Round 2. Youngest getting assessed now and I have questions!

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My son is 6 and receives support at school for ASD right now. We started his IEP process when he was 3 and we were living in NY state. At that time, they were able to just address needs without putting him into a category.

Now, we live in Georgia and my second child is 3. She's having significant sensory issues and social anxiety/difficulty. Her preschool teacher and I are in agreement that she needs help. I have had her assessed through the school district, but despite knowing our family history and my reports of SENSORY ISSUES AND SOCIAL ISSUES, they've so far only assessed her for Severe Developmental Delay. I knew they wouldn't find any problems with speech/hearing or cognitive issues. I told them that from the beginning. So, I wasn't surprised when I went to the staffing meeting and they reported that she was average intelligence, etc. What I wasn't expecting (based on experience when my son was initially assessed) was for them to basically say, "Alrighty then, let us know if you see problems next year!"

I was happy I was able to remind them that my son qualified under ASD and asked why we weren't taking that route if we KNOW she's having sensory and social issues. They agreed to consult the psychologist and bring her in for further testing. I have NO idea if she'll qualify, really, but I want some advice. My daughter spends much of her time around kids covering her ears and screaming, "It's too loud!!" She won't play with kids at preschool and when she does play with them, it lasts for a very short time and then she starts telling them to "go away!" She's really suffering... even in environments that we visit all of the time... and she's been in social situations for a long time. Preschool is not her first time interacting with groups of kids....

Anyway, just asking for advice. I don't know. a lot of her issues seem less severe than her brother at this age, and he BARELY made it on the spectrum with testing.... I'm really worried we won't have any help for her at school. She's starting private OT next week. hopefully that will help.

Any thoughts welcome.

Did they do an OT assessment? If so, did it cover sensory issues or just motor skills?

You could go for a private OT assessment with someone who specializes in sensory integration. Or have ADOS testing done privately. It's harder for the school to turn down services when an outside expert is recommending them. Of course you may still have to fight for it.

Your daughter is young enough that she might not test in the autism range yet, but may later. My DS did not at 32 months, but did at 5.25 years. They use different modules depending on age an verbal ability, and of course the social delays are more prominent as a child gets older.

Is there a "First Five" program in Georgia? California has one, funded by the tobacco settlement, and my DS received some services through the YMCA that was funded by it. Basically a behavior therapist came into his preschool and gave the teacher advice on how to work with him.

You might also see if one of the universities has research studies going for younger siblings of diagnosed kids.

I'm hoping the OT assessment next week is a good one.

We have Babies can't Wait for kids up to age three and after that, they go through the school system. I agree that she may not test as ASD at this age. My son wouldn't have, either, which is why it was good that in NY, they were willing to address the need without fitting squarely in a category. The good news is that her current preschool teacher is doing a lot of good things in the classroom already, but it would be so good to get a little extra help in there.

The school system is telling me that they won't do an OT assessment unless she qualifies under ASD or Significant Developmental Delay..... seems so strange to me. I'm really hoping the school Psychologist looks at the whole picture and actually observes her in the classroom. So far, they've done all assessments in a quiet office one on one. She's very appropriate one on one with adults. Put her in a group of kids and we have a different story.

Thank you for your reply. I guess i'm doing all I can at this point... The only other thing I could do, is to get her lined up with a private person for an ASD diagnosis, but I don't see that being fruitful at this point.. because, like you said, she may not appear ASD right now. It became a lot more clear with my son as he got older and the pragmatic language stuff became more clear.

Our son got evaluated at 4, and is probably much more severe than your child, but the above seems like it should indicate enough social delay to at least get the social part of the diagnosis. (as well as handle the sensory questions) Are her communication skills too good? It has been a long time since I answered the ADOS, so I cannot remember everything it covered, but I do think it would be worth it to test based on what you wrote.

Her speech is really good. It's probably ahead of her peers. I think she is too young to see any pragmatic language problems, if she will have them. Her brother was great speech wise at this age, too. The big differences between her and her brother are that she is great at imaginative play, she doesn't seem to have any fine or gross motor problems and I don't know if I see any repetitive and stereotyped patterns in behavior (MAYBE she has some rigidity around routines).

The things I see most in her are just sensory issues... serious sensitivity to sound when in a group environment and social skills problems which seem to be mostly related to that. I don't know if her social skills problem exist outside of the sensory stuff. She seems to play ok (mostly) one on one with her friends, but just can't hack a group. Of course, I g uess my son was that way, too.

Ugh.... maybe it's too early to tell. Meanwhile, she has a need that needs to be addressed, whether she fits the ASD category or not. I'm exploring how to get "Other Health Impairments" as a qualification if the ASD testing doesn't show anything.