Parent Thread

Ao-

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I'm not an expert, and I've not had to go through ANY of this with my kids (though the youngest has his 18mo checkup on Monday, so who knows)... but I feel like the spectrum is so broad that even slight delays get flagged as potentially being on-spectrum. Sorry if that's insensitive. I really hope it's just delayed development.
 

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Trump's Staff
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Its not insensitive. I hope its true. Maybe doctors are been extra careful, however i do have to appreciate that the diagnosis will allow us to get her therapies for free.
 

Noodleface

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I asked you early on about if he was pointing to stuff, and you said he was pointing like a boss. Little noodle will speak at his own pace =)
He's not really pointing, he stopped that. He also stopped clapping unless he's really excited.

He shows serious signs of progress in everything except speech. He just isn't interested.

Edit: and I get that I may be worrying too much - but we are at 14 months so it won't be long until we're in the same position as you.

One cute thing he does is if the dog barks he tries to bark back
 

Arative

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My son doesn't have many words and we're at almost 20 months. Maybe 20-25 words total, most not very clear. We were a little concerned at his 18th month checkup because he seemed to have less than 10 words but the doctor didn't seem too worried. He understands way more than he speaks though. He can follow pretty complex commands. The other day I was getting dinner out of our pantry and he followed me in and grabbed a box of his cereal bars off the shelf. I told him to take one, put the box back and go to his high chair and he followed it exactly. Like Ao- I feel doctors might be too broad with the autism diagnosis, kid not talking, thats autism, kid not pointing, thats autism.
 

Draegan_sl

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My son is calling everything dowel now. He also almost is starting to put two words together.

My 3yo daughter refuses to go to sleep and constantly calls out for us or cries. Had to lay down the law last night. Make any more noise and I'm going to start taking away snacks. Kind of worked.
 

Noodleface

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My son doesn't have many words and we're at almost 20 months. Maybe 20-25 words total, most not very clear. We were a little concerned at his 18th month checkup because he seemed to have less than 10 words but the doctor didn't seem too worried. He understands way more than he speaks though. He can follow pretty complex commands. The other day I was getting dinner out of our pantry and he followed me in and grabbed a box of his cereal bars off the shelf. I told him to take one, put the box back and go to his high chair and he followed it exactly. Like Ao- I feel doctors might be too broad with the autism diagnosis, kid not talking, thats autism, kid not pointing, thats autism.
See we're at 14 months and he has 0 words
 

Cad

scientia potentia est
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As a guy with older kids and younger kids, take it as good advice that you should calm the fuck down about when your kid walks, talks, plays with whatever toy, decides to go through puberty, or anything else. Your anxiety about things will transfer to the kid, and honestly if your kid is autistic or retarded or anything else, you worrying about it is going to do fuck all. The kid is going to be autistic or retarded either way. But if they're actually fine, and you give them a goddamn complex with your helicopter worrying and constantly thinking something is wrong with your kid rather than just playing with him and enjoying him for who he is, you'll regret it.

Calm. The. Fuck. Down. Your kid is fine. And if he's not you'll love him anyway. It's all good.
 

Noodleface

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I am pretty calm, just talking about it here. I don't harp on it at all. I spend a few minutes each day saying "can you say.. " and when he doesn't we move onto something else.

I am a little worried of course, I think any parent would be.

I'm also worried his head is going to look like a golf ball with all the intense slamming into things that's going on.
 

Ao-

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I am pretty calm, just talking about it here. I don't harp on it at all. I spend a few minutes each day saying "can you say.. " and when he doesn't we move onto something else.

I am a little worried of course, I think any parent would be.

I'm also worried his head is going to look like a golf ball with all the intense slamming into things that's going on.
Have you tried sign language at all? Worked wonders with our little ones for recognition of concepts:Baby Sign Language | Sign Language for Babies

Also, kids heal quick. The head will be fine.
 

Ao-

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I could never get my kids to do sign language but they could nod yes or no.
First and last both got HEAVILY into it. First kid would sign everything she could until she was proficient with that word. Middle just sort of picked signs he wanted to use (milk, sports, thanks, please). Last uses it for food, please/thank you and every animal he can remember.

The videos and songs help a lot. Worst part as a parent was having to keep up with the learnings.
 

Eomer

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Cad_sl said:
and honestly if your kid is autistic or retarded or anything else, you worrying about it is going to do fuck all. The kid is going to be autistic or retarded either way.
Sorry man, you're just plain wrong here. The latest research shows there are HUGE benefits to early interventions for kids with autism. As early as 18-24 months.

Early Intervention For Toddlers With Autism Highly Effective, Study Finds | Press Release | Autism Speaks

At the conclusion of the study, the IQs of the children in the intervention group had improved by an average of approximately 18 points, compared to a little more than four points in the comparison group. The intervention group also had a nearly 18-point improvement in receptive language (listening and understanding) compared to approximately 10 points in the comparison group. Seven of the children in the intervention group had enough improvement in overall skills to warrant a change in diagnosis from autism to the milder condition known as 'pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified,' or PDD-NOS. Only one child in the community-based intervention group had an improved diagnosis.
I agree that a lot of parents do need to calm the fuck down in most cases. But saying "the kid is going to be autistic either way" is pretty fucking ignorant.
 

Cad

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lurkingdirk

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Here's something I hope is encouraging for many of you. Very close friends of mine have a son who didn't speak words until he was three. Once he started, complete sentences came out. Speech is a funny thing, but don't be worried about it until about four years old. Really.
 

Kedwyn

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Eh, speech therapy is cheap and once you see them do it a few times you can do it on your own at home. Telling people to wait until 4 is going to hurt the kid if there really is a problem. The advice to not stress out about it is solid though as most kids are just fine and late bloomers. Really there probably is nothing wrong but you aren't going to hurt your child or yourself by getting them a little therapy and you'll feel better about it by not just ignoring it.

From what I've read there really isn't any correlation between early milestones achievements resulting in better lives later on in adulthood. People obsess over it, especially today with the Internet and perhaps the prevalence of day care life style these days helps some on that. Hard to really know or interact with your kid when you see them for an hour or two a day and that time is filled with a lot of other stuff.
 

Adebisi

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Just found out we have to tell my 8 yo daughter that her cat has to be put down tomorrow.

frown.png
 

lurkingdirk

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Eh, speech therapy is cheap and once you see them do it a few times you can do it on your own at home. Telling people to wait until 4 is going to hurt the kid if there really is a problem. The advice to not stress out about it is solid though as most kids are just fine and late bloomers. Really there probably is nothing wrong but you aren't going to hurt your child or yourself by getting them a little therapy and you'll feel better about it by not just ignoring it.

From what I've read there really isn't any correlation between early milestones achievements resulting in better lives later on in adulthood. People obsess over it, especially today with the Internet and perhaps the prevalence of day care life style these days helps some on that. Hard to really know or interact with your kid when you see them for an hour or two a day and that time is filled with a lot of other stuff.
I'm not telling them to wait until that age to do anything. If they think there is a legit problem, deal with it. Don't think there is a legit problem merely because you think your kid is delayed.

Also, Barraco, that sucks balls. We've been through it. Terrible to watch kids deal with the reality and finality of death. Glad it's with a cat, not a family member.