Raym update

3s_a_crowd · Guru

Raym update

Michele · Senior Member

Tracy I am sorry to hear that the diagnosis wasn't quite what you expected but I am glad tat Raym will be getting the therapy that he needs. I will be praying that he will respond quickly and these doctors will have to change their diagnosis.

Thank you for the update. Many hugs to you for tirelessly working to give your family all you do.

sbucking · Guru

I know how hard it is to hear your child is on the spectrum. Even though I knew it was coming with Braydon, that didn't stop my breakdown. Now, 99% of the time, you'd never guess he ever had an issue.

If I may ask, with Raym being so young, what drove this diagnosis?

You're doing great by him!!!

CheleLyn · Senior Member

Good for you tracey being on top of things! He's got him a great mom and I'm sure he'll do fabulously with therapy

3s_a_crowd · Guru

stacey, he does not interact wth other children, confuses meanings of yes no, doesnt point, doesnt consistently respond to his name etc. I dont remember what the other things the doctor said were his main red flags there were like 4 pages of questions and several play/test things he did with him.

He did want to diagnose him now instead of later so hed get the therapies now under our insurance which he thinks will benefit him greatly if we start now. also we live 400 miles from them so its not so easy to just keep coming back.

apies · Guru

tracy, like the others said, i'm sorry that the diagnosis wasn't what you were expecting, but as someone who went down the road of early intervention, i think you'll be SO glad you did. i cannot even imagine where emily would be today without it.

please keep us posted on his progress.

sappy · Guru

tracy,

i am sorry you're dealing with something that is not what you were expecting.

i do have to tell you, you consistantly impress me with your determination and love for your children.

you are a smart, strong woman and mother and you are giving raym (and all your kids) the help and love he needs.

as for being done having kids, i know it's a hard decision to make and even harder to accept sometimes. maybe try thinking of all the great things about moving to the next stange of your lives?

in any case, i am proud of you.

hang in there.

daisy · Guru

3s_a_crowd wrote:

stacey, he does not interact wth other children, confuses meanings of yes no, doesnt point, doesnt consistently respond to his name etc. I dont remember what the other things the doctor said were his main red flags there were like 4 pages of questions and several play/test things he did with him.

He did want to diagnose him now instead of later so hed get the therapies now under our insurance which he thinks will benefit him greatly if we start now. also we live 400 miles from them so its not so easy to just keep coming back.

tracy, i'm so sorry you are facing all of this, but i'm SO glad you are getting the help he needs so early. the earlier the better.

i have a close friend in the same boat. her child was showing some of the red-flag symptoms and received a diagnosis so he'd qualify for services...we were wondering how many cases are like this, and if this may be the reason why rates appear to be skyrocketing, kwim?
i'd love to see epidemiological breakdowns - how many are diagnosed with mild autism, at what age, what the rate of "recovery" through treatment is for those kids, and how those cases are driving up prevalence rates.

i was watching a bunch of interviews with jenny mccarthy online lately and she says her child is fully recovered now (and i'm wondering what you think too, stacey - i didnt realize braydon ever had a diagnosis) - her son, after intensive therapy, no longer meets autism criteria - i wonder if this is "recovery" or just "too early of a diagnosis" kwim? (totally dont mean this in a debate-tone at ALL - i'm seriously just thinking a lot about the increasing prevalence and why this could be). there was a panel of doctors debating the issue - can autism "be cured" through therapy (or if we can just expect symptom-improvement), or maybe those who "fully recover" were just delayed in the first place, and never truly made it onto the spectrum.

sorry for that side topic, though i'm interested in anyone's thoughts :)
i am so glad you updated about raym - i've been thinking about him - and i know you're going to see huge strides in no time. bravo mama!!

gogona · Guru

daisy wrote:

3s_a_crowd wrote:

stacey, he does not interact wth other children, confuses meanings of yes no, doesnt point, doesnt consistently respond to his name etc. I dont remember what the other things the doctor said were his main red flags there were like 4 pages of questions and several play/test things he did with him.

