A family members child was diagnosed with mild autism. I'm wondering how it gets diagnosed. Does it take long? What tests are normally given?

The child was first diagnosed ADD, then with mild autism. I don't think many if any tests were run. I have known a few people with autistic children and this child is nothing like them.

It seems when this child wants to do something he can accomplish it, when he doesn't want to do it then he throws a fit. Is this normal for mild autism?

Thanks
Hope

Yes, this is something that a Autistic child would do.
Autism has a spectrum. Meaning a wide range of signs and symptoms.
It is not diagnosed casually.
Dealing with the diagnosis is very upsetting for parents.
We had the most difficult time with the close family and friends we DID share with because of the opinions and doubting questions we heard from them. We believe we lost a friendship over it.
This is the time for family to be loving and supportive. I believe most if not all parents of a Autistic child would agree with me.

I am supportive of the family. I sometimes just think Drs like to label children and adults with something without doing much testing at all.

I just never knew anyone with autism that acted like a normal child all day long until something doesn't go his/her own way. I always believed it to be something the child couldn't control.

Thanks for you reply.........my heart goes out to all parents who have children who suffer with this disease.

We can't control it on our own. Most kids learn emotion tolerance and figure out how not to have tantrums; but kids with AS and autism don't learn that naturally. We have to be taught, just like a typical kid has to be taught to read. Having tantrums when something unexpected or uncontrollable happens is one of the worst parts of having Asperger's. I didn't learn to control mine until I was 16. My poor mom thought it was her fault, and got stressed out over it. (Don't. It's not a reflection on your parenting.)

But don't worry--we don't "suffer"; at least, no more than normal people do. Happiness is possible for anybody on the autism spectrum, just like it is for people who aren't on the spectrum. We might get upset for different reasons, and have a harder time controlling it when we do; but generally life with autism is just like any other life: ups and downs, happiness and sadness.

My son was diagnosed just recently and the behavioural pediatrician said he had a very low threshold for diagnosing children with autism. (He is 4 1/2 and is also mild) I had lots of tests; two hearing tests, blood tests, saw a geneticist, neurologist, speech, OT, etc for about 18 months before he was diagnosed. I then saw this Behvioural Dr and he diagnosed him within 40 minutes. Even this felt very quick for me and hard to come to terms with. It is a big label to put on a child even though it does not change who they are.
With this child, I know he is a family memeber but do u see him very often? Have u spoken to his parents about his behaviur at home and is it different to what u see? My son is excellent in an environment where there is routine like school, but loses it often at home, public places ,etc.
Do the tantrums u descibe have to do with not getting something he is wanting or obsessing about? My son is just the same and often unmanageable. I am just saying what u see might not be the whole picture..
I still have not told half of my family because i know they would openly laugh and not accept it..and i am not willing to add these stresses to my life.
It sounds like u are wanting to know more about it to help him and that is positive.
Good Luck:confused:

Yeah, that's one of the annoyances of it: When you or your kid has mild autism, people see the "autistic child" stereotype they see on TV and say, "You can't have autism! You can talk!" or "He can't be autistic--he's too smart!" or something like that. People don't seem to get that autism is a spectrum, and the milder varieties come across as "quirky" or "geeky" or "difficult child" (that's the label I got--Asperger's wasn't an official diagnosis 'til I was 11, and then my mom refused to believe it, even though she was the first to recognize the symptoms, and put me in counseling for "behavior problems"... finally got an official dx at 19).

It's your choice whether you tell people. If you think it means life will be harder for your child, then by all means hold off on it. There's no reason he should be treated as "the handicapped child", if he doesn't have to be. (But do tell him when he's old enough--feeling different and having no idea why you're different can be pretty frightening. When I found out about my Asperger's, my main thought was, "Wow... I'm different, not crazy; and it isn't my fault!" Very much happiness.)

He seems just like his older sibling did when he was young, tantrums and not very much fun to be around, but his older sibling is completely different now that he is older.

