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<blockquote data-quote="BusynMember" data-source="post: 122543" data-attributes="member: 1550"><p>Hi there and welcome. We have a lot in common.</p><p>My now fourteen year old son came to us at age two. Although he did walk and his gross motor was good, he was globally delayed developmentally in all other areas. His speech was very delayed. He babbled. He DID point and engage us. He could read at a very early age and loved to memorize things, but he couldn't converse. He banged his head on the ground when frustrated and never slept. I thought "autism" at once as did husband, but we kept getting shouted down. Back then, they didn't really know about higher functioning autism, such as Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified or Aspergers (and, with his speech delay, he wasn't Aspergers). He got early interventions and we dealt with it. He got wrong diagnoses too, such as bipolar and ADHD. His birthmother had lived a wild life while pregnant and Lucas was exposed to drugs and alcohol, which is one reason everyone feels he is on the Autism Spectrum. However, he was lucky and dodged the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)/Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE) bullet. Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE) is hard to diagnose because the kids have the same facial features as other kids. The main symptom is inability to learn right from wrong and "swiss cheese thinking." The kids can know how to read one day and forget the next. Or they can count one day and forget the next. Or you talk about something with them in details and the next day they forgot it. It's actually organic brain damage. With our difficult adopted kids, it's very hard to get an accurate diagnosis and the right help. We had Lucas evaluated over and over again, and each year and new stuff showed up. He got his interventions and has GREATLY improved. There are days I feel he could actually live alone, with help, as an adult. Other days I think he'd do better with help, but NEVER the amount of help we thought when we first got him. He is a very good kid, like yours, and without behavioral issues, the schools let the kids slide through the cracks. I recommend posting this thread about school onSpecial Ed 101. The mods can help you there. I had to call our State Dept. of Public Education to get my son all the help he needed. He was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified at age eleven (finally!!!!). After that, he was taken off his medications and he greatly improved in every area. I give credit to his early interventions and the ones he continued to receive. This kid doesn't even look autistic or act it in public--not anymore. </p><p>My son still has fine motor issues. He is allowed to print instead of write. He can't get the hang of writing, but his printing is very neat and easy to read. He has many bizarre inconsistencies. He can read at a twelfth grade level, but only do fifth grade math. That's common with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). </p><p>I highly, highly recommend seeing a private (not school) neuropsychologist for another evaluation. They tested my son for twelve hours and gave us an intensive report. It was great. Things have looked up since then.</p><p>Welcome again. Glad you're here. Nice to see one more adoptive parent.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BusynMember, post: 122543, member: 1550"] Hi there and welcome. We have a lot in common. My now fourteen year old son came to us at age two. Although he did walk and his gross motor was good, he was globally delayed developmentally in all other areas. His speech was very delayed. He babbled. He DID point and engage us. He could read at a very early age and loved to memorize things, but he couldn't converse. He banged his head on the ground when frustrated and never slept. I thought "autism" at once as did husband, but we kept getting shouted down. Back then, they didn't really know about higher functioning autism, such as Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified or Aspergers (and, with his speech delay, he wasn't Aspergers). He got early interventions and we dealt with it. He got wrong diagnoses too, such as bipolar and ADHD. His birthmother had lived a wild life while pregnant and Lucas was exposed to drugs and alcohol, which is one reason everyone feels he is on the Autism Spectrum. However, he was lucky and dodged the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)/Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE) bullet. Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE) is hard to diagnose because the kids have the same facial features as other kids. The main symptom is inability to learn right from wrong and "swiss cheese thinking." The kids can know how to read one day and forget the next. Or they can count one day and forget the next. Or you talk about something with them in details and the next day they forgot it. It's actually organic brain damage. With our difficult adopted kids, it's very hard to get an accurate diagnosis and the right help. We had Lucas evaluated over and over again, and each year and new stuff showed up. He got his interventions and has GREATLY improved. There are days I feel he could actually live alone, with help, as an adult. Other days I think he'd do better with help, but NEVER the amount of help we thought when we first got him. He is a very good kid, like yours, and without behavioral issues, the schools let the kids slide through the cracks. I recommend posting this thread about school onSpecial Ed 101. The mods can help you there. I had to call our State Dept. of Public Education to get my son all the help he needed. He was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified at age eleven (finally!!!!). After that, he was taken off his medications and he greatly improved in every area. I give credit to his early interventions and the ones he continued to receive. This kid doesn't even look autistic or act it in public--not anymore. My son still has fine motor issues. He is allowed to print instead of write. He can't get the hang of writing, but his printing is very neat and easy to read. He has many bizarre inconsistencies. He can read at a twelfth grade level, but only do fifth grade math. That's common with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). I highly, highly recommend seeing a private (not school) neuropsychologist for another evaluation. They tested my son for twelve hours and gave us an intensive report. It was great. Things have looked up since then. Welcome again. Glad you're here. Nice to see one more adoptive parent. [/QUOTE]
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