Aspergers diagnosis at 29 months?

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My daughter is 29 months old & just diagnosed with Aspergers. The reaction I seem to get to this news is disbeleif because she is too young for the diagnosis. Is the psychologist jumping the gun, or do any of you have experience with the aspergers dx at such a young age?

Every person with AS is different. There is no set age frame that aspergers HAS to be diagnosed in. I was diagnosed at age 15...some people in their 60's even.
Was it just a psychologist who diagnosed you daughter or were there other tests done aswell such as neurological examination, IQ testing etc???

That seems pretty young for a diagnosis.

Wow, that diagnosis definitely seems rushed. I'd give her some more time to develope before jumping to conclusions.

It seems a little rushed...I would get more opinions.

Why did she get a diagnosis? Did you or the Dr. have reason to believe that she had Asperger's?
My son was diagnosed when he was 8 yrs old. We had an idea that
he may have it at around 6 years. (someone told us about it). When he was a toddler, we knew that he wasn't like the other kids. He just did things differently than my NT daughter (she is 17 mths older than him) He would "line up" his cars or crayons in a perfect line. He was fascinated with fans and lights.
29 mths seems like an early age to be diagnosed, but my son did exhibit signs (even though we didn't know then that it was AS) as a
toddler.

How could the child be SO advanced that they were diagnosed AS, and yet have SO many problems that a diagnosis was sought at such a young age? Your psychiatrist sounds like he or she has a screw loose!! !! I could understand a diagnosis of autism at that age, but AS!?!? They shouldn't even attempt to determine if it is AS until like 3 or later, and I would HOPE closer to 5. Heck, nobody got concerned with ME at all until I was 6. The concern was about not playing with other kids. At 29 months they probably don't have a good idea about:

1. vocabulary
2. where intelligence may end up
3. Interests
4. And CERTAINLY NOT socialization!! !! !! !

Autism itself doesn't require such info, and they can detect that by two in MANY kids.

I suppose the psychiatrist will say "He tested at a normal IQ, was autistic, and could talk, so he is AS." Personally, I think that is a bit simplistic.

I was spotted at a young age too (3ish) as I was hyperlexic, but back they called it gifted. Now I'm sure it would have been called AS. So it is possible.

My understanding is that technically, an Asperger's diagnosis can not be given until the age of 6 - there is a lot of brain development up until this age.

However, a diagnosis of High Functioning Autism can be given at your daughter's young age.

Sometimes in younger children, a diagnosis of Pervasive Development Disorder - Not otherwise Specified is given to a young child, and then changed to Asperger's when they are 6.

Whatever the diagnosis, I recommend you seek therapy for your child.

The earlier the intervention, the better.

I have 2 sons who didn't get diagnosed until 6 and 8 years old respectively. In hindsight, they were showing signs much earlier. An earlier diagnosis for them would have saved them lots of stress with earlier intervention.

Helen

U can b diagnosis at any age however i find 29 months way 2 early da average age is 11 n i was diagnoised wid AS wen i was 11 which was a good tym as i entered in 2 a mainstream skool where as before i turned 11 i was at a special needs skool at dat tym.

Thanks everyone. I want to preface this by saying I in no way want to offend anyone. I'm new to all this & ignorant.

Sophia is for sure on the "spectrum". She flaps, echos, stims, cry's at opera & happy birthday, lines up her toys. Where I live children with an autism/aspergers diagnosis are given 20 hours of free therapy a week, Sophie's will be starting in the new year.
I want to belive the aspergers dx because it is a pretty hopeful diagnosis I think. Feel free to tell me if I'm wrong.

The child psychologist wants to re test her IQ because she was havin areally off day & scored poorly. Sophia was only diagnosed last week & we are waiting to see a pedi specalist. She is really quite expressive, has a good vocabulary is starting to write words on the fridge with magnets. She is obsessed with letters & numbers.

I think maybe the psychologist is being a bit smug labelling her aspergers so early .

I feel guilty about not catching it sooner. My husband mentioned it 6 months ago but I just did not see it at the time.

I was told an Asperger's dx is made around the age of 8. My son has a PDD-NOS dx since the age of 2 1/2. He is almost certainly going to be Aspie since his dad is definitely and I am borderline.

I would check about services, because in our area, an aspergers dx gets less services from the SCHOOL DISTRICT (after age 3) than a high-functioning autism or PDD-NOS dx does. At 2 1/2, our son got the following from EARLY INTERVENTION (before age 3):

3 days a week of therapeutic preschool
2 hrs a week of OT
1 hr a week of PT
15-20 hrs a week of behavior therapy
1 hr a week of speech

His stimming was very minimal-looking at his hands, lying on the floor, he flapped occasionally when he was upset, which was very rarely at that time, did not echo, early talker with great vocab, identified his first # at 8 months and taught himself the rest before he hit 18 months, sensitive to light and sound, shirked away from other children, the most recognizable thing that he did was line up his toys.

Also, check out if you have time, The Child with Special Needs: Encouragiing Intellectual and Emotional Growth by Stanley I Greenspan, MD and Serena Wieder, PhD

It will explain how labelling can actually hurt a parent's or therapist's ability to see each child's individual strengths and challenges, how to identify the areas that your particular child needs help with, and how to connect with them on an emotional level.

p.s.
check out parents discussion board on this site