Autism series pt 1

I got LOTS of questions on my FB page. So, I'm starting with these:

Where did you start in pursuing the diagnosis?

What made you suspect autism? And how did you know where to go from there?

I was going to do each in their own post, but these go rather well together, so here we are.

What made you suspect Autism?

Stephanie has always had a lot of 'quirks'. As an infant, she refused to eat baby food that wasn't from a jar. Seriously. And if the jarred stuff had the barest hint of anything other than smooth puree, it was a no go.

As a toddler, she wouldn't speak. She sucked her thumb incessantly. She screamed at the slightest provocation. She played with her poop. If I didn't change her right away, it was too late. Layers upon layers of clothing didn't help. She even ate it. She became very interested in picking scabs. I can remember one time she had a bug bite on her leg, and she scratched it raw. Once it scabbed over she would pick it over and over...to the point it was unable to heal. I had to put her in pants for two weeks to allow it to heal (this was in summer). Right after we moved back to the states, she started holding the tags in the back of her shirts or pants. But only the silky ones. I thought they bothered her, so I cut one out. Once. You'd think I'd cut her foot off. LOL. She was not only uninterested in potty training, she flat out refused to have anything to do with it. She would pee or poop herself in underwear and it didn't matter to her. She couldn't do things like brush her teeth or use a fork. She still won't use a fork well, her fine motor skills are very lacking. She became more and more sensitive to food. Especially artificial flavors, colors or HFCS. This was more than just a 'sugar high'. This was a complete loss of impulse control and function. Some people didn't believe me at first. Then I enlightened them :D.

I clearly remember what made me think Autism. In fact, I KNEW it. I was VERY pregnant with Isaiah. We were in the middle of moving across country from NV to NY and we stopped in OH to visit family. At a family get together, we were chatting with a cousin of Justin's who said that her son (about 18mo older than Steph) had just been diagnosed with Autism. Stephanie had just turned 3. The two of them screamed at each other and behaved exactly the same. I knew then. That's when ASD first occurred to me. Before that, I had thought she was just a quirky, high needs kid honestly. If it hadn't been for that encounter, it might never have occurred to me.

And how did you know where to go from there?

I didn't. I had no clue. In fact, the first thing I did once we got settled, got furniture and had a baby was google Autism Spectrum Disorder. And thus began a 3 year long headache....

Which leads to the next question:

Where did you start in pursuing the diagnosis?

*I* started with the school district. Stephanie was over the age for EI (early intervention) so after that, you call the school district for help. I also talked to my pediatrician who was a totally piece of crap and blew me off (more on that later).

You have several options with seeking help:

--Under preschool age, call Early Intervention. (You can look em up for your area online) If you're still not sure how to go about that, then...

--Talk to your Pedi. Address your concerns and get the number to call EI. Demand it if you have to (but...a good pedi shouldn't make you demand anything. They should listen to YOU!)

--Over preschool age (3+) you call the school district (even if you homeschool). They will put you in touch with the right area of the school district and will send you paperwork to get started. Call over and over for anything you don't understand. The school district is required to help you, even if you homeschool.

I'll share more specifics about the actual process in another post. 'Cause it'll be LONG.

That's part one for now. I'll address more questions in my next post. And then begin a 'beginning to now' series.