Hello lovely people,

Brand new to this group. My son is 25 months old, and was recently diagnosed with a pretty severe speech delay. He has been going to weekly speech therapy and I am seeing improvements. However, I had asked his therapist yesterday if she has noticed any markers for Autism and she said, yes he has many of them.

His speech therapist thinks that it is best to wait until age 3 for diagnosis because a lot of these markers could disappear as he continues speech therapy. But said ultimately it was our choice if we wanted to test him now.

A few other notes. He was born at 28 weeks. He has no other significant health issues. He has a twin sister who is advanced in all milestones. He is physically reaching all markers (walking, copying activities, eating with utensils). He is a happy and affectionate little dude ☺️.

I genuinely want to support him with what is best for him. I'm devoted to my kids as a SAHM and they are my world. I am very proactive, so I'm just trying to here others experiences and do what's best for him.

From the research, apparently a large number of children who lose their early childhood autism diagnosis are later diagnosed with ADHD. I am curious how that even happens... do toddlers with ADHD also not make eye contact or respond to their name? I understand they can be similar or co-morbidities but I'm still not clear on how the two could be confused by trained clinicians, even in very young children during diagnosis (18-24 months, let's say). Thanks for any clarity.

Please include if your child had good eye contact and was fine in social environments.

Hi there,

(disclaimer: I hope I won’t offend anyone. As most parents, we’re just beginning to realize the many challenges that come with having an autistic child and want to work things out with him as much as possible. I understand despite all our efforts he might never leave the below behaviors behind, but I still want to know I tried my absolute best to help him overcome these challenges.)

Our son is 2 years old and we’re pretty sure he’s autistic. He has many of the most common symptoms such as spinning here and there, a bit of hand flapping, unusual hand movements.

He’s been consistently receiving speech and occupational therapy. Both seem to be working well and he’s making progress.

My question though is – is there anyone here whose autistic child managed to “outgrow” symptoms such as spinning or hand flapping?

If yes, was there anything special or extra you did to help them get over/transition their sensory needs?

My son has not been officially diagnosed but Early Intervention (EI) recommended we do an official screening for him to help him move up on the diagnosis list at our local hospital (wait is two years). We were told the percentage of children who test positive for autism on the assessment and go on to receive a diagnosis is 97%. My son scored high on this test yesterday. His doctor first suggested we start EI since my son had clear signs of Sensory Processing Disorder and a speech delay and we’ve been seeing them for two months. We have a team with EI that’s been great. They keep telling us they believe our son may have ASD.

I’m feeling very confused.

My husband is in denial.

Our little boy has beautiful eye contact. He’s very affectionate. He gives me kisses. He shares with us. He loves animals (they love him too) and is very gentle with our two cats and chickens. I take him to a lot of toddler activities and he smiles at other children, he tries to engage with them. He seeks out positive attention from adults (tries to make them smile or laugh). We play peek-a-boo. He doesn’t line up or organize his toys. He’s active. Very active. He loves playing soccer with his dad and grandfather. He loves climbing. He loves running. He loves chasing bunnies in our yard.

When we were told by his doctor that he was speech delayed I immediately took the summer off from work (I teach at a college so thankfully was able to do this with no issue). I assumed part of the issue was that his 40 hour a week nanny was not as engaging as I had hoped and he wasn’t in daycare. Since I left work in mid May he has gone from 2 words to 20. He is now able to use a fork. We are very close on being able to use a spoon. He now uses all the equipment on the playground instead of only wanting to do the slide. We can now go out to lunch without him demanding to walk up and down the stairs in front of the restaurant a million times. Similarly, I can now get him to walk up the stairs and go to his bedroom when we are at home (a feat two months ago would have caused a massive tantrum followed by a hour of him trying to get back to the stairs). At 18 months my son was head banging up to 15 times a day when overwhelmed. Now he barely does it (mostly just if I sneeze).

