I am incredibly proud of him! He was just re-evaluated by the school district and not only did the psychologist not see ANY signs of Autism in him, he is so smart! I knew he was always smart but it is amazing. She gave him the WIAT-III and in Early Reading Skills he got 112 which is in the 79th percentile and puts him at 1st grade 2 months. On Numerical Operations he got 129 which is in the 97th percentile and puts him at 2nd grade. She also gave him the KBIT-2 test which he got 103 for Verbal Score which is average, a Non-Verbal Score of 133 which is Superior and an IQ composite of 121 which is Superior. She said basically he is able to think really well without words or talking about something as he is doing it and that is why he scored lower on the Verbal one. His IQ places him in the 92nd percentile compared to other kids his age. He was also given The Beery-Buktenica Development Test of Visual-Motor Integration, He got a raw score of 19, a standard score of 117 and an equivalent of 7 years 1 month. I am just so proud of how far he has come. He does not need any services anymore and he does not fall on the spectrum anymore. It's just that 3 1/2 years ago when he was first diagnosed with it all I could think of was "Will he ever be normal?" "Will he ever have friends?" "What if he has to be institutionalized when we are gone?" It was so stressful and now I just have this amazing, talkative, social, caring, genious little boy who I could not be more proud of! I love him so much!
-- Edited by Domimom on Sunday 12th of June 2011 08:55:15 PM
-- Edited by Domimom on Sunday 12th of June 2011 08:56:21 PM
Jasmine, that is just fantastic news and you have every reason to be proud!!! I can feel the love you have for you sweet boy coming through iin every word you typed. He has accomplished so much, and has you yo thank for it!
oh jasmine this is an amazing update - i am so happy for you!
i'm wondering (i always wonder this when people have kids who once were on the spectrum and then no longer meet criteria) -do you think his initial diagnosis was not valid? (i think i remember you having a gut feeling that his diagnosis wasnt accurately capturing him) - or do you think the services were helpful enough to push him out of the diagnostic category? i always think of the whole jenny mccarthy debate - just wondering.
oh jasmine this is an amazing update - i am so happy for you!
i'm wondering (i always wonder this when people have kids who once were on the spectrum and then no longer meet criteria) -do you think his initial diagnosis was not valid? (i think i remember you having a gut feeling that his diagnosis wasnt accurately capturing him) - or do you think the services were helpful enough to push him out of the diagnostic category? i always think of the whole jenny mccarthy debate - just wondering.
I was thinking the same thing Kelly
In fact, I sometimes wonder if they over diagnose these kids sometimes, kwim?
oh jasmine this is an amazing update - i am so happy for you!
i'm wondering (i always wonder this when people have kids who once were on the spectrum and then no longer meet criteria) -do you think his initial diagnosis was not valid? (i think i remember you having a gut feeling that his diagnosis wasnt accurately capturing him) - or do you think the services were helpful enough to push him out of the diagnostic category? i always think of the whole jenny mccarthy debate - just wondering.
That's awesome news. Itu how your feeling. Raym has been the same way.
In answer to kellys question, my answer is I don't know. When raym was diagnosed, he did fit diagnosing criteria of whatever thing they used like 1 from category a 3 from b etc. Which makes it harhe because now he wouldnt be labeled autistic based on criteria. Had he not met all criteria he still would have been somewhere on the spectrum. With aba and just growing up he has changed so much. Do I think therapy has helped absolutely. That being said we no longer have him in therapy. The school district however will not use his medical diagnosis of autism and say he does not have any signs of it. Going back to his developmental ped, he won't remove his diagnosis and wants us to but him backin therapy. I think its because. Being young with these therapies is critical.
Do I think it's over diagnosed, probably. Do I think rayms autistic probably not, is he behind sure a little bit. Although he scores low average for most things other than school readiness which he has 98 percentile.
I think a parent who doesn't have the time to do certain things one on one therapy is certainly helpful and I don't know where rAym would be without it, so I'll take the diagnosis from that standpoint. Personally the diagnosis does bother me despite it soley being a label and not defining him, and I hope one day his ped will see he's fine like everyone else who sees him consistently does. But if not it is what it is.
Ok sorry jasmine I just wanted to chime in here but I'm so proud of your boy too.
-- Edited by 3s_a_crowd on Monday 13th of June 2011 09:31:29 AM
What a great update! So proud of your boy and how far he has come! I believe the right help at right time and these kids can make progress. My Anna was one of them. (although she wasn't dx'd the same). Very happy for you mamma!
oh jasmine this is an amazing update - i am so happy for you!
i'm wondering (i always wonder this when people have kids who once were on the spectrum and then no longer meet criteria) -do you think his initial diagnosis was not valid? (i think i remember you having a gut feeling that his diagnosis wasnt accurately capturing him) - or do you think the services were helpful enough to push him out of the diagnostic category? i always think of the whole jenny mccarthy debate - just wondering.
