What to expect. Please help.

[MrsC8776]

One of my twin daughters has an appointment tomorrow at the autism clinic. It's our first one and it's 5 hours long. Can anyone tell me what might be done or what to expect? They had a cancelation so we got in much earlier than expected so now I'm a huge ball of nerves about tomorrow. Just trying to gather myself before tomorrow morning.

Thank you

 

[Blue12]

I don't have any experience but wanted to say good luck. Also wondered what red flags you had since your girls are so young.

Hugs

 

[annanouska]

wow they are young! Here 2 is considered very young!! Hope it goes ok, x

 

[Tiff]

Our daughter had the MCHAT, she was scheduled for an ADOS but got in for the other sooner.

Its all play based, but the stuff they want the kiddos to do will draw out autistic tendencies. I was allowed to be in the room, but I wasn't allowed to interact with her (unless she was very upset and I could give her a hug). My husband and her resource teacher watched from behind a 2 way mirror in another room.

They had her sort things, answer different questions about logic based things (like common grounds, both shapes are a certain colour, numbers, etc).

Ours should've taken about 2 hours, but she had a total meltdown during the testing so they felt they had enough and were able to score her accordingly. Granted, she was 3 months shy of her 4th birthday so hard to say what it'll be like for your kiddos.

I know its stressful Hope you get some answers!

 

[veganmama]

ya thats pretty young. mine got tested and diagnosed by a pediatric developmental psychologist 19 months and now at almost 2 years and a half is about to have it revoked

 

[stellaluna431]

As a preschool teacher of two year-olds, I'm interested to hear how this went and how they were evaluated. Care to share more when you've had a chance to collect yourself? I hope it went well.

 

[MrsC8776]

Thank you all for your replies. We had our appointment this morning and she did very well. Much better than I though she would be being stuck at the dr for 5 hours. As I suspected she is behind and we will be starting EI asap. She is 15 months today and her speech level is at 6-9 months. Her motor skills are at 11-12 months. The dr doesn't want to label her right now but needs to see us back in 6 months to reassess her.

For the ladies wondering how I knew or what made me worry... there are a bunch of different things. Mainly it was a gut feeling that I had since she was about 6 months (don't ever let that gut feeling go unanswered). She has only just started saying "mama" which is her only word and never when I'm around. She never babbled much and has only just started. Her hands want to do what her brain tells them to do but its like the connection doesn't happen right. If that even makes sense. At 12 months she finally came around to wanting cuddles and showing feelings. My big concerns were that she is constantly drooling. Not your normal teething drool but like soaking 4-5 outfits a day. She doesn't drool in her sleep but during the day its like she doesn't know how to swallow her saliva. It is constantly pouring out of her mouth. She also spaces out for a number a minutes a few times a day. It can take me 5-7 time of saying her name, clapping, making a loud noise or even being in front of her for her to "come back." She also does this head tilt thing where she will tilt her head side to side while staring at nothing. This can be during the space out moments or just randomly. Her eyes don't show signs of a seizure though so thats a plus.

She was a late developer in the sense that she didn't sit unassisted until 11 months, sit independently at 12 months and properly crawl until 10 months.

She is such a happy little girl though with so much joy. I just hope I can help her get caught up so that she can remain close to her sister during the school age years and beyond.

 

[MrsC8776]

Sorry I forgot to comment on how the testing was for such a young child.

First we did a hearing test and made sure she was ok in that area (which she was). Then we watched how she interacted with sound and movement. This was such an amazing thing to watch and be a part of. Ava, daddy and myself sat in a sound proof room while the lady sat on the other side of a two way mirror. She played sounds through speakers and made mechanical stuffed animals play drums. She did great at this one as well. Next we sat down with two great women who played with her and asked me questions. They tried to see if the would clap when they did, bang blocks together and activities like that. Things a child her age should be doing. This didn't go so well but definitely told us some things. After that we saw another dr who played with her, asked her things, watched eye contact, tried to get her to mimic as well as just normal every day behavior. I showed a video of the head tilt thing as she was happy that it didn't appear to be a seizure but there is something very different about what she is doing. After that she gave the results and said I would get a report in the mail sometime soon.