The assessors did not know about any of this. They did have his EI file. They didn’t have notes from his doctor. They only saw him as he was yesterday with all his progress.

I honestly thought we were doing the assessment to just definitively rule out an ASD diagnosis so we could move on and figure out the SPD issue.

As we went through the questions on the test I knew they were about to tell us our son was autistic but when they told us at the end I was still shocked.

There are some issues.

When he gets worked up he throws up…. everywhere. When we go to the doctor’s he throws up. Bath time he throws up. If I leave the room during our night time routine. If we get stuck in traffic inside a tunnel he throws up. These episodes are all part of larger than life tantrums.

He doesn’t gesture. I’ve gotten him to do his own version of “all done” at the dinner table but it took me 5 months. I’m signing at him all day while I talk and he won’t do it back. I move his hands to show him how it feels. Still, nothing.

He use to wave goodbye. It wasn’t perfect. Once the person was out of sight he would wave. He was so young I didn’t think this was odd. Around 18 months he stopped doing this. We practice waving every single day but he still can’t get it.

He doesn’t point. He does communicate his needs. He’ll bring me toys and put them in my hands. If his water cup is empty he brings it to me. When I give him two options he will push away the one he doesn’t want. But doesn’t point. He doesn’t understand when I point. He just looks at my hand.

He can play with one toy for a long time. I never thought this was odd but EI thinks it is. Now that I know that I do see when we go to the library and he is playing with trains other children will come up to play with the trains too, but they will go off to another activity after a few minutes while my boy is still playing with his train. I’m still not sure I see the problem. He likes what he likes and after 20 or 30 minutes he will move on.

At the assessment they brought up pretend play. He has a cousin two weeks younger than he is, she pretend plays all day. He PLAYS but he doesn’t feed his action figures or put them in a car. He plays with his cars all day but they don’t have a defined road. He doesn’t pretend cook. I’m not totally sure I see the problem. He shoots basketballs into baskets. He plays tag with us. He “reads” to himself out loud (babbling). He plays the piano. He takes his ukelele into his tent and plucks the strings. He gives his blocks to his cats and smiles.

I know no two children with ASD are the same. I’m just so surprised the professionals around us keep saying autism when he’s so social.

I do not know what to expect going forward.

Has anyone else’s toddler presented like this?

EDIT: I have every intention of seeking a full diagnosis so that if my son needs additional support it can be available to him. I do trust EI I am just processing and confused. I do have a brother on the spectrum who presented VERY differently and lives a full life. I’m mostly reaching out to this community for clarification since most examples online do not look like my child.

My son was just diagnosed last Saturday, his bday is 7/24/23, so he is a little over 19 months old.  We are north of Boston in MA.  The nuero-pyschologist that diagnosed him recommended that he we pull him from daycare altogether (at least for now) and do 30 hours (6 hrs a day) of intensive 1:1 ABA therapy a week, either at a center or home-based.  I was a little surprised to hear this, and a little sad, as we had been on waitlists forever and finally just got him into daycare less than two months ago.  They said the reason they'd pull him is because those teachers aren't specialists and don't necessarily interject or redirect him when he exhibits behaviors we should be steering him away from (i.e. repetitive play, spinning toys, preferring to do his own thing), and that he should be getting one on one support especially given what advantages it would bring at such a young age and given his strong foundations.

I am so new to all of this, I have no idea what the right course is. I see both positive and negative reviews and comments about ABA. He has been in EI 1x a week since October, and they switch off coming to our home and his daycare.  Now I'm confused as to whether we continue EI, together with ABA? Do we try to find a center, do at-home, or both?  Add in other therapies like speech, occupational, etc?  The neuropysch didn't bring up any other options/paths, just ABA.  Not sure if that was intentional or not, but I feel very overwhelmed and obviously just want to do what's best for my son; I just have no idea where to start and how to delve in.

