frankiesmom

we took him to the developmental pediatrician this morning, and she has gone over the last 3 months of testing, and her own records, and she has diagnosed him with pervasive developmental disorder, and she says she will change that to "classic conner autism" when hes 3...i have never heard of conner autism and i looked it up with no success. she also said he has moderate teachable mental retardation, and no body awareness/low muscle tone, which is why he doesnt eat, and falls all the time and seemingly doesnt care.
so lots of new terms that i have never heard of, thats for sure!

Deafness

__________________
This advertising will not be shown in this way to registered members.
Register your free account today and become a member on AllDeaf.com

Beach girl

Wow, you have a lot to deal with.

Your doctor may have been referring to the work of Leo Kanner (pronounced "Conner"). Here is a link:

Autism Language Development, autism speech, autism speech delay

"Leo Kanner (prounced Conner) was a psychiatrist and physician known for his work related to autism. Kanner was the first to observe that children with autism often simply echo the words, phrases, or sentences spoken by others. This classical feature of autistic language, known as echolalia, is most typical of children who have very little practical language. "

jillio

PDD is what children like Frankie, who can't be narrowed down to any specific diagnosis because they don't fall into the diagnostic criteria are diagnosed with. "Conner" autism is generally used to refer to a child that falls on the autistic spectrum and also indicates an intellectual deficit based on verbal IQ. Frankie is just beginning to be aware of sound. With the addition of ASL, it cannot be predicted at this point in time where his actual language abilities will end up.

It is very difficult to project what Frankie will be doing at the age of 3. It is also extremely difficult to determine where he will eventually test out in IQ. I have seen kids diagnosed with PDD make remarkable gains with proper therapy and stimulation.

Medical doctors often look at things as if they are cut and dried. Issues like this are far from cut and dried. Results of therapy and eventual functional levels are dependent upon so much more than what a physician looks at. All they see is pathology. You need to look at strenghts. Capitalizing on those strengths is what will give Frankie an advantage over the child who is looked at from a pathological perspective only.

frankiesmom

ohhh ok yes thats it!

whatdidyousay!

My younger sister first daughter was diagnosed with asperger when she was a child. I can't remember how old my niece was but I remember doctors telling her parents to forget about her ,as she will never learn anything! My niece graduated from collage this year as a honor student!! Doctors are not always right!

frankiesmom

well, they said he definitely doesnt have aspergers..they said its completely different.
they are mainly concerned with his other issues anyways, this is just a side issue i think.

jillio

Yep. The reason he is diagnosed with PDD is because they can't, at this point, pin symptoms down enough to give a specific diagnosis. Listen to what they docs have to say, but also keep in mind that they are trained to look at Frankie as a physiological group of functions that have a norm, and anything that deviates from that norm is abnormal or pathological. They are trained to treat specificities and not the whole person that Frankie is and will become. They are necessary professionals, and their expertise is valuable...but it does have limits.

whatdidyousay!

This what I was trying to say about my niece, the doctors did not see her as
an indivisible person , she was being seen as group study . Some doctors can't think outside of the box and did this with my niece .
I trying to don't let the doctors keep you from doing can for your child.

Bottesini

I was diagnosed with Kanner's autism. And then later in childhood, upgraded to what they then call atypical autism as I exceeded expectations.

And I have grown up and had a really successful life, which is what I was trying to tell you before.

Autism is not the end of the world. I know more than one successful autistic.

__________________

frankiesmom

honestly, the autism thing is the least of my concerns. i think that is the secondary issue anyways. we are far more worried about the mental retardation..she said he is "teachable", which is good. we are glad though that we know at least what we can expect, and how to go from here. its really not entirely different from what i suspected anyways.

jillio

Even on that...wait until you can get some definitive testing done. He may be far more than "teachable".

frankiesmom

well, we shall see..i am not trying to be a bit negative, but as the months go by, he gets further and further behind..and that is fine! he is where he is able to be, and he is perfectly happy..she agreed with our stance of not pushing him too hard and basically just making sure he is happy.

Sunshine

"Teachable" is subjective anyway. Helen Keller was called unteachable.

jillio

Oh, I understand you aren't trying to be negative. You have had a lot thrown at you in a short amount of time and are still trying to sort through it all. People are throwing words and terminology at you that often has a negative implication by the general population.