He did want to diagnose him now instead of later so hed get the therapies now under our insurance which he thinks will benefit him greatly if we start now. also we live 400 miles from them so its not so easy to just keep coming back.

tracy, i'm so sorry you are facing all of this, but i'm SO glad you are getting the help he needs so early. the earlier the better.

i have a close friend in the same boat. her child was showing some of the red-flag symptoms and received a diagnosis so he'd qualify for services...we were wondering how many cases are like this, and if this may be the reason why rates appear to be skyrocketing, kwim?
i'd love to see epidemiological breakdowns - how many are diagnosed with mild autism, at what age, what the rate of "recovery" through treatment is for those kids, and how those cases are driving up prevalence rates.

i was watching a bunch of interviews with jenny mccarthy online lately and she says her child is fully recovered now (and i'm wondering what you think too, stacey - i didnt realize braydon ever had a diagnosis) - her son, after intensive therapy, no longer meets autism criteria - i wonder if this is "recovery" or just "too early of a diagnosis" kwim? (totally dont mean this in a debate-tone at ALL - i'm seriously just thinking a lot about the increasing prevalence and why this could be). there was a panel of doctors debating the issue - can autism "be cured" through therapy (or if we can just expect symptom-improvement), or maybe those who "fully recover" were just delayed in the first place, and never truly made it onto the spectrum.

sorry for that side topic, though i'm interested in anyone's thoughts :)
i am so glad you updated about raym - i've been thinking about him - and i know you're going to see huge strides in no time. bravo mama!!

Kelly,

I wanted to jump in here also since you raised some very interesting issues. I don't "know" Jenny McCarthy's child so I can't really comment on him but in my opinion the doctors often jump to conclusions too early and don't realize that some children might be just developmentally delayed...

If you remember, Christopher was also "diagnosed" with autism at age 2. I was in tears because the doctors told me that he would never have a normal-functioning life. It was devastating for me and it put a lot of strain on our marriage. Fast forward 2 years and Christopher is talking fluently in 2 languages, interacts with his friends, is smart and curious. He has not had any issues in preschool, he's a very sweet, affectionate child. We had no issues with potty training and he was potty trained at 2 yrs 7 months. No issues at all at school or at home.

So do I think that he's been "cured" ???? absolutely not! he was speech delayed and had some fine motor skill delays and the doctors jumped into conclusions too early.

Tracy, I fully understand what you're going through and I am not implying that this might be the case with Raym but I just wanted to share my experience since it's so close to my heart. I hope the therapy works for him, I've also been thinking about him and was wondering whether you had any updates, early intervention can never hurt. Hang in there!

Toni · Guru

I'm sorry that you had to hear that he was being diagnosed, but it's great that you were so on top of it and caught it early. I just read a study of how children who have interevention early do SO much better, and Raym's pretty young.

Many hugs to all of you!

daisy · Guru

gogona wrote:

daisy wrote:

3s_a_crowd wrote:

stacey, he does not interact wth other children, confuses meanings of yes no, doesnt point, doesnt consistently respond to his name etc. I dont remember what the other things the doctor said were his main red flags there were like 4 pages of questions and several play/test things he did with him.

He did want to diagnose him now instead of later so hed get the therapies now under our insurance which he thinks will benefit him greatly if we start now. also we live 400 miles from them so its not so easy to just keep coming back.

tracy, i'm so sorry you are facing all of this, but i'm SO glad you are getting the help he needs so early. the earlier the better.

i have a close friend in the same boat. her child was showing some of the red-flag symptoms and received a diagnosis so he'd qualify for services...we were wondering how many cases are like this, and if this may be the reason why rates appear to be skyrocketing, kwim?
i'd love to see epidemiological breakdowns - how many are diagnosed with mild autism, at what age, what the rate of "recovery" through treatment is for those kids, and how those cases are driving up prevalence rates.

i was watching a bunch of interviews with jenny mccarthy online lately and she says her child is fully recovered now (and i'm wondering what you think too, stacey - i didnt realize braydon ever had a diagnosis) - her son, after intensive therapy, no longer meets autism criteria - i wonder if this is "recovery" or just "too early of a diagnosis" kwim? (totally dont mean this in a debate-tone at ALL - i'm seriously just thinking a lot about the increasing prevalence and why this could be). there was a panel of doctors debating the issue - can autism "be cured" through therapy (or if we can just expect symptom-improvement), or maybe those who "fully recover" were just delayed in the first place, and never truly made it onto the spectrum.

sorry for that side topic, though i'm interested in anyone's thoughts :)
i am so glad you updated about raym - i've been thinking about him - and i know you're going to see huge strides in no time. bravo mama!!

