Re: When should we go to a dev. pediatrician?

[Guest guest]

I would get an appointment as soon as possible so that you can be sure of the

correct diagnosis (apraxia vs. PDD-NOS). My son was diagnosed with PDD-NOS

at 26 months. He was seen by several doctors before receiving the diagnosis

and they said that he was just a bit delayed. He always had very strong eye

contact, social skills and receptive language. He has made tremendous

progress in one year of ABA and biomedical treatments. He is more advanced

academically than his peers but he still has behavior issues. We did not

tell anyone except our parents (school and doctors) of his diagnosis. Most

of those who know of the diagnosis have even questioned whether it is

accurate. However, having the diagnosis has been essential to receive the

services and get the appropriate biomedical treatments. Hopefully he will

lose his diagnosis within a year.

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> ________________________________________________________________________

>

> Message: 16

> Date: Mon, 05 Jan 2004 18:42:16 -0000

> From: " michellechristine35 " <michellechristine35@...>

> Subject: When should we go to a dev. pediatrician?

>

> My son (23 months) has been receiving speech for five months and has

> made little progress with expressive language. I do see growth in

> his receptive language and signing.

>

> His therapist thinks he may have PDD. I have read a lot on this

> topic and do not feel he has it, as I see no evidence of any social

> impairment. I do believe he may have apraxia.

>

> Anyway, my question is, IF IT WAS YOUR SON HOW LONG WOULD YOU WAIT

> BEFORE SEEING A DEV. PEDIATRICIAN FOR A DIAGNOSIS? I am concerned

> about having him labeled prematurely and his pediatrician says wait

> until the age of 3. However, part of me wants answers.

>

> As I said he gets speech twice a week and recently began receiving

> special instruction twice a week because they said his play

> was " inappropriate " since he wasn't doing much pretend play. So,

> even without a diagnosis, he is getting services.

[Guest guest]

Go immediately, but be sure to express your concerns about

mislabeling him too early - and be sure to pipe up about his social

interactions, etc.. If he's not PDD, take the report immediately to

the ST so s/he will know to put that to bed.

Our ST thought my youngest was presenting as PDD, but I knew in my

heart he wasn't. We had him through several evals and a ped psych

finally said " No way and tell anyone who says he is to shut up " (she

actually punctuated it saying that he did have an obvious speech

impairment, but was also obviously REALLY smart and thought that

might be affecting him, as well).

Better to be proactive than wait too long. That's my 2 cents!

> My son (23 months) has been receiving speech for five months and

has

> made little progress with expressive language. I do see growth in

> his receptive language and signing.

>

> His therapist thinks he may have PDD. I have read a lot on this

> topic and do not feel he has it, as I see no evidence of any social

> impairment. I do believe he may have apraxia.

>

> Anyway, my question is, IF IT WAS YOUR SON HOW LONG WOULD YOU WAIT

> BEFORE SEEING A DEV. PEDIATRICIAN FOR A DIAGNOSIS? I am concerned

> about having him labeled prematurely and his pediatrician says wait

> until the age of 3. However, part of me wants answers.

>

> As I said he gets speech twice a week and recently began receiving

> special instruction twice a week because they said his play

> was " inappropriate " since he wasn't doing much pretend play. So,

> even without a diagnosis, he is getting services.

[Guest guest]

Go ahead and make the appts now.

I waited until my son was 5 before going and now I am in the whole

process of getting him all the help he needs and not just the speech

that the school district only wants to address. I regret not taking

him two years ago when another mother suggested it; he was making

progress and I was just so happy to see him speak. He had no words

at 23 months.

However, my daughter is 21 months and I now am setting up an appt for

her to see a dev. ped. The Dev. Ped. is the same one that is

going to and she suggested I get her in now.

There is no need to wait, the dev. ped. will work the evaluation

around your 23 month old. The Dev. Ped. may then recommend you to

see additional specialist. (Full OT eval for sensory and motor skill

issues, and neuropsychological eval to see how he learns were

recommended for )

Around here (Chicago) the waiting time for new patient appts can be 5

months and if you are referred to additional specialist they too

could have just as long of a waiting list. I decided to get

additional testing for almost 9 months ago and I will not be

seeing the Dev. Ped. for the follow-up visit until mid-feb when all

of the other Doctors have completed their tests and reports.

