# Autism evaluation



## dolly5x3

My son is 18 months old and tomorrow will being having an evaluation to see if he might be autistic. I've been really depressed and nervous for this appointment. All I can think about is what his future will be like if he is autistic. He doesn't say any words yet at 18 months which is what worries me the most. I'm afraid that he might never talk. He does babble some words like mama, dada, and baba. He did start walking a little late at 16 months as well. One of the main things that make me think he for sure has autism is his lack of eye contact. He makes eye contact sometimes but probably not as much as other kids his age. I notice him make eye contact more when strangers are talking to him in public and he smiles at them. He doesn't always respond when his name is called. Sometimes it seems like he's deaf because I can shout his name next to him and he still won't look. He's usually watching TV or playing with a toy when he completely ignores me like that though. He's very social and loves playing with other little kids. He mostly just likes to chase them around or push them around. How old were any of your children who have autism when they were diagnosed? What did they do at the evaluation? I'm just really nervous and not wanting tomorrow to come :(
Forgot to add that his pediatrician says from what she sees he doesn't seem like he is autistic. She still reffered him because of how far behind he is in some things including his speech.


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## mummy2o

I was 3 when I could talk, but could walk at 9 months. I'm a qualified account, have a lovely family so its not all gloom. I'm on the mild end of the spectrum

My son was in the serve end of the spectrum at 3 and had about 3 words, bus, cake and more (clearly the kid had priorities) and didn't walk until 18 months. However, he could stack for England from 7 months old as soon as he could sit. He would stack these huge towers and cry then rebuild them if someone knocked them down. He went to nursery and was fine. He started mainstream school and it wasn't right for him. In the end the school were bullying regardless of what they called it and he hated going to school and having meltdowns daily on the way to school at the end of it. By the time he left his school (7 end of July) he had limited communication and would play computers 24/7. He has since gone to a special school which specialise in autism from year 3. The transformation in him has been amazing. He's gone from moderate autism to mild now and catching up to his regular peers no end. I'm so grateful for his school and I know the future he can have now could have been so different if he hadn't gotten the right help for him (his school prepares the leavers in Year 11 for whatever they plan on doing next, be it college, residential care or working) so my advice is fight for the best future for your son. It won't be easy and people will just tell you he's behind and will come on etc, etc but you'll know different. It seems I'll have a similar battle for my daughter as she's displaying some signs of autism which is fine.


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## alibaba24

18 months is just so young! my oldest is 5 has some issues with development in particular language. she also would flat out ignore u even at age 3! they have ruled autism out for her even with her delays. i think At 18 months i wouldnt be concerned to be honest. especially given hes social. smiles at people etc


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## bananabump

alibaba24 said:


> 18 months is just so young! my oldest is 5 has some issues with development in particular language. she also would flat out ignore u even at age 3! they have ruled autism out for her even with her delays. i think At 18 months i wouldnt be concerned to be honest. especially given hes social. smiles at people etc

Children on the spectrum can be very social and smile at people. My son is very much so and we're half way to getting an ASD diagnosis for him. The difference is that they're usually *too* social and don't understand about personal space, body language and how to communicate appropriately.


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## bananabump

18 months is quite young but early intervention is never a bad thing in my opinion! You probably won't get any form of diagnosis until he's older but being in the system means that if are still signs as he gets older then they will be picked up quicker and you can both get any support quicker aswell. X


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## BrittRashel

Matt was diagnosed with moderate/severe ADHD and partial Autism this past Thursday. He didn't talk much at all until he was a year and a half old. We managed to work through it though without any intervention, hence why he's just now being diagnosed at 6. It's not as scary as it sounds. I know it is absolutely terrifying to think about at first because there is such a stigma about Autism but there are a lot of natural things that you can do to help ease some of the symptoms. We have made a lot of dietary changes as of two weeks ago since I was pretty positive what the diagnosis would be. Basically, no refined sugars. Only natural sugars from fruit, honey and pure maple syrup. No processed foods unless they are organic and do not contain chemicals or dyes. No dyes at all and we changed everything that was white to brown. So brown rice, whole wheat flour, whole wheat pasta, etc. It isn't easy but there are a lot of recipes online that are really good. Obviously it is impossible to always avoid these foods but I can tell the difference in his behavior when he has sugars and white flour. It is a manageable lifestyle but it's just that. A lifestyle. 

This is all assuming that he is autistic. He sounds a lot like my son and Matt's counselor doesn't believe he is completely autistic. It is possible that a child can be partially autistic. Matt shows some traits but not all so he is classified as having an "other neurological developmental disorder" because he doesn't meet the criteria for autism. From what Matt's counselor told me, most people, children included, do not fit into a "diagnostic box" like most people want them to. A kid can have certain traits of multiple disorders but all of it is completely manageable with a good counselor, some dietary changes and a lot of patience and understanding.


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## Thurinius

Every child with autism is different.
I've just had the official diagnosis for my 4 year old. Pre all this I had very fixed (and wrong) ideas on what autism was.
He didn't talk till he was three and a half. But now he says lots and lots. 
My son is very cuddly, he interacts with us and plays with his brother. He has great empathy for others, he likes to do fun things and likes me to get involved with them.
He is rather placid in nature and thoughtful.

He is, in short, a very happy little boy.


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## bananabump

Thurinius said:


> Every child with autism is different.
> I've just had the official diagnosis for my 4 year old. Pre all this I had very fixed (and wrong) ideas on what autism was.
> He didn't talk till he was three and a half. But now he says lots and lots.
> My son is very cuddly, he interacts with us and plays with his brother. He has great empathy for others, he likes to do fun things and likes me to get involved with them.
> He is rather placid in nature and thoughtful.
> 
> He is, in short, a very happy little boy.