Kelly,

I wanted to jump in here also since you raised some very interesting issues. I don't "know" Jenny McCarthy's child so I can't really comment on him but in my opinion the doctors often jump to conclusions too early and don't realize that some children might be just developmentally delayed...
If you remember, Christopher was also "diagnosed" with autism at age 2. I was in tears because the doctors told me that he would never have a normal-functioning life. It was devastating for me and it put a lot of strain on our marriage. Fast forward 2 years and Christopher is talking fluently in 2 languages, interacts with his friends, is smart and curious. He has not had any issues in preschool, he's a very sweet, affectionate child. We had no issues with potty training and he was potty trained at 2 yrs 7 months. No issues at all at school or at home.
So do I think that he's been "cured" ???? absolutely not! he was speech delayed and had some fine motor skill delays and the doctors jumped into conclusions too early.

Tracy, I fully understand what you're going through and I am not implying that this might be the case with Raym but I just wanted to share my experience since it's so close to my heart. I hope the therapy works for him, I've also been thinking about him and was wondering whether you had any updates, early intervention can never hurt. Hang in there!

yes i remember this irina, and i actually discussed your situation with my friend when we were having this conversation. i know you never were fully convinced by christopher's autism diagnosis. i'm in NO WAY implying that there arent true diagnoses out there...at ALL...but i just wonder to what extent early diagnoses are service-driven. i think the system is largely flawed if qualifying for covered services requires a PDD diagnosis. youre right irina, it could lead to a tremendous amount of familial stress.
again tracy, i cant emphasize enough that i'm not referring to raym here. i'm sure your doctor is doing the right thing to provide services for raym, and i'm so glad he's going to get them. i am just questioning a larger scale, policy issue kwim?

happylib · Guru

Tracy, thank you for giving us and update. I am sorry that it was not the news you were expecting. It sounds like you are doing a great job of making sure he gets what he needs now, which will make all the difference later.

3s_a_crowd · Guru

Kelly itu the line of thinking and may very well agree with it. With raym we had always noticed he was different. From kids his age and slightly off if that
makes sense. If he is "recovered" in a year I'd be thrilled, and would be glad he was able to get the help he needs even if that means getting a diagnosis

daisy · Guru

3s_a_crowd wrote:

Kelly itu the line of thinking and may very well agree with it. With raym we had always noticed he was different. From kids his age and slightly off if that
makes sense. If he is "recovered" in a year I'd be thrilled, and would be glad he was able to get the help he needs even if that means getting a diagnosis

yup i totally agree, the diagnosis is worth it if it gets you the help he needs, and i'm totally sure he'll be making huge strides since youre so on top of it. early intervention is a great thing, and the earlier the better.

i just think it's important for prevalence rate research to smooth these questions out, so we can all have a better idea of what's causing the rise in autism numbers.

Alison · Guru

Raym is so lucky to have you as a mom! :hugs:

Juanita · Guru

apies wrote:

tracy, like the others said, i'm sorry that the diagnosis wasn't what you were expecting, but as someone who went down the road of early intervention, i think you'll be SO glad you did. i cannot even imagine where emily would be today without it.

please keep us posted on his progress.

ditto to this entire post

CoffeeQueen · Guru

Hugs to you and I think you are doing a wonderful thing by getting him the intervention he needs early. He is lucky to have a great Mom.

Sunshine · Guru

Tracy, you have my respect and admiration for being so proactive with this. It's great that Raym will be getting the services he needs to help him blossom.

Sara · Guru

I am glad Raym will be getting the therapies he needs and be on the right track to helping him progress with things.

*hugs*

Alicia · Senior Member

daisy wrote:

3s_a_crowd wrote:

Kelly itu the line of thinking and may very well agree with it. With raym we had always noticed he was different. From kids his age and slightly off if that
makes sense. If he is "recovered" in a year I'd be thrilled, and would be glad he was able to get the help he needs even if that means getting a diagnosis

yup i totally agree, the diagnosis is worth it if it gets you the help he needs, and i'm totally sure he'll be making huge strides since youre so on top of it. early intervention is a great thing, and the earlier the better.
i just think it's important for prevalence rate research to smooth these questions out, so we can all have a better idea of what's causing the rise in autism numbers.

Totally agree. Early therapy can't hurt. How old is Raym? If Raven had been tested at a young age they probably would of said autistic. Maybe even now she would depending on how they test her. Her personality kind of makes her odd.