Try not to compare too much. I'm sure if you compared all of your other childen to each other, you would find that this one developed this skill earlier, and that one seemed to comprehend things at an earlier age, etc. What I am saying is that kids, even kids with problems like Frankie's, are individuals. We can say what the average child is able to do at the average age...but in practice there is a wide variance there. And what is average is not always what is considered "normal". Einstein exhibited what were believed to be developmental delays, and his IQ was questioned as a young child, as well. Gallileo was thought to be insane.

frankiesmom

oh i agree with that!
unfortunately, his issues arent really a matter of comparing him with other kids because he is unlike ANY child i have ever seen. i dont think he is necessarily unique, but its fairly obvious we arent dealing with a mild falling behind of some milestones. honestly, i am just glad we had our suspicions confirmed..i feel much better about the whole thing, knowing how to proceed and such.

rebeccalj

Wow! Lots of new terms for you to learn.

In his pictures he just do not look mentally challenged. I guess there are different classifications that I am not familiar with?

rebeccalj

Doctors tried to tell me that my 18 year old daughter would be blind, deaf, never walk, never learn, have cerebral palsy as she was born 3 months premature.

She is moving to Victoria, BC, Canada, to attend University of Victoria, next weekend, for pre-med. She wants to be a forensic psychiatrist who profiles serial killers.

frankiesmom

you would have to see him in person..its very obvious. hes still cute though!!!

whatdidyousay!

I see in his photo that he is holding his head down and his eyes has a distance look in them. He is very cute.

frankiesmom

it looks like that, but what hes REALLY doing is his very odd, repetitive head cocking thing, followed by a head tap. why? not sure! but it is very interesting to see. he also will follow up with his hand held over his eyes, as if he is shielding them from the sun. that picture, and the other ones that same day took FOREVER to take because he was doing that the whole time.

whatdidyousay!

Do you think when he get a little older you take him for more testing, the doctors may get a better idea why he doing this? I know it took the doctors awhile to realize my niece had aspergers, the doctors kept telling my sister she was shy! My older sister and I knew that was not true ,but my sister thought the doctor was right! It was a relief when a doctor finally realize my niece had aspergers so she could get the help she needed.

Jiro

that sounds like what my friend's mom did. it's like "twitch" or something every several seconds.

__________________
- Don't forget to buy Jiro's Special Edition Sunglasses for $19.95

frankiesmom

yeah! that is exactly what it is..its just damn peculiar..its like his whole not grabbing stuff, but patting at it..who knows? i really think it COULD be genetic, but then i also think it is just "one of those things", which sucks because i like knowing the reason behind things. but yeah, he will be going along and cock his head over almost upside down, tap the side of his head, and then look at his hand. very..different. and somewhat dangerous because he keeps running into stuff!

rebeccalj

Well, he is just too darn cute for word.

Here is my 'supposed never to achieve anything' daughter. Have hope Mum. You never know. Whatever Frankie is to achieve it will most certainly include touching the hearts of thousands. Along with you.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...type=1&theater

Yes, the eye colour is natural.

jillio

frankiesmom,

I watched a documentary last night with you and Frankie in mind. I thought it might be something you would be interested in, so I checked it out.

The title is Loving Lamposts and it is a photojournalist's attempt to document his son's autism and the autism of others. It explains both the medical model (the kid is sick and needs to be cured) and the holistic perspective, which the journalist and share with many, many others. The holistic perspective believes that autism is not an illness and does not need to be cured, but is simply a different way of being. And if that difference is understood and approached from a strengths based attitude, autistic individuals can accomplish anything they choose. You will see one adult female who has a master degree, but no verbal skills at all. She was originally believed (by the medical professionals) to be severely and uneducably mentally retarded. You will also see an extensive interview with an autistic adult male with a doctorate in education. He goes into some pretty specfic descriptions of what his parents did that was so helpful for him

I found the film to be very interesting, and I think you might pick up some valuable information for you and Frankie. I got it on Netflix streaming to my computer, but I'm certain you could find it at a library, as well.

Just thinking of you, and wanted to throw that out for you!

Jane B.

Did you know we have to log in to Facebook to see that photo? I have no desire to join Facebook.

frankiesmom

she was just trying to be nice!

jillio

Then I guess you aren't going to see the picture.

Bottesini

Don't be silly. Bottesini remembers all. See post #1661
In pics of you part v

__________________

jillio

Dang, you're good!