If he has autism than he cannot control it and I guess that would make it more reasonable as to why he acts the way he does, and there is more patience. Sadly the father doesn't do anything with the youngest child, guess he's to much for him, so he does everything with the oldest. I wonder if this isn't making the situation worse. It all falls down on his mother. There is alot of threats but no follow thru when it comes to discipline on either child. That is why I wonder. Thanks to all of you.

Yeah, if the parents aren't working together, that's not good for a kid. Doesn't matter if he's autistic or not--it's just not good, period. Moms shouldn't have to be alone... whether it's community support or other moms or just a decent father, it's necessary to have support when you're raising a child--especially an autistic one. Otherwise, you get totally frazzled (which is what happened to my mom--she's been much better since I got older and then moved away, though).

I got an official diagnosis from an Asperger's specialist. Many people get full-on evaluations, complete with an ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale). I never received an ADOS. Unfortunately, the field of neuropsychiatric diagnoses is a very shaky one. Who's to say when the line between neurotypical and autistic is crossed? That's why I hope there is soon an official brain test to prove whether or not somebody has autism. It will eliminate all of these subjective tests and criteria that things like the DSM and ADOS give.
-GatsbyLuvr1920-

Yeah, if the parents aren't working together, that's not good for a kid. Doesn't matter if he's autistic or not--it's just not good, period. Moms shouldn't have to be alone... whether it's community support or other moms or just a decent father, it's necessary to have support when you're raising a child--especially an autistic one. Otherwise, you get totally frazzled (which is what happened to my mom--she's been much better since I got older and then moved away, though).


I think that if he was calmer and more like the older sibling the father would do things with him. He's just really hard to take anywhere, so his father just leaves him out. I myself would tell him don't let the door hit you in the rear!

You sound like you have your head on straight, and you also blew away the myth (for me any how) that not autistic children are the same, there are functional and non functional. Your mom should be proud :)

I got an official diagnosis from an Asperger's specialist. Many people get full-on evaluations, complete with an ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale). I never received an ADOS. Unfortunately, the field of neuropsychiatric diagnoses is a very shaky one. Who's to say when the line between neurotypical and autistic is crossed? That's why I hope there is soon an official brain test to prove whether or not somebody has autism. It will eliminate all of these subjective tests and criteria that things like the DSM and ADOS give.
-GatsbyLuvr1920-


Before we ever thought about Autism, I thought my sons problem was due to him being "tongue tied", a condition were told about soon after his birth. When he was older and should have been talking, his pediatrician at the time didn't see a problem and said even if there was, she wouldnt do the procedure to clip the tissue under the tongue.
We took him to another ped., who sent us to child development. During the one appointment, the docter asked us a hundred questions while his asssistant did "floortime" with our child. After about an hour I guess, they left to confer with the chief of cd, all came back in and gave us the diagnosis of PDD-NOS.
I was given a autism fact sheet that had info that was from 1998 and sent out the door. "See ya in 6 months".
I read on a website later that alot of docters give the diagnosis of PDD, because that think the parents lose hope with the autism diagnosis.
Lisa

I think a lot of those charity people, with their autistic poster kids, have spread a lot of fear about autism. Unintentional, yes; but people have this reaction--"autism, oh, no, that's worse than anything!" but it's really a spectrum that goes all the way to near-normal; and it doesn't keep the child from learning; and it can be helped... as they grow older, they learn.

It used to be that "autism" meant only the extreme cases, the ones where nobody seems to be able to communicate with the child at all. But now the definition is much broader. More and more people are diagnosed--including people like me, whose autism is so mild that, beforehand, we were seen as "difficult children", "eccentric", "gifted children", "nerds", or "loners", and not diagnosed with anything at all, or else labeled "behavior problems" or "ADHD". (Complicated by the fact that some autistic people, like me, do have ADHD!)

The majority of autistic children are in the high-functioning range. As they grow, they adjust to the world, learn new things, and become even more high-functioning--some, to the point that their autism no longer holds them back at all. Even low-functioning children learn and grow, and often end up in the high-functioning range as adults. But parents who've had no reason to learn much about autism--and who often have had their only exposure to autism through the charities trying to raise money for research--will have the stereotype of the low-functioning child, and be much more frightened and discouraged than their situation warrants.

Good intentions... but misinformation results.