Guest guest Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Jayne, I feel that if you have a gut feeling that more is going on than just DS, then you need to get a thorough evaluation done by a pediatric psychologist. Based on his activity level, you should probably ask for an ADHD eval too. Unless your son is hearing impaired, lack of speech is reason enough for an Asd eval. A lot of professionals simply label a DS child without speech as severely developmentally disabled without looking for another reason. The fact is that most kids with DS talk. If they are not, there is a reason. My daughter was not diagnosed until 11 yo. Partly due to my own lack of knowledge about ASD. She is also non-verbal. She had some pretty blatant ASD behaviors such as head banging, self stim with dangly objects, rocking, spinning, difficulty with transitions or change in routine, fleeing the home. It took a new teacher and a new school one day to recognize these as symptoms of ASD. I think every special ed teacher in America ought to have to take a course in ASD in order to recognize the kids, like ours, who are slipping through the cracks and not getting diagnosed because their behaviors are getting chalked up to their congenital disability. Therese Mom to 13 yo DS PDD > Hi, > > I am new to this group...my son is 9 and is a twin to his sister > who has no problems. > is diagnosed with Down Syndrome, but I have always felt that > something else was going on. > I believe he has some form of autism, I believe PPD, however, we were > just at Sick Children's Hospital and they said because his social > skills are so strong they did not feel he met the criteria. > He can't speak, maybe 10 words, he signs most of the time, and > gestures. > He is a social little guy, and likes to be around people and be > cuddled but he has other characteristics that I think are not DS but > autism such as: reluctant to try food, bolts from us all the time and > takes off, little speech, high tolerance to pain, hates sirens and > certain loud noises, like to watch lights, extremem over activity, > just to name a few. > I feel that wanting to socially be around people and try to > commincate with them, especially with an over ambundace of hugs and > kisses is largely due to the DS. > I am very fustrated, and my husband and can hardly keep up any more > and he is just into everything every minute. > Does anyone have any comments or suggestions. > > Thanks, > Jayne > > > > > -------------------------------------------------- > Checkout our homepage for information, bookmarks, and photos of > our kids. Share favorite bookmarks, ideas, and other information by including > them. Don't forget, messages are a permanent record of the archives for our > list. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ > -------------------------------------------- > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Jayne: I had somewhat of the same experiences you have with our Tori, 4.5 yrs. She was just dx with ASD in Feb. The best way is again to have her evaluated by a pediatric psychologist. Observation of behaviors is the best way. Tori showed much more than just sensory issues and my gut feeling was she had ASD. Unfortunately, I didn't want to be right this time and was. But the sooner you get the diagnosis, the quicker you can get the extra services the child needs. Liz-Mom to Tori Re: My son Jayne, I feel that if you have a gut feeling that more is going on than just DS, then you need to get a thorough evaluation done by a pediatric psychologist. Based on his activity level, you should probably ask for an ADHD eval too. Unless your son is hearing impaired, lack of speech is reason enough for an Asd eval. A lot of professionals simply label a DS child without speech as severely developmentally disabled without looking for another reason. The fact is that most kids with DS talk. If they are not, there is a reason. My daughter was not diagnosed until 11 yo. Partly due to my own lack of knowledge about ASD. She is also non-verbal. She had some pretty blatant ASD behaviors such as head banging, self stim with dangly objects, rocking, spinning, difficulty with transitions or change in routine, fleeing the home. It took a new teacher and a new school one day to recognize these as symptoms of ASD. I think every special ed teacher in America ought to have to take a course in ASD in order to recognize the kids, like ours, who are slipping through the cracks and not getting diagnosed because their behaviors are getting chalked up to their congenital disability. Therese Mom to 13 yo DS PDD > Hi, > > I am new to this group...my son is 9 and is a twin to his sister > who has no problems. > is diagnosed with Down Syndrome, but I have always felt that > something else was going on. > I believe he has some form of autism, I believe PPD, however, we were > just at Sick Children's Hospital and they said because his social > skills are so strong they did not feel he met the criteria. > He can't speak, maybe 10 words, he signs most of the time, and > gestures. > He is a social little guy, and likes to be around people and be > cuddled but he has other characteristics that I think are not DS but > autism such as: reluctant to try food, bolts from us all the time and > takes off, little speech, high tolerance to pain, hates sirens and > certain loud noises, like to watch lights, extremem over activity, > just to name a few. > I feel that wanting to socially be around people and try to > commincate with them, especially with an over ambundace of hugs and > kisses is largely due to the DS. > I am very fustrated, and my husband and can hardly keep up any more > and he is just into everything every minute. > Does anyone have any comments or suggestions. > > Thanks, > Jayne > > > > > -------------------------------------------------- > Checkout our homepage for information, bookmarks, and photos of > our kids. Share favorite bookmarks, ideas, and other information by including > them. Don't forget, messages are a permanent record of the archives for our > list. