More of a developmental delay than we thought?

[Mama2Xander]

DS2 is almost 4 now, and still seems 2 in so many ways. His "issues":

1. Speech delay and articulation disorder - he gets speech therapy - is currently on a break from it and will be reassessed soon. He started talking at 27 months, and is still very difficult to understand a lot of the time. Lots of grammatical errors too.

2. Sensory-seeking SPD - pretty extreme symptoms. We do what we can at home, but he doesn't get OT (too expensive). Needs constant supervision and is very difficult to take out of the house, esp. since I have 2 other young kids. He's very much a runner.

3. He was almost completely out of diapers in the daytime in the early fall of 2008, and then regressed almost completely in November/December 2008- and has not really had any forward progress yet. Several pee accidents per day, and several poop accidents per week. I'd back off completely but he has become very resistant to wearing a diaper or pull-up and just lets loose in his pants.

4. Pretty extreme emotional immaturity/lack of self-regulation - not totally sure how to word this - but he really acts "two". Still has frequent (10x per day approx) tantrums, often screaming, crying, making irrational/impossible demands, freaking out about the cup being the wrong colour, demanding that Daddy take his shoes off (despite the fact that Daddy is at work). He still does not "use his words" - prefers to scream/grunt/whine and will not tell me what he wants/needs a lot of the time. Pulls at stuff and whines a lot. No ability to wait for anything.

5. Sugar sensitivity with lots of sugar cravings - we are working on this and are having some (slow) progress.

6. Felt to have lots of early signs of dyslexia or a similar issue, although it's too early to tell. He will be followed carefully for this. He mixes up a lot of syllables within words (eg. "fighterfire", "picksool"), mixes up word order within the sentence/phrase, and changes the tense on the wrong word (eg. he tries to change the tense on the noun instead of the verb, if that makes sense!)

7. Extremely impulsive - just like a 2-year-old - this includes hitting, pinching, kicking, throwing things, grabbing everything, breaking stuff (not on purpose, he's just rough/not careful), putting stuff in his mouth a lot, picking up gross things (eg. fertilizer from a lawn, even with me telling him to leave it alone - he is SO quick).

8. Lots of ADHD-ish symptoms, although I think they might be more related to the SPD.

Just wondering what other mamas here think... does this sound like signs of some kind of larger developmental delay? Or just SPD and speech issues, and the other things are just coincidence? This is getting really difficult to deal with. I feel like I am RUNNING all day to try to keep up with him and he is still constantly in trouble.

His older brother (age 6) is mildly on the spectrum, and was misdiagnosed/not diagnosed for years, which was... h*ll to put it mildly. He still does not have an official dx but I know that he's on the spectrum and we've basically given up on the medical establishment in his case. He's being treated by 2 very experienced homeopathic physicians and is doing GREAT (like 80-90% improvement).

Ack, I'm rambling... not getting much sleep these days

If this is some kind of larger developmental delay, what do they DO about it?

[BetsyNY]

I guess I'm not sure what your question is...? Are you asking is this all part of some larger issue, like autism? Could be. Like you say, the symptoms of ADHD and SPD are so similar and many children have both.

Can you get OT through your school district?

[Mama2Xander]

Originally Posted by BetsyNY

I guess I'm not sure what your question is...? Are you asking is this all part of some larger issue, like autism? Could be. Like you say, the symptoms of ADHD and SPD are so similar and many children have both.

Can you get OT through your school district?

Just wondering if this sounds like a larger issue, and if there are specific things I should be researching/doing. We don't have a GP so I am not sure if it's worth it to take him to a walk-in clinic about all of this. I just thought I'd post here in case anyone recognized a set of symptoms like this as being a particular condition.

OT through the school district is only for kids with obvious physical challenges eg. CP. They don't address sensory stuff.

I am just not really sure what is "normal" anymore. Maybe a lot of it is just normal for his age? (not the speech stuff obviously) It just seems so extreme to me (and to DH, and other relatives, and our homeopath, etc). He seriously acts like a 2-year-old. But maybe some kids are just like that...?

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by Mama2Xander

Just wondering if this sounds like a larger issue, and if there are specific things I should be researching/doing. We don't have a GP so I am not sure if it's worth it to take him to a walk-in clinic about all of this.

you can request an evalutation from the school. You need to make the request in writing.

