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So my 3y/o FS (4 in January) was diagnosed with Autism and he shows a lot of the classic signs but he is also not so classic. I had a meeting today with the schools speech pathologist to try to have him evaluated for services and she stated, and I quote "I'm no psychologist but this child is not Autistic, he is too social and he is interactive". Now my problem is that I had him evaluated by THREE separate child psychologists without sharing info from the others and they all came to this same conclusion, he is AUTISTIC. Now this woman does not want to give him speech therapy because she thinks that all he needs is more love and attention and he will blossom. Well I have the love and attention part handled, and we even attempt our own version of at home speech therapy, but i am no professional and need some backup.
She is not the first to flat out deny his diagnosis and refute what the psychologists have said. But another major problem is that this kids is super adorable and so many people get caught up in his cute factor that they ignore his symptoms and behaviors, and they write everything off as "well he is a foster child".
I am now questioning the diagnosis and frustrated. Is it possible for an Autistic child to be social and interactive with other people. I know that there are high functioning autistic individuals, but i have only lived and dealt with severely low functioning autism within my own family. Knowledgable input would greatly be appreciated, I feel like I am having to fight to hard to get basic services for a child that seriously needs them.
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So sorry, that is frustrating to say the least.
It sounds like you have already met with several people to get him evaluated, but is there any other schools in your area that provide services? I know my cousin had to go down the road a bit to get her autistic boys approved into a program. Maybe someone elsewhere would have a different insight on his needs, and where he is, or isn't, on the autism spectrum.
Good luck!
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I have contacted the neighboring school district within our county but they are hesitant to step on toes and they also said that they try not to take children "out of district" because it takes away from spot for children that legitimately live in the district. The next school district is in the next county and that is not a short drive. My reason for having him evaluated multiple times for Autism was because of some of his non-classic signs and even one Psychologist commented on how social he is but said that still did not negate the entire diagnosis. He is already attending pre-school out of district but between that and all of this other appointments I was hoping to not have to drive all over creation to find speech services when the school that is in our district for him is literally next door to my house. We are fighting it and I have contacted the Special Education department for the district and spoken with the supervisor and he said that he will have to get back to me. Keeping my fingers crossed that this does not fall apart.
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