Remember a Dx gives your son the chance to get the correct treatment.

My Dev. Ped. will not label with Autism unless it is totally

necessary for him to get treatment. Now we are working with our

insurance company and they are covering therapy based on symptoms.

was Dx with Disfunction of Sensory Integration and Apraxia.

Autism has been meantioned a few times but DSI and apraxia seem more

correct to me. But since these Dx all seem to be spectrum disorders

I haven't found anyone willing to say that it can't be Autism along

with Apraxia and DSI. Nor would I totally rule it out.

I hope to have more information after is 4-1/2 hour testing set up

the end of this month at a behavior center.

Take Care,

Heidi - SAHM to 8(NT), 5 (DSI, Apraxic, & social

concerns) 21 months (VUR, low weight-only 20lbs/poor appetite,

Torticollis/Plagiocephaly, delayed speech no Dx but showing signs of

possible apraxia)

> My son (23 months) has been receiving speech for five months and

has

> made little progress with expressive language. I do see growth in

> his receptive language and signing.

>

> His therapist thinks he may have PDD. I have read a lot on this

> topic and do not feel he has it, as I see no evidence of any social

> impairment. I do believe he may have apraxia.

>

> Anyway, my question is, IF IT WAS YOUR SON HOW LONG WOULD YOU WAIT

> BEFORE SEEING A DEV. PEDIATRICIAN FOR A DIAGNOSIS? I am concerned

> about having him labeled prematurely and his pediatrician says wait

> until the age of 3. However, part of me wants answers.

>

> As I said he gets speech twice a week and recently began receiving

> special instruction twice a week because they said his play

> was " inappropriate " since he wasn't doing much pretend play. So,

> even without a diagnosis, he is getting services.

[Guest guest]

Okay, here's my 2 cents:

First, quick background history - I have twins, 3 1/2, both

diagnosed on the autism spectrum at 2 1/2, reality is (and it's a

LONG story how we got here) I have one son who has both feet firmly

planted on the spectrum and one son who has severe Apraxia (which

has caused some global delays) and has a helluva model for behavior

in his brother!

The type of therapy makes a difference - interventions for Apraxia

and other delays would not have helped my autistic son. He needs

ABA (in addition to speech, OT, PT, RDI, etc etc). The single most

effective therapy for my autistic son is ABA. My apraxic son has

been doing ABA for as long as his twin - and has been a very nice

teaching tool for him. It has caught him up in many areas of

deficiency and provides lots of social/play practice and most

important of all - speech drills/oral motor excercises/etc etc. We

ended up tailoring ABA to almost only playtime (Natural Enviornment

Training -little to no table time).

So having said all that - IMO - go get a evaluated/diagnosis. If

they put him on the spectrum (and it turns out he actually is) - he

gets the much needed interventions that can make all the difference

for him. If he is put on the spectrum (and it turns out that he is

misdiagnosed) - he gets lots of intensive teaching that will give

him a leg up. Never loose track of the Apraxic component - he will

still need the intensive 1:1 therapy with a qualified speech path.

Hope this helps-

-

> My son (23 months) has been receiving speech for five months and

has

> made little progress with expressive language. I do see growth in

> his receptive language and signing.

>

> His therapist thinks he may have PDD. I have read a lot on this

> topic and do not feel he has it, as I see no evidence of any

social

> impairment. I do believe he may have apraxia.

>

> Anyway, my question is, IF IT WAS YOUR SON HOW LONG WOULD YOU WAIT

> BEFORE SEEING A DEV. PEDIATRICIAN FOR A DIAGNOSIS? I am concerned

> about having him labeled prematurely and his pediatrician says

wait

> until the age of 3. However, part of me wants answers.

>

> As I said he gets speech twice a week and recently began receiving

> special instruction twice a week because they said his play

> was " inappropriate " since he wasn't doing much pretend play. So,

> even without a diagnosis, he is getting services.