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Such a long time for a diagnosis

kittycath

Hi Im Catherine and mum to Jack who has just turned four. We started our journey early last summer because my son would not self feed and we were referred to a speech and language team, we also had delayed speech and delayed walking. after seeing the speech and language therapist twice she recommended having some development assessments to check where jack was at. We had two sessions over 7 months and after the second session they did recommend a social and communication assessment. Autism sounded like such a scary word but not one I am unfamiliar with as other family members have autism its just that i felt crushed when I heard that. Acceptance has been a big part of it but I am not such what I am accepting when a diagnosis is still 10 months away. i just wish we had been added to the list a year ago and maybe I would be a little clearer on what we are dealing with.

Jack does self feed now but it was all down to him and speech and language were not much help to us really and also some days are a struggle we are getting there.

His language comes on every day but I can see that compared to his peers hes behind in those skills.

I am hoping with Jack starting school and if any needs are identified this might help in the assessment being carried out sooner rather than later. I hope after a diagnosis be it autism or not I hope as a family we can move on and learn about whatever it is we have to deal with every day.

Parents

  • Reading the length of time some people wait, I feel a bit embarrassed complaining! I'm a Mum of 2 boys. I noticed differences in my eldest around 18 months. At one point I thought he had OCD when he began lining things up/grouping things together! His behaviours have become so challenging. We had a speech therapist assess him privately as he was showing no signs of speaking at nearly 2 yrs. She concluded he was on the autistic spectrum. So we applied for a referral through the GP. We got an appt 5 months later. The speech therapist said I would prob be offered help from an OT as well as speech therapy through the NHS. I was over the moon to get an appt with a paediatrician. But all we came away with was an appt for a hearing test (which my son had a few months ago) a referral to speech dept (9 month wait!) And a vague diagnosis of him being on the autistic spectrum. They will assess him again in 6 months time. I realise he's still young, and they want to see how he develops, but I was hoping at least, for some advice on managing his behaviour. It's very hard taking him out now as he always has a meltdown about something and kicks and slaps me. I get so embarrassed as people sometimes look on in shock. My husband works long hours 6 days a week, and is in denial. So I'm basically on my own with this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! x

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  • Reading the length of time some people wait, I feel a bit embarrassed complaining! I'm a Mum of 2 boys. I noticed differences in my eldest around 18 months. At one point I thought he had OCD when he began lining things up/grouping things together! His behaviours have become so challenging. We had a speech therapist assess him privately as he was showing no signs of speaking at nearly 2 yrs. She concluded he was on the autistic spectrum. So we applied for a referral through the GP. We got an appt 5 months later. The speech therapist said I would prob be offered help from an OT as well as speech therapy through the NHS. I was over the moon to get an appt with a paediatrician. But all we came away with was an appt for a hearing test (which my son had a few months ago) a referral to speech dept (9 month wait!) And a vague diagnosis of him being on the autistic spectrum. They will assess him again in 6 months time. I realise he's still young, and they want to see how he develops, but I was hoping at least, for some advice on managing his behaviour. It's very hard taking him out now as he always has a meltdown about something and kicks and slaps me. I get so embarrassed as people sometimes look on in shock. My husband works long hours 6 days a week, and is in denial. So I'm basically on my own with this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! x

Children
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