Hi everyone,
My son has been diagnosed with ASD. he is 4 years old. We noticed that he was a late speaker from the age of 18 months and were quite worried by the age of 2 when he had very few words to say. Referred for hearing test, but that was normal. We were hopeful as we saw some new words being used and thought he was doing ok. But after starting nursery just after his 3rd birthday, we could see that he was quite behind speech wise compared to other children. The teachers were also noticing slightly odd behaviour such as not playing with things approriately and shouting in peoples faces. it was difficult to hear negative things about our child on a regular basis. They also noticed that he was having difficulty interacting with other children. This is when they made a referral to a health visitor. All a very lengthy process, finally diagnosed after almost a year.
Since he started nursery, we have seen a massive improvement in his behaviour, in the last 5 or six months we have seen a great improvement in his language and communication, he is using meaningful words. Nursery have been great, using visual aids to help him. Having him formally diagnosed was hard to accept as we thought he was doing really well recently, but al least now he can get all the right help and support that he needs.
Its been finally confirmed in writting that he was diganosed with ASD. we are so upset as he is our first child and is very concered about his future.
I would really appriciate if people in this communiity share their experience with ASD so that we can learn a little bit more about this.
Thank you.