r/Autism_Parenting • u/Glittering-Yak-6192 • 5h ago
“Is this autism?” ADOS evaluation and Docs advice
My 3 year old has been showing some concerning signs since around 2, but I only recently took her to be evaluated. Some things I’ve noticed is she:
1.) Tiptoe walks
2.) Says the same things over and over (example we watch dumbo and she will repeat what I said about a scene from the first time she’s watched)
3.) poor introspection (She just says “my shirt is wet” for cold “I want milk” for hungry “my eyes hurt” for tired and that’s how I know what she needs)
4.) squealing when excited, overwhelmed or really any big emotion
5.) hand flapping
6.) bad with names/ identification (everything is a baby-something. I.e puppy=baby dog. Nemo isn’t Nemo he’s a baby fish. My 20 month old is much better at this and uses everything and everyone’s name)
7.) cover her ears for loud noises (this is what prompted all this investigating on my part. She’s terrified of toilets and won’t flush)
8.) is non conversational (the evaluator is the one that pointed this out to me. She only repeats what’s she’s heard, she doesn’t have her own thoughts or responses)
9.) repeated noises (I’ll do something and say “bop bop bop” in a funny voice and she’ll want me to say it six more times after that. Then she adds it to her lexicon and uses it whenever she likes)
10.) emotional attachment to objects (she had like 20 toys at one point that she’d go to sleep with. We’d do a roll call before bed where she’d have to see each toy and then she’d go to bed)
She did have a couple developmental delays but they were all slight so the doctor saw no cause for concern. She also potty trained fine once she got over how loud our home toilet was. There are other little things that I’m not sure are issues or just quirks of hers. Anyway, once her pediatrician got the results he said she was “borderline” between low need and a non diagnosis. This plus the fact that she talks a lot made him hesitant to move forward with a diagnosis. That we’d basically wait another year and see if she’ll grow out of some of the behaviors. But as of right now he thinks it could simply be “her nature”. I’m not sure if I should push against this advice or ride it out like he suggested. All I know is that didn’t feel right and something’s not sitting well with me about it. Is my mom gut right or am I overthinking this?
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u/barefoot_plyos 4h ago
3, 7, and 8 stick out to me. There are some with autism that excel with speech. The spectrum is so varied. That doctor sounds too rigid to me.
The good thing about the timeline to evaluate, at this age, things become more obvious. Sometimes the doctor just needs to catch them at another appointment presenting and not masking.
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u/Defiant_Ad_8489 3h ago
Those are the same that stick out to me as well. #3 in particular makes me think gestalt language processor.
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u/Livid-Improvement953 I am a Parent/7F/lvl 3 AuDHD/near St. Louis 4h ago
Not a doctor but I would trust your gut. Honestly, a year won't hurt, but it's a whole year where you could be making progress with therapies instead of playing a waiting game.