Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all, my daughter will be 3 in April and for a while now we’ve been thinking she may be autistic. She’s unable to speak, she hardly listens to us, hates been around other children and when she is, she doesn’t socialise with them including her sibling. We’ve also noticed that she stims quite regularly and does what we call her ‘excited dance’. There’s loads of other small things that draws us towards autism, but don’t want to list them all. She’s had several hearing tests which have all come back fine too. We went to see the doctor today to talk about our concerns and he basically said he doesn’t deal with autism and gave us a number to call. So I called them this afternoon and they said there’s nothing they can do unless she’s referred to them by her school or a speech and language therapist. She’s too young for school and we’ve been on the waiting list for her to have speech therapy since October last year. Does anyone have any advice on what we can do now? Feel like we’re stuck and just want to get to the bottom off it all. Thanks.
My Autistic son was born a long time ago - Yesterday being his 37th Birthday. I suggest you must start with your GP and request that you get referred to a Pediatric Specialist. I would have expected that this would have happened as soon as you asked your GP for help. Your concern was the same as ours - Lack of Language at 3 yrs as well as bizarre behavior, We had 5 older children so we had not been too worried about him until then. After all Einstein was reported not to speak until 3.5 years. Or main concern had been feeding him, as he had been rejecting food since birth unless it had no texture and did not exceed 5 teaspoons. But we had been slowly been taken over by his problems and were at a low point, His eventual diagnosis, by a specialist Pediatric Neurologist at a Specialist a Children's Hospital Came as a relief, because we felt we could get back to normal. He started at a specialist school at 3.5 years, some children were Resendential, but we had him taxied their daily. We are still His Unpaid Parent Carers of last Resort because of Local Authority failure Time and time again that continues deliberately to this day. I suggest You seek an appointment Firstly with your GP, Secondly with your local Citizen Advice Bureau with a view to be directed to a specialist Solicitor to advise you further. Professionals will not really want to commit themselves until a child is about 3 years to 3.5 years, even though it may be obvious a child is autistic earlier. My son statemented to need 24 x 7 care which is at one end of the autistric spectrum, others who contribute on this website are also on this same spectrum of disabilities , But my son has none or little comprehension of Language, Its Structure and use to communicate with others. Good luck with your quest.
You can self refer to CAMHS or ask your GP to refer you to the community paediatrician, thats worked for out son.
Hi Sophie,
If you were interested in finding out if your daughter is on the autism spectrum, they would need to have a formal diagnostic assessment. You may find it useful to have a look at the following link for further information about diagnosis and the benefits of getting one:http://www.autism.org.uk/about/diagnosis/children.aspx
If you are looking for a diagnosis for your daughter, it is very important that you see someone with experience of autism spectrum disorders. Details of diagnostic services can be found on our Autism Services Directory:
https://www.autism.org.uk/directory.aspx
You may also want to look at our section that provides advice for parents, relatives and carers of people with autism.
https://www.autism.org.uk/about/family-life.aspx
It might also be useful to pass on information about autism to health professionals when seeking a diagnosis. The following page includes information for a range of health professionals:
https://www.autism.org.uk/about/diagnosis/professionals-involved.aspx
You may like to have a read of the National Autism Plan for Children to see what you are likely to expect and what you can ask during the assessment . Please scroll down to the bottom of the page and go to page 3 on summary report, page 11 for full report for the Essential Components for a complete multi agency assessment:
http://www.autism.org.uk/about/diagnosis/children/national-plan-children.aspx
I hope you find this useful,
ChloeMod.
I'm autistic and have a LO. I was told by the health visitor that if relevant and wanted the first step to a formal diagnosis before school is to contact them