Parent Perspectives: Early Intervention

Early signs and diagnosis

What were some early signs or behaviors that made you think your child might be different? What prompted you to seek a diagnosis for your child?

S-Am

Am used to say Dada and Mumma. Around 2 years of age, he stopped saying those words. He would also play by himself mostly. His grandfather visited that time and we all felt something was off. When he was 2 years and 5 months, we took him to the doctor as he was now also becoming more hyper. During the lockdown time, we also saw that he started lining up toys. It started with toys and it went on to anything and everything he could put his hand on. The doctor did some assessments and symptom checks and told us he has Autism.

P-M

M didn’t talk when he was 2 years old. When he was about 2.5 years old, there was an incident when he was at his grandparents place where he woke them up around 2-3am and started dancing on the bed. This happened once or twice. He got a fever when he was around 3 years old and while we took him to the doctor then, we expressed this concern and they suggested we take him for an assessment. We were told he has Autism and that there is no cure, but can be made manageable with therapy. He was 3 years old when he got diagnosed.

Y-An

  • No response to name call
  • He liked to watch things that were spinning
  • He would line up objects
  • There was also no eye contact

We took him to the physician in Barcelona when he was 2 years old and they suspected Global Developmental Disorder (GDD) and at 3.5 years old he was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum disorder Level II as per their classification system.

J-S

Till S was 1 year old, everything seemed very normal. We started noticing evident signs only after he was 2 years old. He was not pointing, no eye contact and he also didn't talk. When we noticed that he was not talking, we took him to the doctor. S was 2.5 years old by then. They saw him and said that it looks like symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder. We did not take that seriously and started school when S was 3 years old. After teachers there pointed out concerns, we again visited a psychologist for the 3rd time and got a detailed report on the diagnosis.

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