My kiddo was "red flagged" for autism at 2 since the doctor wanted to wait to officially diagnose him at 3 yrs old. I still do not understand why they chose to go that route since my kiddo had autism signs way before he was 2. It did not matter in any case since he was still able to receive therapies approved by his insurance.

Yes only after age three it’s better to discuss the severity. Brain rewiring is fast till age 3 and so we can expect the change in the symptoms they have .....which inturn confirms the change in severity level also.

I feel they can probably diagnose this stuff (or we can, given the unusual tantrums our kids have- even when they are babies) around age 1. I hate the -wait til 3 - approach because it’s too late by then, since it takes 6 mos to 1 year to set up all the therapies. 1-5 years old are crucial development times and 2-3 years old kids should be getting early intervention support. We are one of the only disability groups where you have to jump through hoops and Drs are reluctant to give diagnosis to because they feel it’s difficult to diagnose at a young age. Twins get help and support right away when they are born because they are considered high risk and receive early intervention services, and the results are excellent. Imagine if our kids could get diagnosed at 1, how we could help them develop good eating and nutrition habits, start services at 1.5 or 2 years old. I strongly believe the current system is failing us.

Yes, I did have that experience, and it's very irritating!!!! Worse yet, the original diagnosis was hand written. The doctor who diagnosed my daughter moved from NY to OR (I think). I asked the Developmental Ped. my daughter saw most recently (who has now moved to CA!) what Daphne's severity level is, and she said "level 3". I asked her to put it in writing, and we have it ...somewhere.

I agree that (at least in my opinion) they might not be able to tell at age 2. A lot of kids with Autism really start talking at around age 5. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case with my daughter. She has made a lot of progress in other ways, however.

The hours are for ABA only by the professional. Everything else is separate and in addition to the ABA hours.