If your child sees or has been seen by Dr. Stephen Camarata...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very direct question: Has anyone on here who seen the Camerata's had an ASD diagnosis confirmed by their evaluation?

Not me, but a few friends have gotten PDD-NOS diagnoses from him. (This was a few years ago, when the term still existed.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been reading all these posts about the Cameratas, and people seem to have had such positive experiences, but I find it a little bit befuddling what exactly makes them different, and why knowing your kid is a late talker versus a PDD-NOS dx makes any therapeutic difference, when the PDD bucket (which I know has been removed from the DSM) is so broad anyway. I have a 10 yo with an (educational) autism diagnosis and some language/social communication delays, and I know a lot of kids with similar profiles (often dx'd in preschool as PDD-NOS). As I've watched the dc I know grow up, they all have become more typical in their language use and are most in mainstream settings with some supports. As a dev psych said to me years ago, "These kids do pretty well as they grow up, regardless of what therapies you do." Some have NVLD dxs now, some are ADHD, some are more Aspergers-like....it's just that the types of therapies they get aren't really all that different, and that while they have different profiles, the differences are not that astounding.

Frankly, the schools and the SLPs we've used haven't been nearly as sophisticated in technique as the Camaratas in dealing with a child with a severe receptive language delay. I was taking my child to a speech therapist with a stellar background; she had been one of the leads at a hospital autism speech preschool. She was extremely nice. Her sessions with my son though, were not pretty. He spent the whole time fighting her. Little got done. Luckily, they taped the sessions, and I sent one to Mary Camarata, who said that this was a very patient therapist -- but it was a waste of our time and money. Mary then gave me tips to pass on to the therapist -- again, a very experienced therapist. I wasn't sure she'd take Mary's advice, but she did. And the turnaround was immediate and dramatic. The therapist herself was extremely impressed (and I thought, you didn't know to try this? After more than a year of working with my child?)

Same thing with the schools. They would be trying, trying, trying their "autism" therapies with my MERLD child, and it was a disaster. But whenever I could get them to actually follow the Camarata's suggestions, we got back on track. I remember one elementary teacher -- a really talented woman who actually read the reports from the Camaratas -- who said their instructions worked exactly like they said it would, and again turned things around when she was not having success.

[Anonymous]

We saw the Camaratas at Vanderbilt in August 2004. If Dr. Camarata had not been present, it would have been disappointing. There were several times during the diagnosis discussion that Mary wanted to include "x", but then Dr. Camarata would say "no, you can't diagnose that because she can do 'y'". My daughter was almost 3 at the time of evaluation and is now 12. She was diagnosed with a severe mixed expressive/receptive language disorder, not on the autism spectrum. We had decided to homeschool before she was born, and that decision was even more important with her diagnosis. It has been a long and sometimes difficult road, and she still struggles with the nuances of language, but she is doing very well. She auditioned for and got a role in her first play this summer. She is doing well in school (we continue to homeschool). Oddly, her best subjects are reading and language arts!

I'm not sure I would have been so confident in the direction we were going or if we were even working with an accurate diagnosis if we had only seen Mary. I am sad to see that Dr. Camarata no longer does the evaluation. And yes, we paid for our eval with them - we were actually the first people who had to pay.

[Anonymous]

Bottom line, "if they are late, don't wait!" Language intervention for late talkers is effective. Late talkers receiving intervention by an SLP over a short period of time showed improved language skills (vocabulary, production of sentences, speech sound production) as compared with late talkers who did not receive intervention (Robertson & Weismer, 1999) and these results suggest that if untreated, late talkers will not improve their language at the same rate as their typically developing peers with the significant risk of lifelong language difficulties impacting academic
achievement, reading and literacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bottom line, "if they are late, don't wait!" Language intervention for late talkers is effective. Late talkers receiving intervention by an SLP over a short period of time showed improved language skills (vocabulary, production of sentences, speech sound production) as compared with late talkers who did not receive intervention (Robertson & Weismer, 1999) and these results suggest that if untreated, late talkers will not improve their language at the same rate as their typically developing peers with the significant risk of lifelong language difficulties impacting academic
achievement, reading and literacy.

I just googled this study and there was only 21 kids tracked over 12 weeks. That really isn't big enough to draw a conclusion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bottom line, "if they are late, don't wait!" Language intervention for late talkers is effective. Late talkers receiving intervention by an SLP over a short period of time showed improved language skills (vocabulary, production of sentences, speech sound production) as compared with late talkers who did not receive intervention (Robertson & Weismer, 1999) and these results suggest that if untreated, late talkers will not improve their language at the same rate as their typically developing peers with the significant risk of lifelong language difficulties impacting academic
achievement, reading and literacy.

What is the purpose of your post on this topic?

