I'm not even sure I remember DS milestones, only that they were within normal ranges--although I know he was much less physical than my other two children.
eco, one thing I think you'll find with a good neuropsych is that they will pull this info out in the parent interview. Our neuropsych asked so many questions about developmental things that I'd never thought would matter in any way, and used them to help piece together the puzzle of what was up with our ds. FWIW, my ds' developmental milestones were all considered to be within normal range when you look at age-range-charts and by his ped - yet when the neuropsych put it all together, they were at the late age range across the board for motor skills, which was meaningful. When your child is actually going through those stages you are only looking at the development one milestone at a time; it's the broad look back at everything as a global picture that lets a neuropsych piece together whether or not something is indicated in the developmental history. FWIW, my ds who met all his milestones, but on the late side, has relatively severe dyspraxia - and no one saw it *at all* when he was little. But looking back at the broad picture, it was clearly there.
I'm wondering if it's useful to report odd anecdotal things to neuropsych, since of course I've been reading like a maniac.
I would not make assumptions about what something *is* but I would make a list to give the neuropsych about anything you think might be meaningful. For instance, if your ds didn't start rubbing his eyes until he was 5, and that's on the late end of the "typical" age range for rubbing one's eyes, and it's also a symptom of "eyes-impacted" disorder - put the "rubbed eyes at age 5" on your list, but don't phrase it as "possible eyes-impacted disorder". The neuropsych wants to know what symptoms your child is displaying and then he/she will put together the big picture of what all the symptoms mean in terms of a diagnosis (or no diagnosis). The rubbing-eyes is a totally bogus example (as far as I know lol!)... but most typical developmental symptoms can be indicative of any number of different diagnoses - our neuropsych likes to show her clients a chart of the overlap in symptoms between ASD, dyspraxia, and ADHD. The number of shared symptoms is really large - which means you need the professional to help sort out what's up.
For example:
DS began reading simple words very young (2) but then stopped. He was an early reader but not exceptionally early.
I'd mention the starting and then stopping, and I'd include the ages that he started and stopped if you remember them - even a ballpark estimate.
DS was the world's easiest baby. Slept through the night extremely early, almost never cried, was content to sit and watch me, liked to sit and play (didn't get into things). I have read some ASD babies are like this.
Quite a few neurotypical babies are like this too... I have one. Apparently my friends have many more lol. So - I'd include the note about sleep history but not add the note about ASD. Let the neuropsych sort out if it's meaningful or not and if so, what it applies to.
With the exception of loud, startling noises--which totally freaked him out (and still do).
My older dd (nt) was completely freaked out by loud noises. We were also told during a reading screening for a summer program when she was in first grade that she more aware of background noise than any child they'd ever screened. One year later we found out... she couldn't *see*. After she had vision therapy, she no longer was so distracted by loud noises. I'm not suggesting that your ds has vision issues, but just wanted to mention that even issues like this can't easily be deduced to be caused by syndrome "whatever" unless a professional such as a neuropsych is looking in detail at the functioning of the whole child.
he used to have to "start over" many many times when he tried to express himself. Not quite a stutter, but similar. Like he'd get lost in the middle of a sentence, and began again, with EXACTLY the same words he'd used before, but adding on more each time (this was very exhausting to listen to).
I'd mention this. And I can empathize on the exhaustion!
He was terrified of butterflies for a VERY long time (which I found hilarious and disturbing at the same time) and then moved on to bees. We have to re-acclimate every summer to the fear of stinging insects (he has never been stung).
Again, another thing that might mean something in the big picture, or might not. My nt dd is absolutely terrified of spiders. And she's a teenager now.... no sign of ever outgrowing it. And no amount of logic will convince her to not scream her lungs out anytime she thinks she sees one
He did not learn to tie his shoes until last year and it's still difficult for him.
This was one of those key developmental milestones in our ds that we completely missed - because there were so many velcro shoes in the world, and because school requested velcro shoes for all the kids. He couldn't tie his shoes when he was 8 and saw the neuropsych, and I had no idea that this meant *anything*. So.. put everything down on your list, and don't worry about whether or not it seems obsessive to be mentioning it.
He has periods of sleep disturbances (sleepwalking, terrors, other arousal disorder that includes picking at himself and mumbling, and also nighttime vomiting, cyclical, not viral).
Have you considered the vomiting might be food-related? Allergies or reflux?
Hang in there - you're doing a great job thinking all of this through and seeking out the evaluation.
Best wishes,
polarbear
ps eco - please don't feel like you need to reply to my post - I'm just putting thoughts out for you. I know it can be exhausting to feel like every post needs a reply! Mine don't
