Moderate/Severe Autism at 28 Months Progresses to High Functioning Autism at Age 6

Or is it still moderate to severe? The fluctuations in diagnostic presentation is presented here. It was 12 months ago that a 3rd diagnosis said moderate to severe. I have little faith in standard medicine's labels as it pertains to my son. They simply don't seem to fit with what I see.

Another question I ask. What if I had been on some sort of intervention plan like Defeat Autism Now's protocols with my son? Would I think he was "recovered"? or would I think that he had been helped? I think I would have been totally logical in thinking he had made progress, as a result of the protocol, if I had been on one of those protocols. The fact is, I'm lucky to get him to take a vitamin. Yet, how would they explain this progress? It seems to be an either or proposition. Either they made progress on the protocol or they didn't make progress because they weren't on the protocol. Would my kid be called a "responder"?

I don't want to persuade, nor do I think I could persuade anyone from believing in things they cannot see. However, if one reads Leo Kanner's papers, it is clear that kids all have their own developmental projection. They may present the same at a young age and present quite differently as older children/adults. My son and this young man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPWL5yimhyg shared the same diagnosis at 28 months. Do you think my son will have the same outcome at 20 years of age? I don't. What that young man and his parents are struggling with in no shape or form resembles what my son struggles with. So, when you read or watch an adult that claims "severe autism", be very wary of those claims. One does not contract severe autism like you see in that video at the age of 14 or the age of 26 while completing a master's thesis.

Science has been studying autism now for more than 60 years, yet they have not come up with a homogenous definition of the various autism diagnosis that have much meaning. Why, after so long, could my son have the same diagnostic label as that young man? A simple answer is that they (science) don't know much about autism. They have some general theories and a way to identify it in broad terms. However, there simply hasn't been a way for them to project how a child will develop. Perhaps there are just too many etiologies for autism. If this is true, too many etiologies, then are they (science) missing a large piece? I think so. I think there are some things called autism today that aren't autism or perhaps its autism light with a smattering of something else going on.

The brain is the most complex of all organs and we really have no idea how much of it works nor how it is affected by other processes in the body. Anyone claiming they know the answers is full of crap in my opinion. Anyone that uses anecdotal evidence for their protocol is full of crap because we don't even know what autism is or how it presents over a long period of time. We can't predict with any certainty how two children, with the same diagnosis, will develop with age. Because we can't predict, then we don't really know what it is we are addressing do we? If I tell you someone has Down Syndrome, I can pretty much isolate the cause of Down Syndrome and give you some pretty good indications of progression and health consequences. However, when it comes to Down Syndrome and the brain, science still cannot predict cognitive capabilities in Down Syndrome. Just like all humans, cognitive functioning is very unpredictable and not entirely genetic nor environmental.

The only thing I know is that I don't know much at all and I don't think anyone else does either. My Asperger's Syndrome is not much help in understanding my son as he gets older so I'm finding myself in the same boat as an NT parent trying to understand their autistic child. My son's interests are far more intense than were mine, he has some form of OCD which I haven't quite figured out yet, he's far more concerned with pleasing people and making friends than I ever was and he has language and cognitive issues and difficulties I never had. In addition, he has abilities in certain areas I never had and still do not have. He's an amazing hodgepodge of different things and a constant wonderment.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• autism
• severeautism
• jenny
• mcarthy

[gnomederwear]

Your little boy is SO bright!

My daughter was diagnosed this past March, a month before she turned 3. We did try dietary intervention first and we saw some very significant changes. I think with ASD, the causes are different...there is no one cause. I really believe my daughter's was triggered by a reaction to soy. 3 days after removing casein, she was with us. Now, 4 weeks after removing soy, she has made huge strides in language acquisition (8 new words in a week).

[christschool]

@gnomederwear We also took my son off of milk shortly after the diagnosis and saw the exact same changes you described. Within days he could say words again and got back some of the "skills" he had lost at 18 months. It sounds like your daughter is progressing like my son. However, this was only a very short reprieve and progress. It's not the end all and he has significant delays in language compared to typical peers. He also has learning disabilities and CAPD.

[jenxjen46]

Your son is so lovely! We, and most parents in our area of the UK, don't get given an actual indication of high/mod/low F, simply there is just no way of giving an accurate prognosis for any, so why define? My son attends a class once a week with 2 other children with mod ASD but the difference in each and every one of them is immense! It's almost like all the characteristics of autism have been equally shared out between them all, with a few overlaps. Each have their own strong points too...

[christschool]

@jenxjen46 Yes, I am seeing this as well. I see some boys in my son's autism class and I ask "how do they have autism?" when they present so differently and more abled than my son in some areas? The more I learn about autistic disorder the less I understand. It's the same in Asperger's. I seem to be really high functioning in my support group but I am not nearly as functioning as others "labeled" with AS I find on the internet.

[wonderamaze]

Bravo..well said, I totally agree with everythig you have written!

[christschool]

@PinkPixie74 You can also view more of my views on labels here:

watch?v=98E7xIemyN8

My son is 7 and still can't use a fork if that makes you feel better.

[christschool]

@PinkPixie74 If you would like to see some reports from the educational psychologist on my son, you can watch this video: watch?v=lXk6Yfnptco

You can also get a clearer understanding of my views on this by reading the description on this video. My son is currently enrolled in a private autism only school.

[gnomederwear]

@christschool I'm certain my daughter has CAPD, as well, although it hasn't been diagnosed yet. She likes everything excruciatingly loud, although some dietary changes (removing soy entirely) seems to have alleviated that a little. She would have the TV and CD player both on full volume at the same time sometimes. She never had words to begin with, so no words were ever lost. I think this is one of the scariest times in my life ever. So much uncertainty.

[lamplitbridge]

good video!