[Anonymous]

I just took my 3-1/2 year old son to see Mary Camarata. According to several Folks, my son was showing "markers" for autism. I was reluctant to take him to behavioral pediatricians or SLP's in my area because they are all tied to centers that provide therapies. I feel that they can say anything they want, label a child and use scare tactics to pressure worried parents into expensive treatments. I flew my family to Nashville from CT to see Mary because I wanted my son to see someone who would not benefit from his diagnosis. Mary is as good as everyone says. My boy does not have ASD. He has an expressive language delay and with the help of his SLP at home he should come along just fine. It's appalling how many unqualified "professionals" come across late talking children and start going through their ASD checklists only to be dead wrong in the name of "Early Intervention."
If any other mothers are going through this, I urge you to read Stephen Camarata's books. If things don't add up, RUN don't walk to Mary Camarata for a full evaluation. I doubt you'll regret it!

[Anonymous]

We saw Dr.Camarata with our son in August 2013 and then again in August 2015. We had concerns beginning in 2012 when our son was 3, as he would not talk much. Our son would memorize books at a very early age, and when he did speak, often it would be a recitation of pages from books, or repetitive statements like pointing out a window and saying "That's mommy's car, and that's daddy's car."

Dr. C told us in 2013 that our son was not autistic, that he had an expressive disorder. 2 years later, he told us that while some people MIGHT diagnose him as autistic, he personally would not classify him as such.

Our son is now 8, in 2nd grade in a Catholic school, a class of 8 kids. He does very well in most subjects especially math and Spanish, but has some difficulty in art and reading comprehension. Often he will read paragraphs, but he cannot seem to articulate what he read.

He is a cub scout, and takes swim lessons, plays basketball, and rides horses.

Unfortunately, he does not have any friends. He does not know how to engage in "normal" conversations with other 8 year olds. But he is not lonely at all, as he plays every day with his younger brother, who is 5, and they are best of friends.

When he approaches other kids or adults to talk, it consists of him asking them where someone is, or how old they are, or when their birthdays are. He does not know what else to say beyond that. Inevitably, he will talk to them about something odd, like how he needs to adjust his basketball net to make it higher, or he will ask them about a generator that he saw down the street across from a river. Or he will talk about stuffed teddy bears at home

We've done floortime and he's been to several speech therapists, but most have made him depressed and irritable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


We saw Dr.Camarata with our son in August 2013 and then again in August 2015. We had concerns beginning in 2012 when our son was 3, as he would not talk much. Our son would memorize books at a very early age, and when he did speak, often it would be a recitation of pages from books, or repetitive statements like pointing out a window and saying "That's mommy's car, and that's daddy's car."

Dr. C told us in 2013 that our son was not autistic, that he had an expressive disorder. 2 years later, he told us that while some people MIGHT diagnose him as autistic, he personally would not classify him as such.

Our son is now 8, in 2nd grade in a Catholic school, a class of 8 kids. He does very well in most subjects especially math and Spanish, but has some difficulty in art and reading comprehension. Often he will read paragraphs, but he cannot seem to articulate what he read.

He is a cub scout, and takes swim lessons, plays basketball, and rides horses.

Unfortunately, he does not have any friends. He does not know how to engage in "normal" conversations with other 8 year olds. But he is not lonely at all, as he plays every day with his younger brother, who is 5, and they are best of friends.

When he approaches other kids or adults to talk, it consists of him asking them where someone is, or how old they are, or when their birthdays are. He does not know what else to say beyond that. Inevitably, he will talk to them about something odd, like how he needs to adjust his basketball net to make it higher, or he will ask them about a generator that he saw down the street across from a river. Or he will talk about stuffed teddy bears at home

We've done floortime and he's been to several speech therapists, but most have made him depressed and irritable

Is this a question or statement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
We saw Dr.Camarata with our son in August 2013 and then again in August 2015. We had concerns beginning in 2012 when our son was 3, as he would not talk much. Our son would memorize books at a very early age, and when he did speak, often it would be a recitation of pages from books, or repetitive statements like pointing out a window and saying "That's mommy's car, and that's daddy's car."

Dr. C told us in 2013 that our son was not autistic, that he had an expressive disorder. 2 years later, he told us that while some people MIGHT diagnose him as autistic, he personally would not classify him as such.

Our son is now 8, in 2nd grade in a Catholic school, a class of 8 kids. He does very well in most subjects especially math and Spanish, but has some difficulty in art and reading comprehension. Often he will read paragraphs, but he cannot seem to articulate what he read.

He is a cub scout, and takes swim lessons, plays basketball, and rides horses.

Unfortunately, he does not have any friends. He does not know how to engage in "normal" conversations with other 8 year olds. But he is not lonely at all, as he plays every day with his younger brother, who is 5, and they are best of friends.

