今天一个做儿医的网友跟我联络，同意我尽早给阳阳做一下 evaluation。她说有时候排队要两三个月。她还建议我们给阳阳找 speech therapy，因为她的儿子有一些 speech delay，没有做 therapy，现在12岁，口头表达能力还是很差。她说 speech therapy 是不怕早开始的，如果 therapist 认为孩子没问题，就不需要做。她让我找 mchat 来做，是 "Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers"，一共23题，阳阳 failed 5 critical questions and 9 other questions。他还不到16个月，可能到时还会有进步，但非常值得警戒。
I went to a bookstore and browsed some books on the subject. I am pretty sure that Yangyang has autistic tendency (or some similar disorder). I want to know what I can do while we are waiting for the official evaluation. I've learned 2 things.
1) eye contact is the most important. try to position myself so yangyang can look at me easily. make him use eye contact before giving him anything he wants, and then reward him.
2) eliminate distractions in the room.
Today I tried very hard to make eye contact with him. It used to be futile and frustrating, and I gave up after a while. Now I know what might be wrong with him, I welcome the challenge, and I am more persistent and I enjoy it a lot more. In the afternoon I took him to the play gym, and there was another baby girl of 13-month. I observed their differences. The girl often looked at me, smiled at me, and brought me stuff she found. Yangyang never initiated any communication with me. I didn't give up easily, and by the end of the day I feel that we had made some progress.
I hope that being his mom can be more purposeful.
小花菜 发表评论于
I have a friend who is a ped. I told her about my son's situation. She strongly suggests that we take him to a speech therapy. She says it is to help the baby learn to communicate, and can start at any time, as early as 9-months, without preion. I don't know much about your son's problem, but he seems to have a speech delay. I think you should take him to a speech test as your PD suggested, and then get some answers and help. In California, the school district can do speech therapy. I met a mom the other day who praised the speech therapy program, and encouraged me to check it out.
If you don't want to do anything now, wait until the 18-month check up, and talk to you PD.
Now my husband is much better, because I told him that our son is probably autistic. He is concerned, and is trying to communicate with the baby more. Before he just sat there and read a magazine or stared into the space when he watched the baby. You should try to convince him that your son might have some developmental problem, and get him involved.
Let's keep each other informed about our sons' developmental progress.
Good luck.
DuoDuoMaMa2007 发表评论于
Yes, I asked my ped when my son was around 14 months, and I was suggested to take him to a hearing and speech test. But I did not, since I don't think that he has any hearing problem. He can hear and follow my instructions.My ped told me that when I give him anything I should explain what it is and ask him to repeat. Now, he is almost 16 months and has no sign to say mom and dad, but he does babble.
My husband is not helpful either. If he has time, he would rather browse the internet. If I ask him to keep an eye on my son, most of the time he would call friends. Sigh:(((
小花菜 发表评论于
Thank you for your encouragement. I am trying my best to help him, and help our family. Have you asked your PD about your son? A friend who is a PD suggested me to do a initial screening test--mchat, and if the baby fails certain numbers of questions, then professional evaluation is needed. The form is for babies 16 months and older, so it might be useful for you. I hope everything will turn out fine for both our sons.