We had an ENT apt Mon (unrelated, sort of) as he has had recurring ear infections/fluid since November. His hearing is normal but he dose have congestion in the middle airway tube.  They told us tubes are an option but not a necessity, that it's up to us, and could potentially help the infections/fluid as well as his speech.  They did recommend speech therapy. 

We have a pediatrician appointment Mon and his EI on Wed, so I'm hoping to get further feedback and suggestions for our path forward at both appointments.  But I would really, really love to hear any personal experiences/feedback on paths you're all on and how they have been going/have gone; what, if anything you'd do differently, or what you really feel is helping.  I've had a really rough year and a half; my mom died unexpectedly a few weeks before my son was born.  I had/have really bad PPD/PPA.  I had two miscarriages 6 months apart, the last being right after Christmas.  I don't say this for pity or sympathy; I say this because I am obviously not at my strongest point in life, but I'm trying so very hard to pick myself up and do anything in power to help my son.  I want to make this diagnosis my whole world, so that it does not have to be his.  My husband is wonderful, but does not understand the gravity of everything and how much this changes our journey.  I had been internally processing and dealing with, analyzing and seeking help, researching and wondering, for many months.  I know I will always be the default parent, and I am OK with that and don't mean it in a negative way, but that doesn't mean it's not heavy and hard.

Thank you very much if you were able to take the time and read all this, sending love and appreciation to this community!

I'm just looking for some advice and opinions based on your personal experiences. I know autism can not be diagnosed before 18months but I'm just wondering how were the diagnosed babies behaviors when they are infant. Were they late reaching first social development milestones? Or they never have had eye contact, never smiled, never turn to voices and staring at objects/toys rather than faces etc during first 3-4 months phase? I'm asking this to be able to catch if there are early signs for my 2 months old baby as my family has autism history.

My son has his autism diagnosis scheduled in two weeks, right after he turns 18 months. It’s been scheduled for at least 2 months now due to his amazing pediatrician and neurologist who are great advocates for him.

I’ve had family member/friends tell me that it’s “too early” to test him. However, one they don’t see him very often and two, this test was recommended not only from his doctors but his therapists as well.

How early did you know that your child could be on the spectrum?

A little background. My son has been developmentally behind his whole life, but started really noticing around 9 months. At first we were worried it was neuromuscular disease but the more we dug, the more we realized it wasn’t just physical. He has hypotonia, significant speech delay, cognitively behind, we got early intervention around his 1st birthday and they put his cognitive and speech skills at a 3-4 month range.

He still isn’t verbal. Doesn’t make many sounds besides screams and the occasional “uh oh”. He doesn’t recognize objects with words. No pointing, no gestures, no signs. He doesn’t “play” like a typical 18 month old in ways that toys hold no interest in him. He’d much rather open and shut our drawers, crawl around in circles, or watch Ms Rachel (the literal ONLY thing he will sit still for!). We’ve also noticed over the last couple of months the stimming in terms of repetitive screams, head shaking, hitting himself, and he’s also getting more aggressive. And oh boy, the tantrums. He will throw himself on the floor and NOTHING will calm him down. He doesn’t want to be touched, will want to roll around and kind of flail, it’s wild. We have a 3 year old that is NT and everything is just completely different.

It gets on my everlasting nerve when family or acquaintances try to dismiss our concerns, not wanting us to label him. They think his speech is only slightly delayed or he’s a little odd when in reality this is really hard, especially for him. It’s not a matter of not saying “mama”, it’s that he can’t even make the SOUND to do it. How do you all deal with this?

So my 3 year old was diagnosed with level 2/3 autism . It’s not a surprise but I still cried because I guess I hoped it was mild. He has had OT , therapists , early learning ,an iep but this was the first time someone (neuropsychologist) actually said the words , this appt was 8 months booked. I’ve known for a while but always second guessed myself. I’m upset and my friends /supports won’t let me be upset . I think it’s normal ? I don’t think anyone gets it except for people here .

