DeeDee ... I have been pushing for Asperger's evaluation for DS4 for 2.5 years now and all the therapists would always blow it off as SPD ... but I KNOW that's not it. He does have a really bad SPD but there's more to it and I need to know what. But I feel like even the Psychiatrist we've been seeing the last two weeks is very puzzled by him. He shows a lot of Asperger's traits but not always. He shows a lot of ADHD traits ... but again, not always. He gets a lot of small and bigger meltdowns but in most cases I can reason with him to snap him out of them.
I just feel like all the therapists have been doing with him is throwing different therapies at him to see if anything will work. I feel like that's not what we should be doing if we don't really know what causes it? If the Psychiatrist comes up with some sort of diagnoses (or rules them out) ... at least we can adjust the therapy plan based on that and not just experiment because he doesn't have the textbook responses to therapy. He LOVES to be out anywhere and just explore ... park, beach, store ... just ANYTHING new to him so sometimes I think why waste time at the therapist office when we can be out giving him the stimulation he needs? Why try to hold him back teaching him to sit still when maybe running as fast as he can is what he TRULY needs?
As for the 2-year old ... if you didn't know him your FIRST thought looking at him for 5 minutes would be "this child is Autistic" ...as in, not just mildly on the spectrum but probably moderate. He'll either sit somewhere in a corner play with something and pay zero attention to anything and anyone (if at home or other very familiar place) or you may see him spinning for minutes listening to music that catches his attention. That and speech delay were major red flags why I got him evaluated through Early Intervention. He's on the 6 months waiting list for the Psychiatrist eval as well but won't have the appointment till sometime in January. ... but then when you watch him closely, you realize he's not "out" or zoomed out ... he's just doing something that really caught his attention and wants to finish it. The spinning used to freak me out a little (he started doing that when he started walking) ... he'd spin, never lose balance, not once. He'd stop and then just walk away. We were thinking it was probably a sensory issue where he liked the sensation of how it felt and the visual part. But I've noticed he has a great ear for music and as I watched him couple times he's spinning and "analyzing" the music ... not sure it's the right word. I don't know how to explain it. He's humming the tones with a slight delay (especially when it's a new melody for him) very focused on getting it right and the last couple of days he's spinning and sometimes conducting with his arms at the same time. I was fascinated by it when I saw him do that. Imagine a orchestra conductor conducting with his right hand but in a 2-year old's body! lol ... the music stops and he immediately snaps out of it. But he only does these things when he feels like it. When you come to our house another time, you'll see a possibly ADHD little boy that's into everything, giggles at everything and wants you to play with him and do goofy things. it's really hard to explain but while at first sight he seems to be more "off" then DS4, we're a lot less concerned with his issues than our older one's. Not saying that won't change but only time will tell.
