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I have recently inquired about adopting two girls. They are 2 and 1, soon to be 3 and 2 - only 13 months apart. I knew the oldest was being assessed for autism due to significant developmental delays. Today, I found out that both girls will most likely receive the official dx of autism very soon.
I have requested more information about what developmental delays the children are experiencing. I know the younger one has delays in speech and language, but I'm not sure if this means that she doesn't speak at all.
In my workplace, I work with one child who is severely autistic to the point that we have to dress her, bath her, and she doesn't speak. We have to watch her 24/7 unless she is asleep because the other day she wandered out of the building and got lost for a brief time. I don't think I could handle this level of autism as a parent; however, I do think that I could cope with the milder forms.
My main question is this: At such a young age, are there specific developmental delays I should look for that will tell me the severity that the autism is or could turn out to be?
I REALLY want to try to get these girls even with the dx of autism; however, I don't want to get myself in over my head either.
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In looking through this forum I thought the following info may be helpful to:
On the intial info, it stated the oldest one was being assessed for autism spectrum disorder. The information today simply said autism.
Is there a difference and how significant is it that I find out if it is autism or austism spectrum?
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I think "autism" and "autism spectrum" are used interchangeably and do not indicate severity of the diagnosis. I would say that you would need to read the individual assessments of each child before you can determine severity at this point. And, as a mom of a child on the spectrum, I would also say that children with ASD are always changing.
ClarinetGal
My main question is this: At such a young age, are there specific developmental delays I should look for that will tell me the severity that the autism is or could turn out to be?
I have had a similar experience as Lady. We have an autistic child now (most likely Aspergers but we're still going through the process of evals). SWEET sweet kiddo.
I did freak out a bit when they told me when I was picking up because of the diagnosis, which I've never really dealt with before.
Our FS's delays are mainly reading/writing and math. He has some funky speech going on, but he's fairly self sufficient as any child his age in day to day stuff like feeding himself, dressing, potty etc.
It's really hard to determine though at toddler age. Do you have any info about the bioparents? Our FS is very very similar to his father.
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As others have said, it's really hard to know at this age what level of disability you will be dealing with. The good news is that since both kids are so young you will be able to provide them with therapies that can make a tremendous impact at this point.
The terminology can be confusing and not everyone uses it in the same way. Generally, all autism is on the autism spectrum, hence Autism spectrum disorders. Some people differentiate "classic" autism from autism spectrum and generally spectrum is used to indicate higher functioning. But it sounds like you don't know how it's being used here.
Overall, my experience is that it takes getting to know the kid to know how best to work with them. For example, with my son it's all about knowing which words resonate with him (you'll be late) and which routines he holds sacred (story/bed time).
You may want to post your question on [url=http://www.wrongplanet.net]Wrong Planet - Autism Community[/url]. It is a very active community with tons of experience all over the spectrum.
Good luck,
I would request a copy of the developmental evaluations performed on the children. (I'm new here so I don't know if that's allowed)The good news is you are getting the dx's so early there is SO much hope. Research shows that with ABA therapy there can be such drastic progression. The chances are that the child at your work did not receive aggressive early intervention and that is why he is the way he is. My bio son had no communication at 19 mos when we got him dx'd but after 3+ years of behavior/speech/OT most people don't even know he has ASD at 4.5 yrs old. I would say there is a lot of hope for these girls. They are too young to determine if they are MR and the severity of their autism can change so drastically over the next few years with the right environment and intervention.If you do end up taking them, just implement what the therapists teach you to 120% of your ability "in all settings" since most ASD kiddos have trouble with generalizing. Like the above poster said, they are always changing. I find that to be 100 % accurate. As soon as we think he needs help with a specific task, we target it and he gets it and we are on to the next. Constantly changing lol. .
There isn't much of a difference between ASD and autism. ASD is more the general term between aspergers, autism, pdd-nos, rett syndrome, and childhood disintergrative disorder. Each are on the spectrum but have slightly different classifications.
As far as what to look for just knowing the child an meeting them will give you a sense for knowing how severe they maybe. They do say "Once you've met one autistic child you've met one autistic child." Although there are no two children alike anyways autistic children are even more different. I work with 5 autistic children and each child has its own challenges and strengths. But even if a child may be a wander there are ways out there to cope you can put door alarms, locks, and even have a program to help chilren learn not to wander.
If you have any other questions about Autism private message me I'm more than happy to help.
My 12yo stepson's diagnosis is pdd-nos. He was completely non-verbal until 4years old. He threw horrible tantrums and had to be watched every second. I met him at 5. Now, at 12 (he has lived full time w/me and his father for 6yrs) he is one of the smartest, sweetest kids I have ever known. He now talks non stop. He is completely main streamed in school and is an all around great kid. He rarely throws a tantrum and when he does- it is no worse than my so called "normal" kids (LOL). He definately has some issues but I wouldn't trade him for any other kid in the world!
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