He sounds a lot like my son. What ASD traits does he show? If you don't mind me asking xx


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## Thurinius

bananabump said:


> Thurinius said:
> 
> 
> Every child with autism is different.
> I've just had the official diagnosis for my 4 year old. Pre all this I had very fixed (and wrong) ideas on what autism was.
> He didn't talk till he was three and a half. But now he says lots and lots.
> My son is very cuddly, he interacts with us and plays with his brother. He has great empathy for others, he likes to do fun things and likes me to get involved with them.
> He is rather placid in nature and thoughtful.
> 
> He is, in short, a very happy little boy.
> 
> He sounds a lot like my son. What ASD traits does he show? If you don't mind me asking xxClick to expand...


Not at all. Like I said he had no language till he was three and a half..prior to that rather than point he would take you by the hand to show you what he wanted.
If playing stickers or drawing he wouldn't do the action himself but would take your hand to point to the sticker he wanted. He would then stick it to something.
He would dance on his tiptoes and flap his hands when excited.
He had have huge concentration, if I wanted a bit of piece and quiet I would put on a night garden DVD and he would,literally stand and dance in front of it for the whole three hours of the video.

In the home with us he was always smiley and cuddly but outside the home at playgroup he is very, very serious and doesn't smile much.
He was always sensitive to noise and would get upset if there was singing.

He had a very good memory. At two he knew his numbers up to,thirty and could point them out to you. He could also spell his own name and various other words he'd memorized off the telly.


If a stranger came into our house he wouldn't pay them any attention at all unless they actively talked to him.
He didn't and still doesn't always answer to his name.

I should say I didn't pick up any of these as signs of autism. I just thought he was a bit quirky and he has two very introverted people as parents.
But these were the sorts of things the professionals picked up on immediately.

But since he was two he has changed immeasurably. He is a very different boy. Looking back I can see from the age of about 13 months till he was 3 his language and communication skills seemed to freeze. His motor skills and intelligence continued to develop but those other skills of interaction just stopped.

But these have restarted now and he is coming on leaps and bounds. Yes he's still quite far behind but I feel very hopeful for him


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## Starry Night

My son is similar to that as well. He's always been very social. Because he was so smiley and cute he would often get people saying hello to him in stores and at the mall so whenever someone would briskly just walk on by he would get confused and turn and screech at them to try and get them to look. :haha: So we thought it was impossible for him to have autism. Nope.

My son had words too from about 18 months but they would come and go at random. Sometimes a sentence would come out and then he would babble. And he would never try to repeat a word back to you. Most of the time, he would stand there and scream and we would have to play 20 Questions to try and figure out what he wanted. Minimal pointing, obsessions (got a hat for his 3rd birthday and only focused on that...tantrums if we took it away...), and not really playing with his peers. He loved being around them but last summer I started to notice he seemed 'different' from them. That was the only way I could describe it. He seemed babyish, I guess. My 11 month old DD is starting to catch up with him on a social level.

He has started speech and I've put him in a few community-run autism programs and he has really started to blossom. He's been attempting more pretend play and we're hearing the starts of actual conversation-style communication even if much of it is still babble.

His tradtional autistic signs such as flapping and toe-walking only really come out when he's anxious. His big thing we struggle with is his bolting and wandering.


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## SarahJayne_x

my 19 month old has had one this morning..he makes no eye contact with anybody except myself and his dad, wont smile at anyone, plays on his own in his own little bubble, doesnt like to play with the toys with his 5yo brother he has to be on his own, he will never initiate cuddles or sit still long enough to be cuddled, doesnt point at anything he wants, he doesnt hold his arms up to be picked up and has not said a single word ever.. hes being referred to a speech and language therapist, and education psychiatrist to see if it can help his development and also another specialist referral also. im so overwhelmed by all of this today i genuinely feel like crying :( xx


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## kealz

I empathise with you feeling tearful. :( There are times when I receive reports through the post and that will make me cry or my lo will do something for the first time and that will make me cry with pride and relief. 

My ds is nearly 3 and has had specialists involved for nearly 12 months now, although I would argue that the greatest impact on his progress has been made at home. He is on a waiting list for clinical assessments for ASD, etc.

My son makes small amounts of eye contact with familiar adults. His vocabulary has improved greatly over the last 6 months although still limited to one word nouns. He will take my hand to what he wants and just started to point occasionally. He babbles to himself through independent play and will very occasionally role play (pick up toy phone and say 'hi'). His understanding of language is improving, he will respond to simple questions although this is often to answer a need, eg. Do you want a pear or an orange? He will also respond to requests like 'No', 'Don't do that', etc. He adores books and being read to, and will often finish the last word of a sentence in favourite stories. Last night he pointed to a bed in a book and said 'bed', which was enormous for him. He loves affection and cuddles although it is on his own terms, seeks comfort when in pain and laughs when tickled. He is beginning to adopt social 'norms' like saying and waving 'bye bye'. He has his favourite toys but is not too rigid in his interests yet. We recently moved him into the 2nd bedroom as we have a new baby and he had no problem with this. He pay his younger brother younger very little attention although hehe moves around him carefully and has a high tolerance of his crying. He is not bothered by loud noises but dislikes certain routine changes. He will only sometimes answer to his name and i find myself saying it multiple times. He knows and can say a handful of colour and shape words and has a good grasp of the concept of number and can say order and recognise 1-10 and count backwards. I'm pretty sure he associates the written word with speech. He will flap his arms and tiptoes when excited, normally at something on the telly. 

Err... sure there's lots more to say but can't think right now just thought I'd share as useful to read from others. :) x


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