I think that you might be a bit unrealistic about how specific a dx can be for a young child.

<<His older brother (age 6) is mildly on the spectrum, and was misdiagnosed/not diagnosed for years, which was... h*ll to put it mildly>>

for mild spectrum, six is still pretty young for sorting this stuff out. Getting as dx isn't a neat little cut and dry thing. There isn't a test like there is for strep throat that makes this all clear.

I'd recommend reading "Quirky Kids" by Klass.

[Mama2Xander]

Originally Posted by Linda on the move

you can request an evalutation from the school. You need to make the request in writing.

I think that you might be a bit unrealistic about how specific a dx can be for a young child.

<<His older brother (age 6) is mildly on the spectrum, and was misdiagnosed/not diagnosed for years, which was... h*ll to put it mildly>>

for mild spectrum, six is still pretty young for sorting this stuff out. Getting as dx isn't a neat little cut and dry thing. There isn't a test like there is for strep throat that makes this all clear.

I'd recommend reading "Quirky Kids" by Klass.

Um, not to be rude, but I am quite aware that this is not cut and dry, given that it took YEARS to sort out what was going on with DS1

I don't want to get into the whole story, but with DS1, it there WAS mismanagement/misdiagnosis. Looking back on it, if he had been evaluated for ASD at age 3, I am almost positive he would have received a dx. The problem is that no one evaluated him for that, no one asked the right questions, and I didn't know what to look for. When he was finally evaluated, he scored WAY above the cutoff criteria and had numerous flags in his early development. They just weren't picked up on that the time. On proper evaluation he still had many signs, and met the criteria, but presents atypically enough that his official dx is "query ASD".

Anyway, I am actually just asking about DS2 now, so I'll try to stay on topic

I'm sorry if I was not clear before. Like I said, I am not getting much sleep these days! All I am asking at this point is do these issues with DS2 sound like signs of a larger problem - should I be looking into getting him evaluated - or should we just carry on? I just want to make sure I'm not missing something major. If this doesn't sound particularly concerning, then GREAT!

[Zan&Zav]

I would have him evaluated, if only for your peace of mind. It sounds to me like something bigger.

[BetsyNY]

Not really sure how things work in Canada, but here's my experience: a diagnosis doesn't always mean clarity (and I'm sorry if I'm misunderstanding you)--but IMO there's nothing that you could do *with* a diagnosis that you can't do without one.

Example--the sensory stuff. *Just* SPD is huge, and the fact that he's not getting any OT means that it's not getting addressed. I know it's expensive, but have you read The Out of Sync Child? What about an OT consult, just to get you pointed in the right direction...

Looking at what you describe (and I'm not a professional), my take is that there is a long continuum of "normal" at four years old. Having accidents at four can of course be normal. Impulse control might improve, but it might not. Having a sibling diagnosed with autism would tip my hand towards "not normal," you know what I mean?

[SpottedFoxx]

Mama - your son has a lot of similar traits to my son. Here's the thing. Your son is quite young and many of the things you mention can be totally normal behavior (switching words like truckfire is quite normal) but even if he was dyslexic... he's just too young to diagnose. Same goes with ADHD.

My son also has a few things going on... speech delay (his articulation is extremely delayed), some sensory issues which tend to go toward the mild side, possible central auditory processing disorder and/or ADHD.

We are just tackling the things we can tackle when we can tackle them. He receives speech therapy small group 2x a week and large group daily. He gets OT small group 1x a week and large group daily. (this is all through his school). We are hiring a speech therapist for the summer so he can go to camp and we can keep him moving forward with his speech. We'll work with him on his OT.

The most important person we see is a behavioral therapist. He counsels my husband and I on how to best parent our son. His expertise is teaching people how to be effective parents and he's been a wonderful asset.

I'd think your first step would be to a developmental pediatrician to get some idea of what your child is experiencing and then take it from there.

Good luck.

[CarrieMF]

OT through the school district is only for kids with obvious physical challenges eg. CP. They don't address sensory stuff.

This is not true, at least not in Alberta or Saskatchewan.

They will bring OT's into the schools & help the teacher, parents & Aides(which is sounds like your son will have in school) come up with ideas to help. It isn't just physical stuff but they will do it with SPD too. In bigger centers the OT's will come in more often, in smaller settings it's the Aides who do the work & the OT's come in at least once a year to get their base reports done & then as requested by the school.

