Hi and welcome.
From what you describe it sounds like autism to me. Try this assesment if you haven't already. So long as you answer accurately it will give you a good indication as to wether your son is autistic. It has been accurate to my daughters diagnosis and many others here.
Good luck
http://www.childbrain.com/pddassess.html
Hello all,
I am writing out of concern for my two year old son. See i was watching the View and they did a piece on Autism. The bahaviors they described matched my son to a tee. My son has a speech delay, he lines everything up in order, he doesn't interact well with other children at times and seems to be bored easily. I have him in speech therapy right now and starting a preschool this week. I was wondering does this sound familiar to any other parents and if so how do i go about him getting checked. Is there any free agencies that will evaluate him through the state. We live in Washington state right now, my husband is in the military. well any help will greatly be appreciated, please email me.
Jennifer
Jennifer - I live in Washington state as well. And although my son was not diagnosed until age 4, I am familiar with some of the early intervention services available.
You have a couple of options. You can either contact your Pediatrician and discuss your concerns with him/her as your first step, or you can call the "Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies" helpline at 1-800-322-2588. They will be able to put you in contact with a Center that can assist in an evaluation. Another option if you're in King County is to call the Community Health Access Program (CHAP) at 206-284-0331 or 1-800-756-5437.
It's great that you already have him in speech therapy. This is by-far one of the most important treatments at such a young age.
Good luck, and keep me posted.
Shelly
I would strongly urge you to get into a developmental pediatrician for a full evaluation. They are experts on what may autism is from the mildest form to severe. It can be a waiting period for these so try and call around for one who can get you one the soonest. I would also request to be put on list to be notified for any appt. that have been cancelled. Expect it to be a few hours of them evaluating him. You will know exactly what is going on and not waste precious time worrying to death. I had to find a dev-pediatrician that took me within 2 weeks of calling him..the downside was he didn't take our insurance but the others had a 8 month waiting period with no guaranteed apt. with the one you wanted so it was best for us to find out as soon as possible. She presented many symptoms that I had no clue were for autism and by time he finished I had a clear picture of her strengths and deficits and got busy really fast. Good luck to you and follow your instincts...you will only have regrets if you wait and see..
Blessings,
Shelley
Jennifer,
I know that my son started with Speech Therapy and then it blossomed into getting other test done. He wasn't diagnosed until right before he turned 7. I moved to a different county in Minnesota. Total blessing it was! The county I moved to had to send me to a Dr to get a diagnosis and then I started getting all sorts of help. The county told me they would pay for the Dr testsm but our insurance covered it. I wish good luck to you and I see that others before me have given you valuable information to use.
MommaNiki
PS- my autistic cutie pie is jumping up and down on a foam mattress next to my computer with his hand on me. Then, he jumped on my lap. I asked him, "Eric, can you get down while I type to Jennifer." He said, "yes" and hopped down. No meltdown or anything! He must like you....LOL