Grateful I found this forum

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Hi all,

I'm the mom of a 23-month-old boy who is currently receiving DI in early intervention. He was originally evaluated based on his speech delay, but after 1 month of therapy, his therapist suggested I get an evaluation by a developmental pediatrician because she suspects he is somewhere on the autism spectrum.

Anyone here probably is already aware of how long it takes to get an appointment, so right now we have to wait until August to get a diagnosis. In the meantime, I've been trying to get as much information as I can.

I'm just so happy to have found a place that a.) is not overrun with anti-vaccine woo-woo cranks telling me all I need to do is cut wheat out of my kid's diet and he'll become NT somehow and b.) is able to provide perspectives from people who have first hand experience with what my son will potentially be dealing with. Hopefully I'll get some practical insight on how I can deal with his situation while not coming off like an a**hole.

Welkome to WP

Mick

Hi lamb, and welcome to WP!

Hi, Lamb,

My daughter was first diagnosed around the age of your son. She was nonverbal and diagnosed with moderate to severe classic autism. She is now about to go into 2nd grade and is doing great. She had a 1:1 for 2 years of pre-k, but now she is in a mainstream classroom with just a social skills group and a psychologist who helps her teacher set realistic classroom goals for her and helps her teacher understand how to adapt the classroom for her (and redirect her superbly bossy behavior! LOL!) Granted, that is not the path that all 23 month olds are on, but it is possible, and you don't have to drive yourself crazy, nor do you have to succumb to the pressure to "do everything possible to cure/recover your kid." I declined a good chunk of ABA that was offered to her because it seemed like an awful lot of work for a toddler. I'm not saying that everyone has to do the same, but I am saying I think I would have felt better about it in my newbie state of being if other parents would have "told" me that was OK, instead of making me feel like I wasn't doing enough.

While it wasn't here, the best thing I ever did when she was first diagnosed was to find a group of adults on the spectrum to ask questions to and to seek guidance from. I will forever be indebted to the group of folks who took me under their collective wings, let me ask all kinds of questions about all kinds of things, and gave me useful advice that I did not hear from most of the professionals I interacted with, nor most of the parents I met. It kept me grounded. And I believe it took loads of pressure off of my daughter. And I think that lack of pressure is just what she needed to find her own way of blossoming.