Your son will get ST through the school, again how often depends on the school you're in. In the one I work in ST's only come in to give recommendations. In the schools my kids go to(different city & district), they are in all the schools on a regular basis.

Both OT & ST in the schools won't be until he is IN school. If he was in playschool then they have their own resources & he could be getting some funding for OT/ST in playschool.

Why are you on a break from speech? Was it helping?

Some of his issues, the grunting/pointing are more speech related. It's easier for him to do that than it is to request it the way he needs to. Have they done any PEC work with him in speech? The tantrums are speech related. He throws the tantrums because he's frustrated that he can't get what he wants across. Does he have receptive issues too - ie wanting daddy to take shoes off when Dad's at work. Throwing, hitting, kicking, pinching things could be the frustration too.

Putting stuff in his mouth is definitly the sensory seeking.

Mixing words up could be age.

The toileting regression could be sensory. he may not notice(or it may not bother him) if he has an accident. Not wanting to wear a diaper/pull up is sensory.

He sounds like he's definitly on the Autism spectrum, moreso than your other son. Alot of what you mention sound like the boy I work with, except the boy I work with is further behind. I'd get him evaluated for Autism.

[quaz]

The parts I've seen..

Articulation, sensory, emotional intensity... Just with those, it can be difficult to tell anything.

The one question I have for you, is that if your older son is receiving homeopathic remedies, then why not just try it with your younger son if you are considering the possibility of being the spectrum? The reality is that even if kids don't have a larger pervasive issue, they can still benefit from various forms of therapy.

I agree, the tantrums are going to be much larger at 4, if his expressive speech isn't there... plus the 4's have a resurgance of independence, which makes those tantrums worse as well.
Tammy

[goobergrl6]

A lot of this sounds like my 4,.5 yo. He had a large speach delay (just came back and other then sentance structure which was 3 yrs 2 months, everything else scored under 3).He gets ST at school and we will be geting him private as well in the next few weeks. He has sensory issues (we are getting him seem by an OT at Kennedy Krieger in May). He is not at ALL potty trained. I have gotten him to sit on the potty 4x in his LIFE. He throws MAJOR fits. Very much 2 yo fits on a much larger 4 yo scale. He yells "NO MOMMY!" about 100X a day to DH even if DH just says hi to him. Asking him to do something (like clean up the blocks) is pointless, he either doesn't understand what you are asking or refuses to do it. He also hits, kicks, ect. He does not get things sometime. Like we went to the park the other day, we were done and he got in his seat. All was fine....then we started driving away and he kept yelling "WANT SLIDE! WANT SLIDE! MOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMY!" and yelling. I would tell him we are all done at the park and this fit went on for 45 mins! This happens more then I want to admit. He HAS to have a certain plate to eat at home ect. ect.
I second what a pp said about a behavioral psychitrist. We go to see one on the 28th. I can not WAIT! Really I think this will be one of the best days of my life. We need this SO BAD! I know I am a GREAT mom. I know I am doing my best, my other 2 kids are GREAT kids (so is William but he is more challenging). However with William we just need some more insite. We need to know what to do during a meltdown, or a fit, or ifit is defience or not understanding ect. I really can not wait.
I often refer to him as a 2 yo in a 4 yo body. He very much still seems 2 in behavior. He is SMART. He knows some letters and numbers and shapes. As soon as speech helps him with the words he just goes to town. He can do puzzles like you would not believe. Motor skills are great...it is just the other stuff. Hang in there mama. I know how rough it is.

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by Mama2Xander

should I be looking into getting him evaluated - or should we just carry on? I just want to make sure I'm not missing something major. [/B] If this doesn't sound particularly concerning, then GREAT!

I'm always a fan of getting evaluations. Always.

However, I feel that you are wanting more clarity than you will get and that you'll have more peace of mind when you let go of the idea that some one can tell you exactly what is going on with your children and what it means for their lives.

No one can do that.

Part of raising a sn child is making peace with the not knowing.

[quaz]

However, I feel that you are wanting more clarity than you will get and that you'll have more peace of mind when you let go of the idea that some one can tell you exactly what is going on with your children and what it means for their lives.

No one can do that.

Part of raising a sn child is making peace with the not knowing.

That is a very nice quote... that last line. Love it.

Tammy

[SpottedFoxx]

Part of raising a sn child is making peace with the not knowing.

