At this point, I would try to keep an open mind (hard, I know, trust me!) and if therapy is recommended, please remember that anyone can benefit from therapy! A good therapist is not going to damage your child in anyway, and if they help him become happier all the better!
Yes. Spectrum or not, therapy (when done correctly) never hurts.
In general, I agree ... but it might not always be the case. Certainly wasn't with my DS4.3. He was in EI, initially due to language delays but then he also got OT and PT added on. He went from 10 words at 25 months to speaking in complex sentences 7 months later (which happened within a week). It was not thanks to speech therapy but thanks to his development. The truth is, ST drove him absolutely crazy. To the point where we stopped all therapies once he aged out when he turned 3 and then only got him private OT for his sensory issues. We got lucky and got a great occupational therapist and really enjoyed it. Then we added another weekly PT/OT session because of how bad the sensory issues were earlier this year and while the therapist was very highly respected and knowledgeable, she once again drove him nuts! Problem was, she (just like the old speech therapist) worked with him like with an average child his age but that's not who he is. He's very likely gifted, with a great memory and the kind of child you need to talk to the same way you talk to adults ... you can't talk to him like he's 4, which she did. I pulled the plug on those sessions and he's now as happy as ever. We did some major changes in his diet and we're down to just 2 OT sessions a month and he's doing overall much better. I really wish someone 3 years ago would had suggested we tried to go gluten and casein free rather than suggest all these therapies. But I know what didn't quite work for us, works great for others!
It took me 2.5 years of convincing EI and others to see that something is not right with the 4-year old and we finally got a preliminary diagnosis couple months ago ... PDD-NOS but have further testing ahead of us. I don't actually think it's really PDD-NOS but more likely Asperger's ... but will know more in a few months.
So I am certainly open minded when it comes to the possibility of Autism diagnoses for my younger one. And while he is referred to further testing by EI, it's mainly because he's a big puzzle to everyone that has worked with him ... the therapists as well as the evaluation team. Even my older one's OT said "he acts autistic but I don't believe he is!" ... His Developmental Therapist said she can't really evaluate him because on one hand he won't do for her things a typical 2-3 year old would do but he does things more appropriate for a 6-year old. .. so my worry is that one gets overlooked for the other. It is very likely that he is both, gifted & mildly autistic (be it Asperger's or PDD-NOS) ... I just want to make sure the developmental specialist really looks at all aspects and not just whatever EI guidelines suggest is appropriate for a child his age.
