developmental screenings

I spoke with the girl that did our 0-3 screenings today and she has recommended that both the boys have full evaluation. They are 13 months now. We've always felt like they were overall meeting milestones but its always been nagging at me that we were getting hung up on some of the autistic red flag ones like waving bye bye and they don't have any words yet. They don't point at things really yet. My oldest son has Aspergers, so I'm actually very glad to get the evaluation done. If there are early intervention things that can help, I absolutely want those services. My husband is highly offended by the whole thing. I'm trying to get him to understand that finding out problems early is a good thing. He's not really on board too much. But who knows, maybe when they get the full eval, we'll be reassured that everything is perfectly fine.

 

:hug: Leslie! I hope everything is fine. My son had one done at 11 months and I was worried about his motor skills but they did a full evaluation on him and as nervous as I was, I was relieved to find out he was okay but also happy to be informed of all the services they offer.
My BF went through the same thing with her middle boy (he also has Aspergers) and her husband was not on board initially but once everything got into full swing, he came around. Please let us know how your boys make out!

 

:hug: Leslie! I hope the evals provide you guys with reassurance. We had a full eval done on both of our boys when they weren't yet crawling at 11 months. It was great to get all of the feedback from the therapists. I don't think it is uncommon that your DH is struggling with it, I've had two friends whose children needed services but their DHs were against it. One friend went ahead and got them anyway and her DH came around pretty quickly!

Keep us updated! :hug:

 

:hug: i hope the evals bring reassurance as well. i always find the worst part of anything in life is the waiting to know - for me, having an answer, good or bad, is always better, because at least then you can move forward. definitely KUP! :hug:

 

I would tell your hubby that in a lot of states any child that is at risk for developmental problems will be referred for an eval, and multiples fall into that category. All an eval does is decide if the babies qualify for extra services, and why not use free services to help your kids get ahead?!? These programs exist so that most kids who have a slow start developmentally will be the same as their peers by the time they enter school. I hope everything is normal, but you are absolutely right that getting services early is better if needed. Good luck.

 

Ryan has been more receptive to the evaluation after I lectured him about why it is important. I'm hoping that they are totally normal, but I do think their speech is delayed and there is a great ST in the area that is qualified in working with kids this young. I'm optimistic.

 

A few random thoughts--
I agree with everyone that having them tested certainly can't hurt.

My cousin has asperters, and he was actually fine until around two. I don't know if the thoughts in it have changed, but I've heard that early evaluations for it are not very good at catching it. Who knows maybe the logic and research on this has changed, but I've heard around 18-24 months is the earliest they can detect autism with and reliable testing.

I know a woman who was my neighbor who had a boy the exact same age as my boys, and she kept worrying that he had autism. He seemed fine to me, and I didn't even notice any red flags. The boys older brother had been diagnosed with autism, and I think she was just really worried and was projecting that worry on to this child. I'm not necessarily saying you are doing that, but it is understandable that a parent might be extra concerned with a family history of autism.

Good luck with the evaluation. I'm glad your DH is on board.