How very very true.

[Mama2Xander]

Originally Posted by BetsyNY

Not really sure how things work in Canada, but here's my experience: a diagnosis doesn't always mean clarity (and I'm sorry if I'm misunderstanding you)--but IMO there's nothing that you could do *with* a diagnosis that you can't do without one.

Example--the sensory stuff. *Just* SPD is huge, and the fact that he's not getting any OT means that it's not getting addressed. I know it's expensive, but have you read The Out of Sync Child? What about an OT consult, just to get you pointed in the right direction...

Looking at what you describe (and I'm not a professional), my take is that there is a long continuum of "normal" at four years old. Having accidents at four can of course be normal. Impulse control might improve, but it might not. Having a sibling diagnosed with autism would tip my hand towards "not normal," you know what I mean?

You are right that a diagnosis often does not change things, but it can be helpful for some reasons. For example, some services, and some supports at school are ONLY available with a diagnosis. We are getting to the point where he may be excluded from preschool soon due to the lack of potty training (he was supposed to be completely out of diapers before starting in the fall, but they were OK with pullups "in case of accident" for "the first few months"). I *think* (but could be wrong) that if he has a medical reason, he would be allowed to continue. I do need to check into that further though.

We did look into getting an OT consult but even just the consult was going to be $650 plus tax. We've done quite a bit of reading and just do what we can at home.

Originally Posted by SpottedFoxx

Mama - your son has a lot of similar traits to my son. Here's the thing. Your son is quite young and many of the things you mention can be totally normal behavior (switching words like truckfire is quite normal) but even if he was dyslexic... he's just too young to diagnose. Same goes with ADHD.

My son also has a few things going on... speech delay (his articulation is extremely delayed), some sensory issues which tend to go toward the mild side, possible central auditory processing disorder and/or ADHD.

We are just tackling the things we can tackle when we can tackle them. He receives speech therapy small group 2x a week and large group daily. He gets OT small group 1x a week and large group daily. (this is all through his school). We are hiring a speech therapist for the summer so he can go to camp and we can keep him moving forward with his speech. We'll work with him on his OT.

The most important person we see is a behavioral therapist. He counsels my husband and I on how to best parent our son. His expertise is teaching people how to be effective parents and he's been a wonderful asset.

I'd think your first step would be to a developmental pediatrician to get some idea of what your child is experiencing and then take it from there.

Good luck.

That's great that you are able to get so much support for your son! Wow. I wish it was that well set up here.

I totally get that he is way to young to dx dyslexia (or ADHD). The SLP expressed some concern about the fact that DS has several signs that are considered early indicators for possible dyslexia in the future, plus we have a family history (my BIL). She just said that he should be watched carefully when he starts school, but that's a ways off still.

Same with the ADHD - too young for a dx - although FWIW I *don't* think he has ADHD. I was just using the phrase "ADHD-ish" to describe some of his symptoms, since most people understand what that looks like. It's just faster than writing it all out

[Mama2Xander]

Originally Posted by CarrieMF

This is not true, at least not in Alberta or Saskatchewan.

They will bring OT's into the schools & help the teacher, parents & Aides(which is sounds like your son will have in school) come up with ideas to help. It isn't just physical stuff but they will do it with SPD too. In bigger centers the OT's will come in more often, in smaller settings it's the Aides who do the work & the OT's come in at least once a year to get their base reports done & then as requested by the school.

Well, that is what I was told by DS1's school... they said very specifically that the school board OTs do NOT address sensory issues. I even double-checked on this and they were very clear on it.

Originally Posted by CarrieMF

Your son will get ST through the school, again how often depends on the school you're in. In the one I work in ST's only come in to give recommendations. In the schools my kids go to(different city & district), they are in all the schools on a regular basis.

Speech therapy is not offered on an individual basis through the school (at least not DS1's school. Maybe it is different at different schools). Again, I asked them about all of this already, just for future reference. They do not pull kids out of the class to work with them one-on-one. They will have a speech therapist come into the classroom (I think it was once a week?) but he/she would stay at one activity center and work with any kids who come through that center.

Originally Posted by CarrieMF

Both OT & ST in the schools won't be until he is IN school. If he was in playschool then they have their own resources & he could be getting some funding for OT/ST in playschool.

