autism testing | Imamother

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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Infants

Autism testing

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amother

Tue, Apr 20 2010, 6:56 am

Is there a way to test at such a young age? If so who do I go to? I live in nyc if that helps.

amother

Tue, Apr 20 2010, 7:14 am

testing is generally done from 3 years of age (where I live) though I have heard of children in the US being diagnosed at much younger ages (some I heard of even at like 5months!).

Just know, that the diagnosis is only going to help you get all the intervention you need. In hte meantime, try and make eye contact with your baby (not sure how old he/she is) and sing songs, hug and kiss them and don't try and force them to do anything - just follow what they're doing and share what interests them and show them that you are interested in them too.

Autism diagnosis doesn't have to be a dead-end - especially if it's at the lower end of the spectrum. my child is high-functioning b'h b'h and is in pre-school with other kids na dhas friends etc. 2 years ago I never would have dreamed those things possible.

also, see a counselor for yourself to mull through your thoughts nad feelings.

amother

Tue, Apr 20 2010, 7:20 am

amother wrote:

thanks for your reply. I want to get my child tested not because I think he it has it cv(I hope) but because it is in the family and would like to be prepared in case.

shaindifer

Tue, Apr 20 2010, 8:52 am

The earliest that autism can be diagnosed is 18 months. If your baby has issues, you can still get an early intervention evaluation to get him help with his issues even without getting a diagnosis. The earlier he gets services, the better the prognosis for improvement.

6coop

Tue, Apr 20 2010, 9:27 am

Call an agency that provides early intervention services and refer your child for an evaluation. They'll handle it for you.

CuteGirl613

Tue, Apr 20 2010, 9:43 am

Why don't you take him to a neurologist.

shaindifer

Tue, Apr 20 2010, 10:04 am

amother wrote:

Is there a way to test at such a young age? If so who do I go to? I live in nyc if that helps.

How young are you talking about?

abismommy

Tue, Apr 20 2010, 12:19 pm

Call an EI agency in your area and ask for an evaluation. Free of charge.
OP, where are you located in NY?
Good luck!

amother

Mon, Apr 26 2010, 10:56 am

op here. my baby is 3 months. Will a specialist agree to an evaluation based solely on genetics? I would like to do this with all my children at the first chance possible as I feel they are high risk. what is an EI? and I am based in brooklyn.

flowerpower

Mon, Apr 26 2010, 11:10 am

There are ways to detect at this age-
Does baby calm down when an adult comes into the room?
Does he calm when being held?
Does he make eye contact?
Does he track objects like the mobile?
How is his muscle tone?

There were infants diagnosed at this age but very few. They show symptoms later on at about a year old.

sim

Mon, Apr 26 2010, 11:12 am

flowerpower wrote:

be aware that testing at this age can lead to a falsely positive diagnosis. Many children at 3 months can show "problematic" symptoms that vanish in another 3 months.

amother

Mon, Apr 26 2010, 11:21 am

sim wrote:

flowerpower wrote:

be aware that testing at this age can lead to a falsely positive diagnosis. Many children at 3 months can show "problematic" symptoms that vanish in another 3 months.

he is doing great in all these areas. it has nothing to do with the gut feeling etc I am just a worrywart and want to be reassured.

6coop

Mon, Apr 26 2010, 12:17 pm

EI stands for early intervention. It a program run by the Department of Health that provides the equivalent of "special education services" from ages birth until 3 years, and evaluations and services are free. I'm not in Brooklyn so I'm sorry but I don't know names of any agencies there. I do know that when you refer your child they ask for a reason for the referral and you need to tell them what areas of development you are concerned about. I have no idea what the procedure is if there are no specific areas of concern, and I would say that if you and the pediatrician see nothing of concern with his devlopment, then an evaluation probably won't find anything either. Ask your pediatrician for things to look for in his development then may (c"v) be a sign of any problems.

seeker

Mon, Apr 26 2010, 12:19 pm

3 months is too early. What you can do at three months is print out a checklist of developmental milestones (such as the Greenspan one, I forget exactly what it's called) and mark off when your kid reaches them so that later you can look back and see if any worrisome patterns emerge. But you will not be able to tell anything at this age.

There has been evidence that children who go on to be diagnosed with autism show differences by about 6-8 months, though again this would be an early warning signal that possibly warrants EI but not enough for a diagnosis since these differences can also just be developmentally normal.

To the amother who says not until 3 years, I'd like to know where it is that you live where this is the standard. That is REALLY late. True, very often diagnosis doesn't end up coming until then because parents can take a while to get concerned enough to start the ball rolling, and after that evals can take some time, but I believe throughout the USA diagnosis as early as 18 months is encouraged. The earlier you start treatment the better the prognosis is, you can catch kids at earlier stages of development before abnormal habits get too ingrained.

I would pay more attention in a few month's time, when it is more developmentally parentsaround, look for their parents when they leave, recognize them when they come back, start to notice object permanence (if they're playing with a toy and you pull it away, they look for it - when you bring it back, they recognize it). These are all signals of good early development that many children with early signs of autism are lacking, but you would not expect any of these behaviors until at least 5 months and it would still be normal if they didn't show up til around 6-7.

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