delay? no speech at one year.

[Anonymous]

Pointing is overrated. People make it out to be a big ASD red flag, and it's not. It's more about fine motor control. Joint attention and sharing are big issues in autism.

It doesn't sound like your child had actual words, but approximations of words. 1 year is still really young.

If you look over at Dr. Jim MacDonald's Communicating Partners site on Yahoo (he also has a msg board) he gives tons of tips on working with your child on language. There's so much you as a parent can do at home.

[Anonymous]

I don't think anyone is saying there are definite signs of autism here, but nonetheless, I think there are enough areas of concern that OP should get it checked out because getting in there early can make a huge difference. My DS, who has an ASD, didn't point but rather would pull us toward something he wanted. I later (we spent two years trying to get a diagnosis, for two years we were told there was nothing wrong and for two years we felt like that wasn't correct) learned that this was a big red flag.

Also, if OP feels subjectively like her DC is losing language skills, that is enough to pursue and get an evaluation. Again, no one is going to read her posts and automatically push the ASD button. But all the literature on early detection says that a parent's concern is worth pursuing. There's so much I wish I had known and done earlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think anyone is saying there are definite signs of autism here, but nonetheless, I think there are enough areas of concern that OP should get it checked out because getting in there early can make a huge difference. My DS, who has an ASD, didn't point but rather would pull us toward something he wanted. I later (we spent two years trying to get a diagnosis, for two years we were told there was nothing wrong and for two years we felt like that wasn't correct) learned that this was a big red flag.

Also, if OP feels subjectively like her DC is losing language skills, that is enough to pursue and get an evaluation. Again, no one is going to read her posts and automatically push the ASD button. But all the literature on early detection says that a parent's concern is worth pursuing. There's so much I wish I had known and done earlier.

+1

[Anonymous]

This is the OP again. Thank you for all the words of wisdom from people who have been there.

Update: we saw our GP, who said that there wasn't anything wrong with our daughter from what he could tell, but he did refer us to a speech therapist.

The speech therapist seemed to think she was completely fine in her communication (given that she interacted with us, and that she made real eye contact, etc.). She didn't ask about pointing, etc., until I brought it up when she seemed surprised to hear that she wasn't pointing. She commented that's non-pointing can be a neurological issue but at the same time it's likely a gross motor issue in her case.

She also said that our daughter's tone seemed "low,w great her tone is.

Ugh... I feel like there are a lot of questions. Any advice?" and that she was 90% sure there was a tone issue. She referred us to a PT. That wasa complete surprise to me, because doctors (at least swhen she was younger) commented proactively on ho

[Anonymous]

Whoops- that didn't come through all the way.

What I meant to say is that the speech therapist said that she was 90% sure there was a low-tone issue, and we are now going to see a PT for evaluation.

That quasi-diagnosis is surprising to me because most of the doctors we've seen (at least as recently as December) have commented proactively on her "great tone." The descriptions I'm reading online don't really match what I see.

Our GP's suggestion was that the various therapies could only help, not hurt, and that we can watch our daughter to see if they are making a difference. If they are not, or if decifits become worse, then we can see a person for a full eravluation.

I'm feelin really nervous about the way this is being handled, but I am also waare that I am in freak-out protect child mode and that I may not be thinking rationally. Does this sound like a reasonable approach?

[Anonymous]

Personally, I would take her to a developmental pediatrician b/c he can look at the whole picture and he can tell you what therapy your child needs if any. I certainly would not rely on what a speech therapist says about low tone, that is not at all her speciality, she does not know what she is talking about. I also would not rely on the GP. Most GPs don't know much about neuroligical disorders, it's not their speciality either.

[Anonymous]

Hmm. A speech therapist should not be diagnosing hypotonia, unless it is dysarthria.

Parent of low tone kid here. Low tone is best looked at when a child is sleeping or at rest. My kiddo's muscle is like a wet noodle at rest...very little resistance when you move extremities, etc. Poor head control is a huge red flag for tone issues. There are degrees of low tone of course but I am highly suspicious if it hasn't been broached before by the pediatrician as this is definitely something they can diagnosis since they lay their hands on your child's body.