He is in preschool, but the way it works here is that speech therapy is through the community health centers, until age 5. So that is where we go for ST. They do not work with him on it specifically in preschool other than what the teachers might happen to do here and there.

Originally Posted by CarrieMF

Why are you on a break from speech? Was it helping?

That's just the way it's set up here... you have a 45-minute session once a week for about 3 months, and then have a break for 3-4 months. We went October to mid-January, and will start up again in mid-May. Yes, it helps (slowly, lol - but I'm sure that's normal).

Originally Posted by CarrieMF

Some of his issues, the grunting/pointing are more speech related. It's easier for him to do that than it is to request it the way he needs to. Have they done any PEC work with him in speech? The tantrums are speech related. He throws the tantrums because he's frustrated that he can't get what he wants across. Does he have receptive issues too - ie wanting daddy to take shoes off when Dad's at work. Throwing, hitting, kicking, pinching things could be the frustration too.

Putting stuff in his mouth is definitly the sensory seeking.

Mixing words up could be age.

Yes, I agree that many of the issues are speech related. No, they have not done any PEC work. He actually does quite well *in* the ST sessions. Not so well on a daily basis (and yes I have pointed this out). I am not sure if we should still start PEC or something else now?? I certainly would have done so earlier if I had known that the issues would go on for so long! I will ask the ST when we go back next month.

FWIW though he does through tantrums even when we do understand him. A lot of it is the more "unreasonable"-type stuff, like a 2 year old who demands things that are completely impossible and then has a tantrum when you don't do it

I will ask for his receptive speech to be assessed again. Last time he was tested they said it was normal (actually I think he scored a bit above the normal range).

Originally Posted by CarrieMF

The toileting regression could be sensory. he may not notice(or it may not bother him) if he has an accident. Not wanting to wear a diaper/pull up is sensory.

I don't know. I'm sure some of it is sensory. I don't think that's all of it though. The regression concerns me because he was almost completely out of diapers (in the daytime) almost 1 1/2 years ago, and we have literally had NO forward progress since then. Like I said, I'd be happy to just back off for awhile and use diapers full time, but he has just recently decided that he doesn't want to wear one. I don't think *that* is for sensory reasons. He is totally not fussy about clothes AT ALL. My oldest son is very sensitive about that kind of thing, so I do recognize it when I see it, lol. DS2 doesn't care at all about his clothes or how they feel on his body. I think he is quite under-responsive in that regard, and that probably related to all of the accidents.

Originally Posted by CarrieMF

He sounds like he's definitly on the Autism spectrum, moreso than your other son. Alot of what you mention sound like the boy I work with, except the boy I work with is further behind. I'd get him evaluated for Autism.

I actually don't think he's on the spectrum. I know a lot of these things can be spectrum issues, but I REALLY don't see that being the case with him. It was because of him doing so many things "normally" that we realized that DS1 was likely on the spectrum (eg. joint attention, imaginative play, characters, empathy, etc). DS2 did have a *screening* (not an eval) for ASDs when his speech was first assessed, and they did not have any concerns about ASDs or feel like an evaluation was indicated (and I agreed with them).

Gotta go make dinner now, will come back later to answer the rest

[CarrieMF]

We did look into getting an OT consult but even just the consult was going to be $650 plus tax.

I was going to say talk to the school, they will do referrals with the school OT's if you have a child in the school already(especially for one who will be entering soon), however it sounds like the specific school system you're in sucks for special needs & it surprises me for BC. My kids are in the SK system & everything I mentioned above is done through the schools. They're more than willing to help any of the kids. The school system I work in is a rural school in AB and has limited funds(seriously, $250 for the entire year for our school's special needs kids which there were 5 SN needs kids 3 who were severe). We have had OT's, ST's & behaviour psychologists come in & give us suggestions. The ST was the least helpful & I really hope I don't have to see her again.

Stopping ST for 3-4 months allows for ALOT of regression.

[Mama2Xander]

Originally Posted by quaz

The one question I have for you, is that if your older son is receiving homeopathic remedies, then why not just try it with your younger son if you are considering the possibility of being the spectrum? The reality is that even if kids don't have a larger pervasive issue, they can still benefit from various forms of therapy.

Yes, I should have mentioned that we have recently started seeing the homeopath for DS2 as well. It can be quite a long process though to find the right remedy (and then the right dosage schedule), so I'm still looking into other stuff in the meantime.

