I'm a single parent of a 15-month-old boy who is possibly living with PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder.) My son's neurologist has reason to believe he falls under one of the five categories (i.e. autism.) The pediatrician originally referred me to the neurologist because DS wasnt walking or talking. The neurologist observed that DS seems to 'go off into his own world at times' meaning he can lack interest in his current surroundings. In the same breath, the neurologist was hesitant to diagnose my son given his young age. At 15 months, DS is still allowed to crawl and babble without there being a concern. We also arent sure if the 'lack of interest' isnt due to a hearing problem. The dr. came up with a couple other concerns to back up the PDD theory and I'm just wondering if anyone can answer my questions in regards to this disorder. First of all, is this something youre born with or was it preventable? Secondly, even though its said theres no cure, is it possible to pull him out of it with the help of therapy? Thirdly, is it possible to actually diagnose such a young child with this?

Hi there,
There is an autism board here if your looking for answers amd support. I recently finished up the long road of evaluations with my son he had ALOT of the signs that one would look for when looking for signs of autism. I started him in Early intervention when he was 16 mths old. I won't lie it's a really hard thing to go through but the diffference it makes is remarkable. I also did it myself becuase of an unsupportive spouse who thought it was best to just see if our son would grow out of it.
I had my last evaluation 2 weeks ago and my son isn't even on the spectrum sometimes they just have delays but it's still worth jumping through every hoop to make sure you know what's going on and get help as early as possible. There's nothing you could've done during pregnancy to change the outcome if your child does wind up autistic so don't beat yourself up, my son was considered 33% delayed in all areas and was thought to be autistic, than pdd/nos now at 4 1/2 he's not even considered on the spectrum. Theres' always the chance that the child is just plain and simply delayed the hard part is waiting for them to reach certain age to be evaluated correctly

Good luck with everything and check out the other board there are remarkable courageous parents there who are generous with there experiences and support. They are angels on earth:)

I'm aware of the autism board except we aren't sure that's the category he falls under. From the little I read, a child can flat out have PDD without even assigning a certain category. The whole disorder a slightly confusing to me and I wasnt sure if there was a board for it. My son is 15 months old and the dr said he was at a 9 month old mental state. Naturally I am blaming myself for this because I smoked pot and drank before I found out I was pregnant. Obviously I quit everything the day I found out, but that wasnt until I was 8-10 weeks along.

I had a few drinks before I knew I was pregnant and my son is fine. He was delayed. I can't imagine how a Dr can figure out the mental state a 15 mth is in. My son didn't talk until he was almost 2 the same goes for walking I like to think he was too busy developing his brain. We just had him evaluated and he has the cognitive and vocab of a 7 year old and he's 4 1/2. Meanwhile the Dr's and specialist all thought he was autistic. The autism board discusses the whole spectrum of disorders and most of the people there can give great advice from how to deal with a particular behavior to how to deal with the system it's a great source for help and support. Don't dispair and take it one step at a time get your child into early intervention do all the tests they advise and give it your all to help your child.

We also arent sure if the 'lack of interest' isnt due to a hearing problem. ... First of all, is this something youre born with or was it preventable? Secondly, even though its said theres no cure, is it possible to pull him out of it with the help of therapy? Thirdly, is it possible to actually diagnose such a young child with this?

Hi Lynn,

I'm curious whether the neurologist did an EEG on your child?

Important: If your child's hearing has not been checked, get it done. Ask your peditatrician, or the neurologist, for a referral to a ped. audiologist who does brainstem evoked potentials. There's no need to sweat the hearing question. If there should be a hearing problem, the sooner it's found & treated the less impact there is on language development in the long run.

Autism spectrum disorders are thought to arise from a combination of genetic predisposition & environmental influences. Environment meaning in the broadest sense of everything that a child has or does encounter/ingest/ breathe in, etc. Some but not all kids on the spectrum seem to have observable differences in brain anatomy; many have differences in brain physiology/function & overall body chemistry.

The court is still out on how preventable full expression of genetic predisposition to autism is. Some researchers feel there are things that can be done. But the majority of pediatricians disagree.

As far as treatment, many kids have made great progress. There are 3 main approaches:
1) medical (drugs)
2) educational & special intervention therapies (speech, OT, ABA)
3) biomedical -- dietary & supplements, sometimes chelation.

Some kids are dxd before age 2, but many pediatricians are hesitant to do so. Treatment is most accurately targeted with accurate diagnosis. Look for regional center or a team that specializes in autism dx for the most definitive answer.