[Anonymous]

A speech therapist diagnosing low tone? Thats really ridiculous. Go see a developmental pediatrician. Sadly, general pediatricians are just not great with this kind of thing. Ours told our DS was totally fine and he has an ASD. This very well may be something as simple as a muscle control thing, but you should get a thorough evaluation from someone who actually knows what they are talking about.

[Anonymous]

OP here. To be clear, it's not that the speech person diagnosed low tone- in fact, she was very clear to say she wasn't a PT. BUT, she did refer us to a PT.

And, the PT today said yes, she thinks she does have low tone, although she didn't make it sound like it was ahuge deal. She DID say that our daughter is at about 10 months (vs. 12 months) of development physically. Again, that seems strange to me as I hadn't noticed that, but...

My main fear at this point is that I had concerns already and now they are telling me she has another problem I hadnt even considered. ...

[Anonymous]

Well if most of the doctors who have seen her say there's nothing wrong with her tone, I would be concerned about the competence of this PT. Another reason to see a developmental pediatrician.

[Anonymous]

At 1 year old, I doubt the developmental pediatrician could even tell you much about speech development. That's very young for speech. At that age, a child isn't even a late talker. And it sounds as if she didn't really have the words yet. She was starting to experiment with them. If she started something else, like walking, around then, she could have easily gotten sidetracked.

Also, please be sure whoever you see has a solid track record, not just whoever has a quick opening. Lots of bad diagnosing going on out there.


I'd take a deep breath, slow down, and target certain words. You could have a special toy box, only bring it down when you are working with her, and start working on single words like ball, car, other nouns, a few times a day for a few minutes. Show her the power of words to get what she wants. And don't overtalk her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. To be clear, it's not that the speech person diagnosed low tone- in fact, she was very clear to say she wasn't a PT. BUT, she did refer us to a PT.

And, the PT today said yes, she thinks she does have low tone, although she didn't make it sound like it was ahuge deal. She DID say that our daughter is at about 10 months (vs. 12 months) of development physically. Again, that seems strange to me as I hadn't noticed that, but...

My main fear at this point is that I had concerns already and now they are telling me she has another problem I hadnt even considered. ...

I think the fact that you have concerns is a good enough reason to go see a developmental pediatrician (regardless of what the speech therapist and PT said). My pediatrician told me that in his experience when mothers feel that something wrong, they are usually right. Nobody knows your kid as well as you do and if you feel in your gut that something is wrong, you are probably right. When I told my general pediatrician I was concerned about the development of my son, he said he would refer me to a development pediatrician, even though he felt my kid was ok, b/c in his experience each time he had a mother tell him that, each time the mother ended up being right. My son ended up beign diagnosed with an ASD by the developmental pediatrician (and 2 general pediatricians had told me that he was fine before that).

[Anonymous]

OP, I assume her ears were checked? We noticed speech regression around a year--turned out it was lots of fluid in the ear due to constant ear infections. tubes solved the problem. Also, DS was not pointing at year, but exhibited no other signs (besides the speech). he's 2.5 now and is a happy chatterbox.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I assume her ears were checked? We noticed speech regression around a year--turned out it was lots of fluid in the ear due to constant ear infections. tubes solved the problem. Also, DS was not pointing at year, but exhibited no other signs (besides the speech). he's 2.5 now and is a happy chatterbox.

This is a good point. You should have her hearing tested. The speech therapist should have mentionned that to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I assume her ears were checked? We noticed speech regression around a year--turned out it was lots of fluid in the ear due to constant ear infections. tubes solved the problem. Also, DS was not pointing at year, but exhibited no other signs (besides the speech). he's 2.5 now and is a happy chatterbox.

This! My daughter had an issue at 12 months amd it turned out to be fluid (NOT an ear infection). Go see Megan Petronis (probably spelled that wrong) at Georgetown. She is amazing audiologist with the littlest patients.