Yes
Posted By: (sm) on 2007-11-01
In Reply to: anyone have a very independent, hard-headed kid??? sm - exhausted
When my son was small he used to bang his head a lot, and whenever we would discuss it with his pediatrician she always said that it was normal and a lot of kids do that. It was not until his 3-year well child check that she referred us to Babies Can't Wait and said that if they were unable to help us because of his age, which was the case, then they would help direct us to where we should take him. They then directed us to the county school system to have an evaluation done, which was done by a team of about five people, most of whom basically just played with him (evaluating) while one sat in the same room and asked my husband and me questions about our son. Aside from the headbanging, he was meeting all developmental milestones, albeit a little more slowly than his brother had, still within normal ranges. At that time, they diagnosed autism. We would never have guessed that would be what they would diagnose and it was, of course, devastating. We had been concerned that he would cause himself brain damage, as he was very intent on doing this. For example, if we could see he was about to bang his head and would run across the room to try to stop him, he would do a 180 shift and would bang it anyway. He did not seem satisfied unless he caused himself to cry, but we also had seen him apparently "test" flooring in new places by hitting his head lightly, as if he were making sure if he had a tantrum he could bang his head and be okay. We had an independent evaluation done at the Marcus Institute, where they diagnosed PDD-NOS, and they suggested that we needed to apply for SS, as treatment could get expensive, and the doctor who evaluated him for SS purposes diagnosed moderate to severe autism. Now, at age 11, he is doing great and his educational diagnosis has been changed to Aspergar's syndrome(school reevaluates every three years at least, but can be more often if any of us see a need for it). He is very smart and is working towards being in regular ed classes, with his behavior being the barrier right now. Reading skills tested at 9th grade level last year (5th grade) with comprehension at 5th grade level. He does the regular ed work for all classes.
Anyway, the point of my post is to first offer {{{HUGS}}} to you and tell you that you are not alone in what you are dealing with, but you do need support. My post is not meant to scare you at all, but to suggest that you should consider an evaluation. If there is a problem, the earlier it is found out and dealt with the better the chances for a successful outcome.
If I did not have my husband I don't know that I could have made it through, although he used to work a part-time job at night back then and, like you, I was the one dealing with the children in the evenings and they were in daycare during the day, as I worked an outside job too at that time.
Good luck whatever you decide, and I hope you'll post back to let us know how you're all doing.
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