I was thinking the same thing Kelly
In fact, I sometimes wonder if they over diagnose these kids sometimes, kwim?
Anyway Jasmine, that's wonderful news!
a child neuropsychologist i know told me that he estimates that currently, only 1/16th of aspergers diagnoses are true diagnoses -- and actually, the DSM is absorbing aspergers into the overall diagnosis of autism (not a separate diagnosis) - perhaps because so many cases were being diagnosed when the child was not actually "functionally impaired" kwim? there are a lot of articles on it out there.
i raelly hope they can get a better handle on the aspergers thing (not talking about dominic in particular here) - the diagnostic issues are causing a LOT of families a LOT of worry.
oh jasmine this is an amazing update - i am so happy for you!
i'm wondering (i always wonder this when people have kids who once were on the spectrum and then no longer meet criteria) -do you think his initial diagnosis was not valid? (i think i remember you having a gut feeling that his diagnosis wasnt accurately capturing him) - or do you think the services were helpful enough to push him out of the diagnostic category? i always think of the whole jenny mccarthy debate - just wondering.
That's awesome news. Itu how your feeling. Raym has been the same way. In answer to kellys question, my answer is I don't know. When raym was diagnosed, he did fit diagnosing criteria of whatever thing they used like 1 from category a 3 from b etc. Which makes it harhe because now he wouldnt be labeled autistic based on criteria. Had he not met all criteria he still would have been somewhere on the spectrum. With aba and just growing up he has changed so much. Do I think therapy has helped absolutely. That being said we no longer have him in therapy. The school district however will not use his medical diagnosis of autism and say he does not have any signs of it. Going back to his developmental ped, he won't remove his diagnosis and wants us to but him backin therapy. I think its because. Being young with these therapies is critical. Do I think it's over diagnosed, probably. Do I think rayms autistic probably not, is he behind sure a little bit. Although he scores low average for most things other than school readiness which he has 98 percentile. I think a parent who doesn't have the time to do certain things one on one therapy is certainly helpful and I don't know where rAym would be without it, so I'll take the diagnosis from that standpoint. Personally the diagnosis does bother me despite it soley being a label and not defining him, and I hope one day his ped will see he's fine like everyone else who sees him consistently does. But if not it is what it is. Ok sorry jasmine I just wanted to chime in here but I'm so proud of your boy too.
-- Edited by 3s_a_crowd on Monday 13th of June 2011 09:31:29 AM
well said - this all makes perfect sense to me. i think that's the issue - there's a huge push for early intervention, which causes a push for early diagnosis, but i think in many cases kids just havent developed past those checklists yet. plus the terms are vague. "failure to develop age appropriate peer relations" (???) and "narrowed or restricted interests" (??) and even "functional impairment" -- a lot of 2-3 yr olds show a lot of these characteristics, and then might catch up. but i understand the push for diagnosis, bceause of the service aspect. such such such a tricky situation.
i know many people hold that autism cannot be cured, and if a child moves off the spectrum, maybe he wasnt autistic in the first place - the whole thign is beyond fascinating because it really just comes down to those checklists.
Do think true autism can be cured, no if that's saying their brain will work in a different way by cleaning toxins from the body, aba or whatever. Do I think some people can be taught how to use the way their brain works to function every day so they may not meet the criteria sure. Some people are visual learners, some have to hear things and some need to do things before they get how to do something.
I think raym sometimes just doesn't get certain things and I have to try to figure out what makes sense to him so he'll learn a proper response or whatever, but once he's got it, he's got it kwim
Do think true autism can be cured, no if that's saying their brain will work in a different way by cleaning toxins from the body, aba or whatever. Do I think some people can be taught how to use the way their brain works to function every day so they may not meet the criteria sure. Some people are visual learners, some have to hear things and some need to do things before they get how to do something.
I think raym sometimes just doesn't get certain things and I have to try to figure out what makes sense to him so he'll learn a proper response or whatever, but once he's got it, he's got it kwim
agreed. i think there can certainly be progress made. my psych friend put it well -he said "it shouldnt be something we have to dig for - you can tell a clear case the second the child walks in the door" - this is probably overstating it of course, but it makes the point. i think the very mild cases are VERY tough, clinically. i dont envy neuropsychologists at all.
either way, i'm so glad to hear of all this progress - SO POSITIVE and WONDERFUL!
Thank you all so much! I am not sure if he was mis-diagnosed or if all the therapy he got helped. He did have signs of it when he was younger: late talker, poor eye contact, didn't like other kids, didn't know how to play with toys, hand flapping, obsessive with spinning things. So I know the therapy definetely helped him. I think he has it really mild and he has had such good therapy that he doesn't fall on the spectrum anymore, anyway it doesn't matter, he has come such a long way!
congrats on some seriously awesome news!!
