New ways to diagnose: http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-autism-20100902,0,2418054.story?track=rss
It had become the joke around my group of friends that when I talk about Autism, I jump into “work mode.” My posture gets a bit better; I speak with a bit more confidence and while it’s visible to them, but it’s subconscious to me.
Yesterday on the subway ride to school, a colleague and I were sitting down when a very loud family entered the train with their small child. While the parents and the other couple were basically screaming their conversation to each other, the child sat silently. The child occasionally reached out for either parent, but when he did, he didn’t make eye contact with them. A few stops in, he began to get fussy and the mother realized she didn’t have anything to give him. I asked if he liked reading books and gave him the small notebook I had in my purse to play with. As we watched him investigate the floral pattern and turn the pages, the mother began speaking with me. The child was struggling a bit to keep a good grasp on the notebook and while she spoke, I occasionally reached down to return it to him from the subway floor. She was worried, she said, because the school was not working at all on his motor skills and she could tell he was behind. Her two older children didn’t have issues like this.
When he began hitting her leg again for attention, she added another caveat- he wasn’t talking. He wasn’t that old, he was just about to turn three, but both her other children began speaking much earlier. She was getting nervous. He could recognize some pictures, but no words. Immediately, I told her to research PEC’s symbols, which are a picture language which reinforces words. I asked if she had spoken with her doctor and began to explain that if she was concerned about his motor skills developing, perhaps she could seek out an occupational therapist (saying that her school district should cover it if they agree he needs it). Her doctor had apparently told her that nothing can be diagnosed until he is five years old. She asked if this was true and I told her no. I told her to please, please seek a second opinion. Her doctor is a much older man and she is beginning to fear he is not keeping updated on new technologies.
She was confused. She was worried. She didn’t know where to turn. I suggested she get her son screened for Autism. If nothing else, to rule it out. I gave her the name of a few groups that work with children her son’s age in Philly (luckily, a dear friend is a therapist with this population out there) and wrote down again the types of therapies out there and the tools that might help him. As we parted ways, I said goodbye to her and her child and wished them luck.
And now I wonder what will happen to them. Thankfully, I think she is a parent that will fight for her child. She has already taken the biggest step, she is acknowledging that her son might be different and searching for answers.
When I came across this article this morning, I couldn’t help but think about her family again. Autism is being detected, if not diagnosed earlier and earlier. I am constantly amazed by how quickly science can progress and how fervently they are searching for an accurate diagnostic test (even in the 9 years since my godson was born). We are getting closer and closer to being able to easily identify the disorder, but in the meantime, I think being informed in the most important thing one can do.
Ultimately, you know your own child. You are their own best advocate.
New ways to diagnose: http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-autism-20100902,0,2418054.story?track=rss
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