In the meantime, continue to provide your child with a loving, stimulating environment. If you want to learn more, maybe visit your local public library to find a book or two on the subject of autism/PDD. Two titles I would recommend:
The Autism Sourcebook: Everything You Need to Know About Diagnosis, Treatment, Coping, and Healing by Karen Exkorn
Targeting Autism: What We Know, Don't Know, and Can do to Help Young Children with Autism and Related Disorders by Shirley Cohen

Best wishes.

LynnDewald1- Do not beat your self up. I can only say for myself thank god for early intervention. I think it is why my son is as functioning as he is today. He started at 2 1/2. He is now almost 15. Hopefully you have good support in your area. It is hard to send your little one to school so early but get involved. I talked to the teachers and therapists all the time thru all these years. I kept both feet in the door the whole time. I am lucky to have had really great teams and support. Always start with all the normal hearing..etc tests to rule out other things. Good luck. I know it seems like a dark scary tunnel now but when i look back at all i have learned and pushed for. I have to be honest. I was never one for the "labels". Alot of people like them to have something to connect to. To me my son was going to get early intervention no matter what "delay" he had. Plus every single child develops at their own rate, diagnosis or not, they are all individuals. Good luck. God bless.


:wave:

It was at the age of 15 months that we became suspicious that my son may have an autism spectrum disorder. He was not walking and not talking, and often in his own little world. I went to the store and bought a book called Could it be Autism? This book helped me a lot. Inside of this book, is a screening tool doc's often use called the M-CHAT. It can give you an idea of whether or not your son is showing red flags for autism. My son was diagnosed at 18 months with PDD-NOS (which is one of the five autism spectrum disorders). Since that time he has been getting numerous hours of therapy each week, and is making a lot of progress. He will be 2 years old this month. He did not start walking until he was 20 months old, but now he is running around the house. He is now engaging with others, his eye contact has improved, and he is responding to us when we call him. He uses sign language to communicate his wants and needs, and he is even starting to say some words now. There is lots of help out there for kids on the spectrum, but hard to get too much help with no diagnosis. See if you can get your son an appointment with a developmental pediatrician or a multidisciplinary team of doc's that specializes with developmental disabilities. The waiting lists for these appointments is often 6 months long, so I would try to schedule an appointment now. You can always cancel later if you need to. Good luck to you and your family.

-Steph

I wanted to start therapy right away, except my son's neurologist won't make a final diagnoses given his young age. I believe (for liability reasons) the doctor wants to wait another couple months before labeling my son. I suppose that's when he'll recommend the MRI along with therapy and a hearing scan. My son did have his hearing tested at birth and at that time it was said to be fine. Reason why the hearing was suspected was because DS tunes things out. He doesnt have great eye contact and wont always show interest in noises or myself. During his last doctors he even hit his head on the wall and just kept crawling, showing no emotion. I'll be the first to admit I dont think DS is in the best environment possible. Dont get me wrong, I dont smoke (at all) or drink in front of him or anything to that extent. I am a single parent though and I'm the only person he sees, given how I dont get help with him. Its possible that he's missing out on the level of stimulation most kids are getting? Aside from that I do try hard to work with him. Ever since he was 6 months old Ive been trying to get him to clap his hands or say mom and it hasnt worked yet.

Hi Lynne,

Just wanted to say to you that, whatever your son's situation, you musn't beat yourself up. I'm a single mum and also went through the whole "oh, god, he doesn't see enough people/i don't talk to him enough/play with him enough/chose your stick to beat yourself with at that particular time. This wasn't helped by the fact that, here in the UK, doctors prefer to blame parents rather than assessing and screening kids (it's much cheaper).

However, all the autistic spectrum disorders (including PDD) and, indeed, most other learning disorders, occur because certain parts of the brain aren't developing in a way that is considered 'normal'. Although it is possible to stunt a child's development through neglect and lack of stimulation, you bascially have to stick a child in a cot, in a room and leave them there. You cannot cause autism (or anything else) by being a good, kind, loving, affectionate mum!!

So please, stop giving yourself a hard time. You need to focus your energies on looking after yourself and sourcing useful information about your son. Start asking around now for help as well - I'm assuming you don't have family - is there any sort of state help/day care/charity assistance that you can get. You need to be taking regular breaks and getting as much practical/financial support that you can - I didn't - I threw myself in to the "oh god it's all my fault" thing and started racing around like Wonderwoman. I'm on my knees now and no good at the moment for myself or my boy - get as much help as you can before you head the same way.

If it's any help on another matter, I was told that if the foetus is damaged by alchohol or drugs in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy (I was drinking like a fish) then the foetus either regenerates or aborts - ie nature sorts itself out. So stop blaming yourself on that front as well - if you don't know you're pregnant then of course you won't be taking such good care of yourself.

You sound like a great mum. Give yourself a big hug, hold that boy close to you and know that your love for him is what's going to get you both through this xx