UPDATE!! My 2yr old is autistic?

[army mommy]

UPDATE: So we FINALLY have our appt... it was booked the last week of september, and we will meet with the developmental ped on NOV. 2nd...and the speech therapist(sp?). I have held off getting a second oppinion just yet... i am going to wait and see what they say at trippler, and then go from there. Ive been working with her like crazy, and making lists of all the things she does that i feel the two other 2yr olds i babysit dont do. I can tell you this, whether you believe your child is autistic or not...walking into that office to hand in her paperwork i just felt so helpless...we are that this is all just wrong...

We had our first appt with the pediatrician here on schofield today, we went for a well baby checkup, i was excited to see how well DD was doing. Well talk about a punch in the gut... The pediatrician believes that DD may be autistic She will be two on 10/4, she listens and can perform actions better then any of the other two year olds she plays with, but when it comes to speech she is behind apparently. I knew she was lagging but she has been doing sooo well lately, "thank you", "love you" "please" "doggie" "fishies" and many more. They are now sending us to a speech therapist and a developmental ped. Im soo worried, im on the verg of tears i dont know what else i can do to help her, or what i could have done to stop this... i feel like a faliure, i should ahve worked with her more...i dont know im sorry for rambling...just needed to get it out somewhere i guess.

[pinknpretty4564]

i dont have any advice, i've never been in this situation but i just want to give you hugs and tell you that everything will be alright. dont stress out too much right now... there is a ton of information and resources out there for you and your daughter

[erickson007]

so the only reason the doc thinks she is autistic is her speech? if so i thnk thats jumping to conclusions a bit! then again i am no doctor

[SammaJamma]

I don't know much well anything about autistic children but if shes not talking alot that means shes autistic?? Emma is 18 months old and doesn't say much of anything that is understandable.

[army mommy]

this is what threw me for a loop, i mean i know she is a little behind with her speech, but i expected at the most therapy. Im in total aww... anyone that knows DD will tell you she is soo advanced for her age, she feeds and water the dog(if i fill the cups first for her to dump) She can search for her sippy cup, or the other girls i babysit and knows whose is whose. She puts her clothes on, with the ocasional legs in the same pant holes...things that the other two year olds i babysit (one being 6mo older then her and the other a month) dont do. I just dont get it..

sure she is gets overly angry at little things, but i figured it was the terrible twos

[pinknpretty4564]

i would just do the follow ups with the other doctors and go from there. suspicion of autism isnt a diagnosis.

[erickson007]

Originally Posted by army mommy this is what threw me for a loop, i mean i know she is a little behind with her speech, but i expected at the most therapy. Im in total aww... anyone that knows DD will tell you she is soo advanced for her age, she feeds and water the dog(if i fill the cups first for her to dump) She can search for her sippy cup, or the other girls i babysit and knows whose is whose. She puts her clothes on, with the ocasional legs in the same pant holes...things that the other two year olds i babysit (one being 6mo older then her and the other a month) dont do. I just dont get it.. sure she is gets overly angry at little things, but i figured it was the terrible twos

gosh to me she sounds like a normal 2 year old! maybe a little extra cuteness thrown it

[Amy]

Oh honey, don't beat yourself up. If she does have autism, then her speech delay isn't caused by something you did/didn't do. Is that all they mentioned, a speech delay as a possible sign of autism? How does she interact with other people? How is her eye contact?

2 seems awfully young for an autism diagnosis, to me. I thought most children were 3+?

[Christine]

Delayed speech can be caused by a lot of things. Is her hearing normal? That's the first test. Breathe, in an out. I'm surprised the Doctor said autism right away without having her tested. Whatever the cause for her speech delay, it's not your fault. Hard to not feel that way, but it's really not. You're not a failure. Get her tested, then work from there.

[USCsemperfi]

I would get a second opinion.

It sounds like she is just fine with socialization which is usually an autistic child's number one issue. I think speech should not be the basis of a life-altering diagnosis.

AND OP even if she is autistic, there is nothing that you could have done to stop it. Don't blame it on yourself! Many autistic children are just fine and do very well.

She is adorable by the way.