Now I have to get him Aba , ot , and more speech on top of his 35 hour school week . I feel a mixture of guilt /worry all of the time . Will definitely be talking about this in therapy next week . Thanks for letting me share.

My 19 month old son was evaluated today and received an autism diagnosis. I had a feeling the past few months but was really hoping I was wrong and it was just a delay. Anyway so here I am now wanting to vent. He was diagnosed with level 2 or 3 which was even more devastating to hear. How will there future be ? Will he ever talk? Grow up and get married ? Have a job? What will he do when me and my husband are gone? I’m having a panic attack just thinking about it all.

I’m worried his twin sister will also get a diagnosis when she has her appointment on Tuesday. Overall don’t know how I’m going to survive this as my heart hurts and I feel like I’ve failed them.

I’m sorry in advance if anything I said is offensive.

I am seeking some input/venting. Apologies for spelling errors ahead of time.

Backstory: This all started at my sons 1-year pediatric visit. His Dr. came into the room and noticed a few things.

1. No stranger danger
2. Opening and closing cabinet door repeatedly
3. Non verbal

He suggested Pediatric ENT, SLP and Developmental Pediatrician (DP). The ENT and Speech Pathologist dad and I agreed with. The DP came out of left field. My thought was if he had hearing issues, it would make sense for him being non-verbal. The wait time for a DP is over a year long and he stated his referral was more cautionary. He also said that he tends to over index on developmental concerns. Dad and I discussed and decided to continue with ENT and SLP and hold off on DP.

At ENT, he failed hearing test in both ears and he had a ton of fluid in his ears. We proceed with surgery. He started SLP and has been going for a year now. His SLP feels he is progressing as to be expected. He still has a ways to go but we've seen no regression or stalling in speech. No (new) issues with fine motor skills Ears are fine and he passed his post recent hearing tests.

At his 2.5 year visit, we tell the Dr. that our sons is a picky eat.  He has no issues touching foods or different textures. The Dr. says he is less concerned with Autism, but the picky eating still gave him pause. At 2.5 years old, I am thinking it’s “typical” to have a picky eater. Our son did not demonstrate any of the prior behavior he'd shown at his 1.5 year visit. No closing/opening cabinet. Does have stranger danger and is more verbal. He did say that because the visits aren't long (15 mins) he could not give a full assessment and the SLP would be able to give better feedback. We chatted with his SLP (she does not diagnosed for Autism,) she does work with patients on the spectrum and she had not seen any behavior to suggest autism. She did say that if we had concerns, moving forward with the DP would be best. Husband and I decide to get put on the waitlist (12 month wait) for DP Eval. We do suspect that he may be a gestalt language learner.

3 year visit, the Medical Assistant/Dr. comes into the room. Our son looks at both dad and I to see if it was safe to interact with them. After that, he was very cooperative. Our son started spinning around looking at the light. He did this for a few seconds and stopped. This is not his typical behavior. He has an Optometrist apt next week. We think he may have some vision issues. He gets right up to the TV and squints. He engaged with the Dr. giving high fives, waving/saying “bye”, etc.  He gave eye contact to both MA/Dr throughout visit. Everything the Dr. asked him to do, he did. He engaged with the Dr. giving high fives, waving/saying “bye”, etc. Dr. brings up autism again this time adding ABA and that he could help get an Autism diagnoses quicker. He doesn’t have any behavior issues, self-copes very well, interacts with his peers, things that would suggests he isn’t someone who needs ABA.  He is very independent and can do the typical daily things (for his age) no problem.

A family member who is an adolescence psychologist with autistic patients visited us recently. He doesn’t diagnose but he said based on his observations, he saw no signs. Our son is verbal, but he isn’t one to chat around strangers. At home, he is constantly singing/talking, etc. He has playdates with kids his ago no problem.

