We had Tristan's IEP meeting last friday. They are upping his services from 3 days a week to 5! He has made so much progress over the summer. He is only about 6 months behind on one of the developmental areas now even though he's still way behind on speech.
Potty training is now part of his IEP and hopefully we'll start making progress with that. I asked what the future holds since he will be old enough for Kindergarten next year. They told me he will go to a special ed kindergarten a lot like the classes he has been going to, but that at the end of Kindergarten, he will either need to be main streamed or have some sort of official diagnosis.
I am hoping that by the end of kindergarten his verbal skills will be at a functional level where he can be main streamed, but if it's not....
What was teh process you guys went through to get an official diagnosis? When he was 2 we went through the pediatrician and had a developmental phycologist give him some tests, and our headstart program retested him when they started providing services. Both came up with nothign conclusive. Originally we all thought he was on teh Autism spectrum, but the older he gets the less Autistic he seems to me. He's outgrown a lot of his sensory issues, and he does occasionally show empathy and is cognizant of cause and effect relationships. He's still behind on social skills, but he isn't totally avoiding social situations. He interacts with everyone, even strangers, when he feels like it for brief amounts of time.

Don't necessarily rule out an autism spectrum disorder based on empathy and cause-and-effect understanding. Lukas is very empathetic, shows tons of emotion, and gets cause-and-effect. The autism spectrum is very very wide, and a lot of kids you'd never suspect have that diagnosis.

We got Lukas tested by a developmental and behavioral pediatrician. Your regular pediatrician should be able to refer you to a good one. Keep in mind, the waiting list for the best ones is often 6-12 months long, but they often have cancellations so you can get in earlier. Ours had a six-month waiting list, but we got a cancellation in two months, which was great.

I'm not sure what kind of credentials the developmental psychologist had (or whether s/he had the well-developed evaluation skills of a developmental ped), but your headstart testers are only looking to determine if significant delays exist. They NEVER give you a diagnosis. Our headstart program did pay for the developmental pediatrician evaluation.

Good luck! I had a real problem with the concept of Lukas being autistic. What I had to come to grips with is that the diagnosis only ensures that we get the services we need. Your kid is your kid. A diagnosis doesn't change who he is. He's the kid you know and love, and the diagnosis helps you make him the best kid he can be.
 

I don't know how good these docs/practices are, but here are some in your area. My bet is that the Oklahoma University practice is the top in the state.


 



 


Dr. Robert J. Hudson

Matthew doesn't have an official diagnosis, but we went to a pediatric psychologist, who would have made the diagnosis if there was one.
Good luck.

I'm with Rudi; a devlopmental/behavioral pediatrician should be able to give you some solid info, and a university system is a great place to look.