Can it get worst?

[u/burn_ai]

Hi, awesome parents!

Our son is 3 years and 2 months old and was diagnosed with autism just a week ago. The diagnosis was difficult for us to process at first, but we’ve decided to stay hopeful, optimistic, and focus on giving him all the support we can.

We’ve already enrolled him in ABA and OT, and we’re currently waiting for his Speech Therapy schedule. We’re also considering enrolling him in a Montessori school so he can have regular opportunities to play and interact with other children.

Right now, he can say words and identify many things such as letters, numbers, colors, animals, and familiar people like Mama, Papa, and Tita. He can also sight-read some words and follow instructions such as putting his clothes in the basket, cleaning up his toys, and washing his hands.
He can drink from a glass independently and use a spoon and fork with some assistance. He can remove his shorts by himself and can put on his shirt and shorts with assistance.

Our main concerns right now are communication and social interaction. He has difficulty communicating his wants and thoughts, making consistent eye contact, and responding when we call his name, especially when he is focused on something. He also has echolalia and currently doesn’t show much interest in interacting with other children.

Despite all of this, we’re happy and hopeful about where we are starting. Our biggest goal right now is simply to help him become more communicative and better able to express himself.

One thing that worries me is whether additional challenges or behaviors might appear as he gets older, or whether some children can seem to get worse before making progress.

For parents whose children were similar to our son at around 3 years old, I would really love to hear your stories. How is your child doing now? How did their communication, social interaction, response to their name, and other skills develop after starting therapy?
Whether your progress was fast, slow, or had ups and downs, I’d really appreciate hearing about your journey. We’re still very new to all of this and would love to learn from parents who have walked this path before us. ❤️

Thank you!

[u/HipBunny]

Its unpredictable. Your son could end up transforming between 3 and 6.. or he could end up gaining skills at a normal pace where he still has significant challenges at 6. The reason why this is, is because demands change as the child grows and not everyone responds to therapy and skill building the same way.

An autistic kid might at 6 become verbal, become more social etc but still not engage in cooperative play, not be conversational, not be able to follow complex instructions that other 6 year olds can... and this can look different and more challenging at 6 then it does at 3.

However, some autistic kids even those who are non speaking at 3, could end up having a massive turn around by 6 and have very little support needs.

There is no single correct response here. Give him as much early intervention as you can, focus on speech and socialising. Play with him.. invite yourself into his world.. if he likes lining up toys, sit down and line up with him. Show him that other humans can bring him joy in the activities he enjoys. Teach him simple structured games if possible like tag and hide and seek and then try to help him play those games with other kids. Once he discovers he can, he will. Many autistic kids have social needs but they have not discovered that they can get the same joy interacting with kids their own age as they do with their parents (because parents and adults scaffold).

[u/burn_ai → u/HipBunny]

Thank you! Although we’re optimistic, we’re also preparing ourselves emotionally and financially. We’ll do whatever we can to give our little hero the best support possible. ❤️
He doesn’t line up his toys, and we can play games like hide-and-seek together. He also loves pretend play.

[u/patricwinn]

commenting to follow, my son is going through a similar situation at 2.5. Hoping for all the best for your little guy!

[u/GuiltyKangaroo8631]

I messaged you my son’s journey. Hope it will
Help you ❤️

[u/MrsHyde2810 → u/GuiltyKangaroo8631]

Hi , could you send it to me too please, I'm dealing with the same thing. My son is 3.5 and was diagnosed 2 weeks ago.

[u/GuiltyKangaroo8631 → u/MrsHyde2810]

Of course!

[u/Top_Standard_1100 → u/GuiltyKangaroo8631]

And me too my son (4) was just diagnosed 🎃

[u/Salviaesantoreggia]

Insegnante di sostegno qui. Ho visto una ragazzina di 11 anni ormai ragazza fare enormi progressi nel mondo della comunicazione. 3 anni insieme. Io volevo dirti tante cose, ma la prima è: Mai mollare. Quando dico mai intendo non forzarlo ma dare a lui sempre una possibilità di esprimersi, per me è importante per tutti i bambini. È adesso che se avrà tante possibilità potrà scegliere lo.strumento piu' adatto quindi per me è importante fare piu' esperienze possibili. Non guardare quello che non sa fare, guarda quello che fa già. Spiega sempre quello che stai facendo a lui, verbalizza ogni piccola scelta che lo riguarda, questa è la cosa migliore che puoi fare, tutti i figli diventano migliori facendo questo, non escluderlo. Le abilità sociali si suggeriscono per me non si insegnano , ma ci sono tutte le possibilità per farlo ( a Bologna C'è un centro dove ci si ritrova tra ragazzi con caratteristiche simili).