I am at the point of wanting to either move Dr. and/or get a second opinion. Again, we will proceed with the DP.  His pre-school teachers have not mentioned any concerns regarding his development. The Dr. is the only person to question it.  If our son is on the spectrum, we will accept it and continue to provide him with the needed treatment, but it seems to me that this is being heavily pushed by his Dr. We are doing everything we would be doing if he was on the spectrum. His Dr. has not given consistent feedback over the past year and his prior concerns has been resolved.

The pushiness is what bothers me most. It seems like he has diagnosed our son. Since his ear surgery and Speech therapy, he has gotten progressively better. He literally went from not talking at all to now saying 3 word phrases. I do not want to be dismissive of his Dr. which is why we are proceeding with DP eval but I need him to give me more other than what he has before I consider other resources like ABA. I do not want to "throw" things at my son hoping it sticks.

 Am I missing something here?

If you saw my last post last week you’ll know my 19 month son got his autism diagnosis well today his twin sister got hers as well.

Although I kinda expected it I was holding out hope as she didn’t have many signs.

I feel like I genetically failed them. Like I passed on my worst genetic trait and doomed them. How do you live with the unknown for the future ?

What I know now is not comforting as these are my only two kids so no other sibling to look out for them once my husband and I are gone and that’s a scary thought.

Sincerely, Devastated mama

I’m not sure if this exactly fits here, but I am looking for some opinions from parents.

I am suspicious my almost 4 year old may have autism and/or ADHD. He has an evaluation for preschool coming up next month, and I think that may tell us more. There was a parent reported evaluation as the first step, and his score came back slightly elevated. So now we go to an in person evaluation.

My mom is a kindergarten teacher with 25 years of experience. I trust her expertise and skills as she has had many many students with autism and is amazing with those students - except - I feel she is heavily biased in the case of my son. Ive had concerns since he was about 18 months old and asked her then. She is dismissive about my concerns. She has told me to only let them put “Developmentally Delayed” on an IEP if he needs one until he is older. Because if they put autism then if things change as he gets older, it won’t go away.

I was wondering if that is a reasonable conclusion? My gut says to trust the professionals evaluating my son and take their recommendations. What benefits are there of an earlier diagnosis vs just sticking with the developmental delay?

Thanks!

My daughter was just diagnosed by our ped after fighting with doctors and professionals for the last year or so. She is 4, will be 5 in June. The pediatrician said they are going to send out for a genetic screening, I'd never heard of using it for autism diagnoses before. What is the point/what are they hoping it'll show in reference to her autism?

Hi everyone,

I'm seeking advice about our sweet 19-month-old boy. My wife and I have had occasional concerns about his development since he was 12 months old, though his behavior varies significantly depending on the day, person, and environment.

Current Behaviors:

• He's very affectionate with us parents (hugs, kisses, joint attention) but rarely shows interest in his 4-year-old brother
• He has a speech delay, only saying and signing a few things
• He responds to his name about 50% of the time
• He rarely points to things out of reach, though he points regularly when looking at books
• He tip-toe walks about 80% of the time but is flat-footed at rest
• He occasionally stims/hand flaps, though I'm unsure if it's more than a typical excited toddler

Positive Signs:

• Follows simple commands ("bring it here," "press the button," "give me a kiss")
• Follows our pointing
• Participates in kids' songs with appropriate actions (The Wheels on the Bus, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes)
• Engages in pretend play
• Enjoys new places
• Handles routine changes well
• Shows no repetitive behaviors

Here's where we're getting mixed professional opinions:

1. Family Friend (Licensed Clinical Psychologist): Suspects he may be on the spectrum (level 1-2) due to:

   • Eye contact that sometimes lingers into staring
   • Inconsistent name response
   • Generally flat affect (either happy or neutral)
   • Difficulty engaging him in play

2. Early Intervention: Didn't qualify for services at 17 months (they're reassessing this week)

3. Regular Pediatrician (18-month checkup): Zero concerns, citing:

   • Appropriate response to strangers
   • His 20+ years of experience in identifying developmental issues

4. Family Friend (ER Pediatrician): Leans toward spectrum diagnosis, noting:

   • Eye contact seems more like room-scanning
   • Strong fascination with light-up/noisy toys

5. Speech Language Pathologist: Despite regularly referring children for ASD evaluations, doesn't think he's on the spectrum

We're finding this whole situation emotionally exhausting and confusing. We have a formal evaluation scheduled for his second birthday, and meanwhile, we're: * Continuing speech therapy * Starting him in daycare twice weekly for socialization

Would love to hear from anyone with similar experiences. How did things turn out for you?

