Hi Ladies...I wasn't sure where to turn. For a very long time now I have felt that something wasn't quite right with my daughter Sienna. She is now 16 months old, crawled very late, gagged on food for a very long time, never pointed, wouldn't respond to her name and still isn't walking or talking...not one single word. Well, today she was evaluated for the third time through Birth 2-3 and we were told that Sienna falls on the low end of the spectrum for autism. Although "I knew" in my heart that she could be autistic (it runs on her Fathers side of the family) I didn't want it to be true. I am thankful to the end of the earth that she is on the low end, but it really makes it no easier to swallow. I realize that she is still very young and diagnosis isn't usually made until 2-3 years old. One never knows...she may just be a late learner and prove us all wrong in the end.  Her father on the other hand does not want to admit to anything and feels we should get a second opinion. I have no problem getting this done, but I am angry with him for making me feel like I went out of my way to find something wrong with our baby. I know that the earlier I intervene the better off Sienna will be.

I guess I am wondering if anyone has been down this road. I have a long journey to make and some advice on how to handle this would be so much appreciated by anyone.

Thanks for listening,

Sandy

Sandy-

Im sorry to hear about your daughter. My heart goes out to you and your family! My friends daughter was having the same difficulties your daughter was and she is now three years old and they told her that she is just slower than kids her age, but for a year and a half she thought for sure she had autism and doctors couldnt really pin point it. I just thought id share that with you, I hope for the best for you and your family! Good Luck!

Stephanie

hey Sandy, I know how you feel being worry about your child development.  Although my daughter doesn't have autism, she was a late crawler and walker, she started to crawled by 13 month old and walking by herself close to turn 19 month old.  She babbled a lot and say just a few words and then she stop. She is 25 months old now and it starting to say phrases, but she still is behind comparing to her friends who are coping every single word they hear.

 It help a lot with the walking having physical therapy which we decided to go private.  I have friends that they opted for the state program.  They also have speech theraphies and motor skill (walking) theraphy, there is also the eating theraphy.  Now usually the walking and talking are conected, my therapist said the muscles are all conected and usually kids that don't walk, don't talk either and as the walking is getting better the talking improve.  As the eating my daughter swallows only the food she likes (aka, cake, chocolate, grapes) then the rest of the food she chews and then spits it, she has had all kind of test and the conclusion all specialists reached is that it is a behavioral problem.  She is just used to spit it out and someday she will stop doing it.  To me this didn't made sense and there are days I cry because it is so frustatring to see not to eat her food, but she must be eating something when she chews because she gained some weight on her 2 yo check up.

It is good for your peace of mind and your husband to get a second opinion, and ask your doctor about the therapy program.  I don't know if you went through the test as the GI for the eating, which sometimes reveals that the eating problem is on reflex. A friend's kid had problem with eating because of it, the kid doesn;t talk at all, he is close to 2 years old and only started to say hi.  His speech improved when he had ear tubs implanted.

You didn't mentioned but were your child a premie? 

I just want you to know you are not alone there are many moms going through this road, whether is autism, or problem with premmies or just a late developer child. 

I can just advice you to be patient, and if you have a good friend keep her next to you, there will be lots of time that you will just need someone to vent out your frustation and someone to listen. 

Also ask your doctor if he knows about a support group for moms and kids in your situation, I am not sure if this site has it.  My regional moms group has a subgroup for moms of special needs kids and my hospital has one too.  Sometimes it helps to hear and get advice from moms in these groups.

Good luck with Sienna.

Thank you both. It's very reassuring to hear that another child went through this and it ended up to really be nothing. That is what I am hoping for. We qualified for the program and Sienna will be getting some therapy at home. Physical, speech, etc...I have thought in the back of my mind that perhaps she is just a slower child. She no longer gags on her foods, but she use to all the time. She started to crawl before her 1st b-day and she will pull to a stand but she absolutely refuses to have someone help her take any steps. If I even attempt to hold her up under her arms or at her waist, she immediately drops to her bottom. It's the wierdest thing really. She was diagnosed not too long ago with mild Hypotonia and they did reccomend PT then. I was waiting for the office to call me back and set something up, but they are so booked I couldn't get in. Thanks to Birth 2-3 Sienna can now get the therapies that she needs. If this does turn out to be Autism I will find a way to deal with it and do everything I can by her to make sure she gets the help she needs. Thank you again for your replies.

no Sandy I've never been there but I feel for you.  And with her so young maybe you can start helping now so it won't get worse as she gets older.  Not really sure how that all works but I do wish you the best of luck

I know this may seem like a big blow, but with mild autism your daughter will live a normal life.  You will find ways to fine tune your lives to fit her needs, but she will live a normal life.  I have 2 friends that have kids with mild autism, and I worked with autistic adults for 4 years.  Both of my friends kids have went to public schools, and one even plays softball.  And I am not talking about softball for "special" kids, just our local city softball with all the other girls her age.  Your daughter will learn to talk and go to school and so on just as anyone else, it just may take her a little bit more time.  You both will be just fine.  Early intervention is important though.  It sounds like you are on the right track.  