When he approaches other kids or adults to talk, it consists of him asking them where someone is, or how old they are, or when their birthdays are. He does not know what else to say beyond that. Inevitably, he will talk to them about something odd, like how he needs to adjust his basketball net to make it higher, or he will ask them about a generator that he saw down the street across from a river. Or he will talk about stuffed teddy bears at home

We've done floortime and he's been to several speech therapists, but most have made him depressed and irritable

Does your child used to respond to his name when he was 3?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
We saw Dr.Camarata with our son in August 2013 and then again in August 2015. We had concerns beginning in 2012 when our son was 3, as he would not talk much. Our son would memorize books at a very early age, and when he did speak, often it would be a recitation of pages from books, or repetitive statements like pointing out a window and saying "That's mommy's car, and that's daddy's car."

Dr. C told us in 2013 that our son was not autistic, that he had an expressive disorder. 2 years later, he told us that while some people MIGHT diagnose him as autistic, he personally would not classify him as such.

Our son is now 8, in 2nd grade in a Catholic school, a class of 8 kids. He does very well in most subjects especially math and Spanish, but has some difficulty in art and reading comprehension. Often he will read paragraphs, but he cannot seem to articulate what he read.

He is a cub scout, and takes swim lessons, plays basketball, and rides horses.

Unfortunately, he does not have any friends. He does not know how to engage in "normal" conversations with other 8 year olds. But he is not lonely at all, as he plays every day with his younger brother, who is 5, and they are best of friends.

When he approaches other kids or adults to talk, it consists of him asking them where someone is, or how old they are, or when their birthdays are. He does not know what else to say beyond that. Inevitably, he will talk to them about something odd, like how he needs to adjust his basketball net to make it higher, or he will ask them about a generator that he saw down the street across from a river. Or he will talk about stuffed teddy bears at home

We've done floortime and he's been to several speech therapists, but most have made him depressed and irritable

Does your child used to respond to his name when he was 3?

Why? Many don't if they have receptive language issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


We saw Dr.Camarata with our son in August 2013 and then again in August 2015. We had concerns beginning in 2012 when our son was 3, as he would not talk much. Our son would memorize books at a very early age, and when he did speak, often it would be a recitation of pages from books, or repetitive statements like pointing out a window and saying "That's mommy's car, and that's daddy's car."

Dr. C told us in 2013 that our son was not autistic, that he had an expressive disorder. 2 years later, he told us that while some people MIGHT diagnose him as autistic, he personally would not classify him as such.

Our son is now 8, in 2nd grade in a Catholic school, a class of 8 kids. He does very well in most subjects especially math and Spanish, but has some difficulty in art and reading comprehension. Often he will read paragraphs, but he cannot seem to articulate what he read.

He is a cub scout, and takes swim lessons, plays basketball, and rides horses.

Unfortunately, he does not have any friends. He does not know how to engage in "normal" conversations with other 8 year olds. But he is not lonely at all, as he plays every day with his younger brother, who is 5, and they are best of friends.

When he approaches other kids or adults to talk, it consists of him asking them where someone is, or how old they are, or when their birthdays are. He does not know what else to say beyond that. Inevitably, he will talk to them about something odd, like how he needs to adjust his basketball net to make it higher, or he will ask them about a generator that he saw down the street across from a river. Or he will talk about stuffed teddy bears at home

We've done floortime and he's been to several speech therapists, but most have made him depressed and irritable

So does your son get any help for his issues? What did Dr. Camarata recommend?

[Anonymous]

Are you saying you think the camaratas were wrong?

[Anonymous]

When he approaches other kids or adults to talk, it consists of him asking them where someone is, or how old they are, or when their birthdays are. He does not know what else to say beyond that.

My son's chatting with others is exactly this!! He also has a Merld vs asd diagnosis How interesting. Wonder what this is characteristic of?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here- I realize Stephen is no dev. ped. but he does have a Phd...Anyway, it does sound like Mary is very competent and can make an accurate diagnosis. Thanks for the replies; it's been very helpful!

Yep. PhD is better (more informed) than just an MD. PhDs spend WAY more time in school (learnin' and researchin') than a MD. MD is like vocational school in comparison.

This is an asinine statement.

An MD receives intensive training in a broad area of physical and mental problems. They take many more classes and receive much more hands on training than a PhD.

A PhD has more training in a specialized area and has extensive training in research methodology. If they are in a treatment field, they have treatment training in their field.

Most PhD's class requirements can be completed in 4 years. Theos class requirements are much, much lighter than the 4 years of class requirements required of an MD. However, they have to do original research and an MD doesn.t.

I stand by my statement (you must be a MD). Medical school is vocational training.

DP. I'm wondering if you have an aversion to an autism spectrum diagnosis?