I have a 10.5 old baby

I was wondering if he’s too young to do an early intervention?? I will talk to his pediatrician in 1.5 m about my worries ( 12m check up)

If you did an early intervention at 12m ish was it worth it?

Thank you!! 🙏

My son is 3 technically undiagnosed but has an iep for autism . We have been waiting for this appt for 8 months . No one has actually been like your son has autism yet . Just looking for anything I should talk to her about. I have no idea . Any advice ? Thank you for reading.

So my son, who is now 2.5 years old, is finally getting an evaluation done at the end of the month. I’m feeling all the types of emotions so I thought I’d make a post to vent a bit because besides close family and friends who live near us, no one knows about all of the struggles we’ve already been dealing with.

It started around his first birthday. He never had any delays, he was doing great. He just stopped talking. Completely just stopped, not even mumbling or random sounds for like a month. Then he started over with the sounds again but never back to words. I had him evaluated by EDIS (we are a military family and that is their Early Development Program). They said that he wasn’t at risk enough for them to actually do anything. So I continued to push for a speech therapy evaluation. We got it around when he was 1.5 years old. He started and was set for once a week sessions. We got him in to test for autism back then, to which we were told “he has autistic qualities but they would not diagnose him until he was older.” We tested him for other things, like hard of hearing or deafness because from the age of 9 months till then, he had multiple ear infections. He had tubes put in. He took one hearing test and failed, then took another one a month later and passed. We were once again, at a loss. It was also during this time, he was suggested to start feeding therapy due to his texture/food issues. He also does those sessions once a week. Time passed and he ended up having to go and have his tonsils, adenoids and another set of tubes put in 4 months ago. During that surgery, they did an ABR and it was shown his hearing was perfect so HOH and deafness was off the table. We asked for another autism evaluation and we are just now getting in.

He’s been in speech therapy for a year now and feeding therapy for a few months. He is still very much nonverbal, but he has a few sign words and what we call “his words” that we understand. His speech therapist has been trying to introduce a speech board in sessions. Talking to both of his therapists and from the surgeon and audiologist that did the ABR, they all are hinting towards autism. I just want to be able to support him and have an answer.

I just needed a vent. Thanks for whoever reads this ❤️

I've been on waiting lists for months to get my son evaluated and finally came up on one and was moved to the back of the line because I asked if they could move the time so that it would not take place in the middle of his nap... He just turned 2, for reference. Not a 3 or 4 year old close to dropping a nap. I have heard from multiple people in FB groups that I just need to get him evaluated during nap time or it's not going to happen. Am I crazy for not wanting my son to get evaluated when he is extremely tired/falling asleep/cranky? He is a completed different kid well rested - I just think it would cause them to consider him lower than he possibly is.

I am a FTM to a 12 month old (M) kiddo in Ontario, Canada with “a collection of symptoms that typically result in a diagnosis of autism”. We are connected to a Pediatrician who will follow us through the diagnostic process over the next few months, and he’s already made a referral to our local children’s hospital for outpatient allied health supports.

As a family, we are emotionally prepared for an early diagnosis and are coping pretty well (I think) with the developmental challenges we are seeing at this stage. But, as first time parents with no experience in the world of autism funding or services, the logistics of what happens next seems daunting. Are there any folks a couple steps ahead of us that could give insight into the system we are entering?

Thanks in advance for any guidance!

