Can You Predict How a 2-year-old with Autism Will Do at Age 8 or 18?

Today I'm discussing my son Lucas' autism diagnosis & answering the question: cna you predict how a 2-year-old with Autism will do at age 8 or 18?

[kimberlymahurin-methodofho]

You can’t predict anyone’s outcome in life. But you can get super good at filling in the gaps. I didn’t use ABA but I was able to successfully help my son eliminate all severe challenges and now he is 23.

[lizl]

Thank you for your video Mary, I appreciate it so much as yesterday was a bad day for me. My son, Alex is in early intervention and was told that he has autism and they believe it to be moderate. He is 25 months old. Now this is not an official diagnosis as this was a developmental interventionist and speech therapist who told me that he would be diagnosed as such. I’m on a long wait list to get that diagnosis.

I was told by the speech therapist that my son will remain at a moderate level and he will never progress from that which was a bombshell to me. She also said he will most likely only have a functional job such as at Walmart but probably won’t go to school beyond high school. This saddened me so much. I accept my son as autistic because I understand that is how his brain is wired but I intend to seek intensive ABA therapy so that he may progress because I do have hope that he will excel. I’m not too concerned about the behavioral aspect since he sleeps well, doesn’t have gastrointestinal issues, and he does stink by rocking back and forth and flapping his hands occasionally but nothing that I’m too concerned about. It’s the fact that he’s nonverbal that saddens me which is why I want that side of him to blossom! I’ll be checking out your workshop. Thank you for the video!

[nicolehirtenkauf]

Thank you for this video. I have been seeking for a diagnosis for my son since he was about one year old. Now he is four and has been treated by psycologists as if he was just a shy kid with selective mutism. The problem is that now (he is four now) things got really out of control. Sometimes me and my husband even cry when we see our son going through so much pain. Well now that things got out of control the doctors finally believe us and he is gonna start ABA intervention here in Brazil.

[bryanwilkinson]

With me and my wife both working just to survive. 20 hours is a tall ask. We have a son who n is autistic. We have aba but it has been difficult to find the time needed. Learning ourselves not to deal with it. But instead try to teach and help him move along and grow as well.

[HellzBellz]

Yep, I look back at 2 and 3 years old when I wwould think to myself how satisfied and neat my daughter my daughter was and that we dodged a bullet by her not having severe autism and it was just a little bump in the road....i could kick myself for being so naive and content I was at the time. Now, my daughter is 5 years old. She isn't potty trained. She doesn't speak unless she wants to but it's only one word and never a formal sentence. She has a helmet now because she started bashing her head on whatever surface she could find. She hits and kicks everybody else but me...but just the other day she punched and slapped me in the face. So that " sanctuary" is slowly fading away and adding one more issue to my already huge pile of daily issues lol There's no amount of words, hugs, cuddles, rocking, or attempting to soothe her and tell her she's going to be alright when shes upset and has a meltdown. I am nothing special to her and I don't stand out in a line up or group of people. I know I sound selfish because shes the one with more challenges in her life than usual. I would do anything to experience what it's like and how it makes you feel inside. Just once....then I can die a happy old woman.

[melissadenherder]

Thank you. This was so helpful and reassuring that I'm doing the right things. 22mo baby boy diagnosed and I'm doing intensive aba.

[robertgabelman]

20 years experience as an SLP, I find it very difficult to believe psychologists cannot establish predictors for distinct outcomes (e.g. symbolic play abilities, echolalia vs. Non-verbal child). Accurate description severity at dx has critical implications for academic placement. If a child is severe, he really better be severe. Child better not be mildly affected in a small ratio class.

[analynsupan]

my son is 2 hours a week OT and 2 hrs a week for one on one special ed?so i depend on all the things i watched (like your videos ) that i can possibly apply every day because it is very expensive here.(i hope im doing the right ways)with all your advices here

[analiza]

My daughter is a 3year old .I had her checked up by a private pediatrician when she was 1yr old.she dont know how to walk, and talk or say mama or dada when she was 1 and dont have her eye contact .When we had her checked by a pedia, the doctor told us that all of her motor skill is working.She was not diagnosed.
Now she was 3 yrs old, she can now walk since she was 2yr old.But she can't speak fluently and have less eye contact when i dont distract her with things she likes or interested.

[choctailnycliqueurtruffle]

So what is Lucas like now? How is he doing?

[leeleee]

My son is 2 with autism and I cannot get much speech therapy for him because the are booked it's very hard here in Jamaica when you have a child with special needs there are not much available to us especially when you don't have that much money

[sadafzahra]

Good work ma'am.... GOD bless u. U r jst amazing.

[st-kozo]

My dd was a covid lockdown time baby and when first saw busy roads and lights she showed sensory issues, had tantrums and ran here and there like a wild animal when taken to public places...but now at 4 many of the symptoms are gone(without any formal behavioral intervention but we did reduced screen time)...she is well behaved in public places and enjoys. Sleeps well, rarely get sick, no digestive issue, v interested in rhymes and play based learning.Knows alphabets and numbers and colors and many words.but no proper sentences yet.The only delay she has now is in her speech. she is into therapy.

[AnnGoslinn]

Since Lucas was born, you educated yourself and are very professionaly active. How much time did you spend with Lucas daily during different stages of his life?

[lisalumongsod]

good day! i have a son and he is running 8 years old this coming july, we discover that he has something wrong with his behaviors and difficulty of speech and socializing other people at the age of 5 years old, we both my husband have no idea about this autism, so we decided to bring him in the specialist last 2019 but the schedule given was by next year 2020 since we only have 2 specialist in our city. 2020 is a year of pandemic so we are not grab the chance to take him to thw doctor because of this covid pandemic. Year 2021 we decided again to schedule him again but schedulw given is 2022 November month, so until now we are waiting for his schedule for diagnose, and until now our son has a bit difficulty of speech and cooedination. Is 8 years old very alarming? can you tell me what are we going to do for this? thankyou.

[YellowheadHomestead]

When you say a child needs 20+ hours of intense ABA therapy, is that something that can be done throughout the day with their parent? Or do you mean 20 hours with a BCBA?

[ffn]

Hi, my son is 5 and just got diagnosed with ASD level 1-2. His doctor said he doesn’t require ABA therapy and just SLP and group social therapy. How often would you recommend this to occur especially in COVID times. Thanks for answering

[sowbhagyalokanath]

My son 2.9 years old. Since he was not talking I went to doc they suggested me speech therapy for 1 hour thrice a week. He still didn't confirm whether it's autism bcoz after examining he said it might be due to less parent child interaction. Also due to covid for almost 6-8 months we didn't go outside he didn't get play with children or to socialize. Am afraid so much n praying God to become my child as other children.

[denisf.]

Hi Mary, i have to say very good video for many parents to really watch, and listen to what your saying as in my opinion, i think can be very helpfull toward determining if their child has any autism so they can realize how important it is to get a head start on treatment of the autism giving the child the best chance at recovery early on, i thank you for bringing such a great important video on, love Denny😘💛🙏💙

[leeleee]

I of to be sending him to daycare because I cannot get appointment for him to get speech therapy and I teach him at home when I leave work and on weekends but it's hard