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ > -------------------------------------------- > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 Therese, You are right, I think most Dr.'s are to quick to diagnose DS kids that are non-verbal has having a more severe development capability. The thing with is that he is very social, but I think that is because of the DS, but he does have some other traits. Just when I see other DS kids, that only have DS, is not like them at all. It took him to be involved in a special needs hockey group that really made me see this. I go back to Sick Kids Hospital on the 20th and I just want to armed and ready to go ... it is hard to want to convince some one that you think something else is wrong with your child, I am not looking for problems but I know there is something else going on with . Thanks for your comments. Jayne > > > Hi, > > > > I am new to this group...my son is 9 and is a twin to his sister > > who has no problems. > > is diagnosed with Down Syndrome, but I have always felt that > > something else was going on. > > I believe he has some form of autism, I believe PPD, however, we were > > just at Sick Children's Hospital and they said because his social > > skills are so strong they did not feel he met the criteria. > > He can't speak, maybe 10 words, he signs most of the time, and > > gestures. > > He is a social little guy, and likes to be around people and be > > cuddled but he has other characteristics that I think are not DS but > > autism such as: reluctant to try food, bolts from us all the time and > > takes off, little speech, high tolerance to pain, hates sirens and > > certain loud noises, like to watch lights, extremem over activity, > > just to name a few. > > I feel that wanting to socially be around people and try to > > commincate with them, especially with an over ambundace of hugs and > > kisses is largely due to the DS. > > I am very fustrated, and my husband and can hardly keep up any more > > and he is just into everything every minute. > > Does anyone have any comments or suggestions. > > > > Thanks, > > Jayne > > > > > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > Checkout our homepage for information, bookmarks, and photos of > > our kids. Share favorite bookmarks, ideas, and other information by including > > them. Don't forget, messages are a permanent record of the archives for our > > list. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ > > -------------------------------------------- > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 Hi Liz, Is your daughter verbal? Does she show the classic signs of ASD or PDD? I feel like I am taking this crash course in autism trying deseperatley to figure out why my son is different from other DS kids. I think the hard thing with is that he is so socialable, and he signs, and he wants to try and communicate and he makes eye contact. But there are so many other observations, like his speech especially and his high energy level and of course the bolting, that is just not normal DS behaviour. thanks for your comments Jayne > > > Hi, > > > > I am new to this group...my son is 9 and is a twin to his sister > > who has no problems. > > is diagnosed with Down Syndrome, but I have always felt that > > something else was going on. > > I believe he has some form of autism, I believe PPD, however, we were > > just at Sick Children's Hospital and they said because his social > > skills are so strong they did not feel he met the criteria. > > He can't speak, maybe 10 words, he signs most of the time, and > > gestures. > > He is a social little guy, and likes to be around people and be > > cuddled but he has other characteristics that I think are not DS but > > autism such as: reluctant to try food, bolts from us all the time and > > takes off, little speech, high tolerance to pain, hates sirens and > > certain loud noises, like to watch lights, extremem over activity, > > just to name a few. > > I feel that wanting to socially be around people and try to > > commincate with them, especially with an over ambundace of hugs and > > kisses is largely due to the DS. > > I am very fustrated, and my husband and can hardly keep up any more > > and he is just into everything every minute. > > Does anyone have any comments or suggestions. > > > > Thanks, > > Jayne > > > > > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > Checkout our homepage for information, bookmarks, and photos of > > our kids. Share favorite bookmarks, ideas, and other information by including > > them. Don't forget, messages are a permanent record of the archives for our > > list. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ > > -------------------------------------------- > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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