My toddler (2.5) is currently in the early stages of a possible diagnosis. He has a speech delay and sensory seeks and they mentioned his lack of eye contact, but he’s also very social and loves other kids, pretend plays, etc. So it’s up to the professionals.

I personally don’t make eye contact if I don’t want to. I will at work, for professional reasons or if I’m speaking to mine or my son’s doctors and need them to take me seriously, but otherwise it’s uncomfortable and I just don’t care to. It sucks the energy out of me.

I have never really made eye contact with my toddler. Not even really as a baby. Recently I’ve tried and he just looks away. It’s not really that he’s avoiding it, he just doesn’t. Same with me, my natural instinct is just to not make eye contact. I’m not avoiding it, I just simply don’t think about it unless I’m in high stakes situations. I just cannot even fathom how making eye contact feels natural to anyone.

He’s very affectionate with me in other ways though. And very attached to me. Is it possible I just turned that switch off for him? I’ve stayed home with him since he was born. I kind of feel bad.

My 4 year old son just went through ADOS 2, his overall score is 11 and the autism cut off is 12. They said he is on the autism spectrum disorder because of his speech delayed. He is good at everything else besides language and communication. They said that with help, he can eventually get off the autism spectrum disorder and he will be retested in 3 years. I’m confused because of this.

Starting our journey with our 15 month old now. We are lucky to have identified signs early and have already started intervention. How did EI help your LO? Looking for some inspiring stories and hope 🫶

I am on a million waiting lists for my two year old son to get an evaluation, but I'm so confused on the various differences between types of evaluations and who completes them...

I was told to get a neuropsych eval by my pediatrician, so that's what I've been trying to find. I was led to believe this was comprehensive and was suggested to seek out developmental pediatricians for this, is this accurate??

The waiting list for a psychologist (non child specific) to complete a neuropsych evaluation is much shorter. But I hesitate to see someone who doesn't specialize in children (although that's mostly what they do) and I was also told they diagnose and then and give you some recommendations and send you on your way... is this accurate?

Lastly, I was told a developmental pediatrician is someone who my son would continue to see over time to track his progress in addition to the services they recommend... is this accurate? If so, does this mean I would need a developmental pediatrician no matter who completes the evaluation?

This is all so confusing and I have no one guiding me or telling me what to do. My pediatrician has written all of the prescriptions for services and evaluations but that's where that ended, and we may have the world's worst service coordinator for EI (never coordinated a service for us and has given me absolutely no direction). I feel so lost. Everyone is telling me something different. I don't know what's right.

Hey fellow parents. My son (turning 3 end of this month) was diagnosed today with ASD level 3. Even though I expected the diagnosis due to my own reading and insights from our Early steps provider, I still instantly burst into tears. However I am so thankful to have an answer and be able to move forward in the right direction to support my son as best we can.

I wanted to share the process of getting to diagnosis day for in case there might be another parent of a young one who is wondering what options there are in the US.

We live in Florida and enrolled my son in Early Steps. It is a bit of a process. I called their number and the service coordinator did a phone interview with me, then scheduled an in person evaluation at their center (3 month wait due to hurricane Milton on the day he was scheduled for his evaluation). Then a month wait to start Early intervention weekly at home.

The early intervention therapist administered the MCHAT to check my son for possible risk of autism, and based on his score she gave us next step options - we need to see a neurologist and then they will determine if ADOS is needed or if it is something else.

We did see the pediatric neurologist and she gave a script for ADOS evaluation.

The Early Steps office in our county does ADOS testing once a week and he was put on a waitlist to get evaluated. We are super thankful that he qualified to have the ADOS through Early Intervention because then it is covered by the State.

And that brings us to today when he had his ADOS evaluation.

Next steps recommended for us are ABA and later Speech therapy. I was advised to call our local ABA centers because they also have waiting lists.

I am sure that I haven't really processed it all yet but I thought that I would share our process for in case it can help someone here.

Thank you for reading.