has his hearing checked, then he went to a playroom with bout 5 other kids being assessed.In the room there were portage workers, SAL therapists and play therapists. They would observe the childrens interaction with their parents and other children. We then went home, the professionals would then have MDT meeting everyone has to agree on the diagnosis if one person doesn't the child will be seen again after 6mths. The diagnosis took 4.5mths to come through,but all together it took me 10months from when I saw the GP.

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Diagnosing at a younger age is now more common.

 

A diagnosis of Aspergers usually means that the child has had typical language development up to age 3 at least.

 

Your child does not sound like that if he is "repeating" TV dialogue etc. That is echolalia. It is something that many children on the autistic spectrum do. My son learnt to speak like this.

 

Problems with speech and language can have a knock on effect with education. If you struggle with english you will struggle with the 'language' used in school for all subjects.

 

There are also many other traits of autism that can be picked up very early ie. social skills and interaction skills. Imagination and repetitive behaviours.

 

At his age there will be alot of observation and probably some play used to see what he does. Try not to worry to much about it.

 

They will also ask you alot of questions about his development.

 

My son was assessed and seen over a period of 18 months before he got a diagnosis. And his difficulties became more apparent as he grew up. He is now 13. We also acquired a number of other diagnosis along the way including dyslexia, dyspraxia, sensory processing disorder, speech and language disorder, auditory processing disorder,. anxiety disorder and most recently OCD.

 

Unfortunately my son was not diagnosised until he was nearly 7. He struggled mainstream for years. He is average cognitive ability, but all his difficulites make it impossible for him to cope mainstream. But he is not special school material either. Eventually we managed to get him a place at an independent ASD specific school - which he now attends.

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Thank you so much for your replies it has been really helpful! It very comforting to hear other peoples opinions and there experiences how things worked ect. The doctor did say it will probably get worse as he gets older I have noticed over the past 6 months his chewing and covering ears has increased a lot more it's very regular now and how he has started using out hands to do things for him with him holding ur hand to guide you, I don't understand why he does that though and won't do it himself like even pressing a button he uses my finger.

He is getting better at speech since playing alpha blocks on the cbeebies app but he is very obsessed with it and he remembers every word and how to spell it and pronounces each letter I think that has encouraged his speech as he mimics one word he is very clever at that but you wouldn't believe it if you saw him as he won't speak to you only himself u will only hear him babbling and screeching.

Well atleast i know to expect a lengthy wait for any dx and roughly what to expect in the process that makes me feel a big more happy knowing what to expect so thank you :)

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