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by Mama2Xander

You are right that a diagnosis often does not change things, but it can be helpful for some reasons. For example, some services, and some supports at school are ONLY available with a diagnosis. We are getting to the point where he may be excluded from preschool soon due to the lack of potty training (he was supposed to be completely out of diapers before starting in the fall, but they were OK with pullups "in case of accident" for "the first few months"). I *think* (but could be wrong) that if he has a medical reason, he would be allowed to continue. I do need to check into that further though.

I totally get where you are coming from. For my DD, having a dx means that the school can make a different set of rules for her, rules that help her succeed. Without a dx, they couldn't do that, and she would both be a complete basket case and fail some of her classes.

I don't know how it works for preschool -- either here or in Canada. For school aged kids, private schools are not required to make any accommodations here. Public schools, on the other hand, must provide an appropriate education in the most unrestricted environment.

I'd check into what a dx could get him. Could you get the same things with just a note from a doctor?

[Mama2Xander]

Originally Posted by goobergrl6

A lot of this sounds like my 4,.5 yo. He had a large speach delay (just came back and other then sentance structure which was 3 yrs 2 months, everything else scored under 3).He gets ST at school and we will be geting him private as well in the next few weeks. He has sensory issues (we are getting him seem by an OT at Kennedy Krieger in May). He is not at ALL potty trained. I have gotten him to sit on the potty 4x in his LIFE. He throws MAJOR fits. Very much 2 yo fits on a much larger 4 yo scale. He yells "NO MOMMY!" about 100X a day to DH even if DH just says hi to him. Asking him to do something (like clean up the blocks) is pointless, he either doesn't understand what you are asking or refuses to do it. He also hits, kicks, ect. He does not get things sometime. Like we went to the park the other day, we were done and he got in his seat. All was fine....then we started driving away and he kept yelling "WANT SLIDE! WANT SLIDE! MOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMY!" and yelling. I would tell him we are all done at the park and this fit went on for 45 mins! This happens more then I want to admit. He HAS to have a certain plate to eat at home ect. ect.
I second what a pp said about a behavioral psychitrist. We go to see one on the 28th. I can not WAIT! Really I think this will be one of the best days of my life. We need this SO BAD! I know I am a GREAT mom. I know I am doing my best, my other 2 kids are GREAT kids (so is William but he is more challenging). However with William we just need some more insite. We need to know what to do during a meltdown, or a fit, or ifit is defience or not understanding ect. I really can not wait.
I often refer to him as a 2 yo in a 4 yo body. He very much still seems 2 in behavior. He is SMART. He knows some letters and numbers and shapes. As soon as speech helps him with the words he just goes to town. He can do puzzles like you would not believe. Motor skills are great...it is just the other stuff. Hang in there mama. I know how rough it is.

It does sound like you are dealing with very similar issues! Good luck with your evaluation, I hope it is helpful for you.

Originally Posted by Linda on the move

I'm always a fan of getting evaluations. Always.

However, I feel that you are wanting more clarity than you will get and that you'll have more peace of mind when you let go of the idea that some one can tell you exactly what is going on with your children and what it means for their lives.

No one can do that.

Part of raising a sn child is making peace with the not knowing.

I totally get your point here, and I do know what you mean. It is always a good thing to keep in mind. However, that is actually not what I was asking for

I completely understand that no one can say *exactly* what the issue is, or what it means. I am just wanting to know if there is *something* wrong or not. Even if it is just a "diagnosis" of "developmental delays". Or however they word it. I just want to know if there is a problem or not, and if there is something else we should be doing about it. Does that seem reasonable? (<that is not meant to be snarky!)

My other thoughts on this are:
1. As I mentioned above, we are heading towards the possibility of him being excluded from some activities (potentially including preschool) due to the lack of potty-training. He will not be able to attend any of the summer activities like DS1 did/does, because the children are required to be diaper-free. However, in some cases it is possible to have special accommodations made for children with special needs. I just want to know if he qualifies as "special needs" or not - ie. does he have *some* diagnosis to possibly explain these issues.
2. With some kind of official diagnosis we *may* be able to access (or at least apply for) special funding so that we could do some therapies (speech, OT, etc) on a private basis, which we cannot currently afford. It probably wouldn't be a lot, but it might help.
3. Uh... darn it, I know there was something else... I'll post later if I remember