I do want to ask you though, did your daughter get the MMR shot?  I was just wondering because I so far have held off on it, and just trying to get all the info, thoughts, and opions on it that I can before I decide what to do. 

Kim...thank you very much. I know that with hard work from all of us that Sienna will be okay. As a matter of fact she did have the MMR shot, but I had noticed things prior to this injection. That doesn't take away from the fact that I am beginning to believe that Immunizations may play a role in Autism. I don't really know where I stand with that.

I was not meaning to imply in any way that the MMR did cause her issues.  I don't know where I stand with it either, and that is why I asked.  Just to get more input on it.  Total,  I have 4 friends that have autistic kids, and 2 of them blame the MMR, and the other 2 do not and say they would still have the shot given if they had it to do over.  So I am so on the fence about it that I usually ask everyone if they have had issues or not.  

One thing I would try if I was in your shoes is the glutton (sp) free diet.  I have heard that it does wonderful things for some kids.  Especially if symptoms are mild.  Good luck.  

well if you are both on the fence about the MMR just see if your dr will give it to them in 3 different shots?  I don't know of anyone that has gotten their child the MMR to have any problems, my son got it at 15months(cause they didn't have it when we went in for his 12mo) and is fine....BUT if I would say that if your child is at the low end of autistic or showing signs of it I wouldn't get the shot.  I think any parent that blames the shots for a problem their child has afterwards is just looking for an out cause they didn't see the signs before hand.  But thats just my opnion

Giving the shots seperate is exactly what I want to do.  I do still beleive in immunizations, but I just don't think I trust the MMR.  Anyway, I can't find anyone in my area that will give the shots seperate.  I have called every pediatrician in the phone book in my area, I have called the state health dept. and I also have called several phyarmacies to see if they would fill a script from the Dr. to take back to her for her to give.  Nothing.  I can't find anything or anyone.  So to me it has become a waiting game to see if someone will finally give it seperate.  My son's doctor said she would, but she don't have any other parents asking for it seperate, and it is sold in lots of 10, so she would have to order a total of 30 shots and she says it is not cost effective for her to do that right now.  If other parents start asking for it then she will order it.  It is the same with all the other places I called.  The don't order it that way, just the MMR.  So we will see.

There is a whole discussion about vaccines and autism in this forums.  At the end it is a personal choice to space the shots.  I opted for my DD getting the shots when it was the time and the doctor suggested.

I also read so many articles (newspapers, internet, webmd, etc) were there always said that science has proof that vacinnes and autism are not related.  And usually the kids that took the shots and had austism already had the problem.  It is just sometimes so difficult to spot the problem before the 2-3 year old. 

Mommies you have to do and follow what your heart and brain tells you and hear everything that you doctor say, talk it with your spouse and then make the decision.  It is worst to get the sickness of MMR, or polio or any other illness than the side effects of them.

My son has not been diagnosed with autism, but have many friends who have children with mild to extreme autism.  I will say that with all of them, they have decided to go on a gluten free diet and it has made an extreme difference.  They noticed a difference within 2 weeks.  Also, 3 of them are strictly organic users.  Not sure if that helps, but they believe it does.  Also, the person above who said that physical therapy helps, I believe it does.  The friends who have chosen this route, I think I've seen a dramatic difference in their children.  Do a lot of research and try to find things you can do at home.  Another thing that seems to help is a swing.  The kind that secures the child in.  Not sure where you live, but at Clemyjontri Park in McLean, VA, they have swings built just for autistic/mentally retarded children and these swings seem to help them mentally and physically.

Also, you may want to find a group, and maybe there is one on RaisngThem or another place that has a playgroup for autistic or developmentally challenged children.  I find that getting as much help from other mothers who have gone through it, seems to help a lot.  See what others have said that may work for their child.

Also, I too, would get a 2nd opinion just in case, but either way, all of my friends who have autistic children have beautiful and wonderful kids.

Best of luck to you.