I’m a school psychologist, and what you expressed about Sadie’s first autism evaluation is exactly why I dislike relying on the ADOS! The rigid scoring system it requires can lead an evaluator to end up missing significant symptoms (like how Sadie’s play was so scripted - the evaluator would’ve known that if they had included a parent interview). As an evaluator, you aren’t “allowed” to include extraneous info (really anything that happens outside the ADOS testing session) when you’re scoring the ADOS. I’ve noticed the ADOS missing other girls with autism due to their tendency to copy others’ play and “mask,” as you said. This is why evaluators should be doing much more comprehensive evals, which might INCLUDE the ADOS, but do not rely on those results alone or treat them as the most important aspect of assessment. Anyway, I love to see how much you love and embrace Sadie and her siblings - all parts of them! And I’m so glad Sadie eventually got the diagnosis she knew in her heart “fit” her.
I was diagnosed at 20 years old. I wish I was diagnosed at 11. I started self harming a lot and had some suicide attempts. It wouldn't have happened if I had the proper care I needed.
I think the commenter misunderstood her “using her allowance” I understood it as, she was so adamant about it she would help pay for it. The poor child just wanted answers as to why she was different than others her age. People on the spectrum are very aware, they just have difficulty expressing it “typically”. And not everyone on the spectrum needs therapy, often times they just need more time and explanation. My son, now 21, had minimal therapy. The therapy focused on things like riding a bike and tying shoes. My son to this day cannot do either, but he has a job and graduated high school on time with his “typical” peers. He could have and still can go to college, he has just chosen not to.
Good luck to you and your family. I know it can be so frustrating. I saw Sadie's developmental pediatrician who had been making the referral since she was six yesterday, and told her we finally got the diagnosis (Sadie hadn't seen her in a few years) and she said "Finally! It took them long enough!" I wish these things were easier.
@@Autmazing Sorry to inform you, but not everyone knows everything about Autism. I was diagnosed with Asperger's in 2007 at the age of 19 and still get told you don't look Autistic. I was even told by a recover nurse Asperger's isn't autism so sadly not so much is known by everyone.
That’s true Katie. But the people making the diagnosis should be knowledgeable. I expect ignorance about all sorts of things in my day to day life, but people making the diagnosis should stay up to date.
Honestly when she described asking to get and evaluation and offering to save and pay for it, it reminded me of being nervous to ask for something as a child and saying I'd save my money and do chores for it. I felt like I knew exactly what that moment was like for her because it so effectively took me back to moments like that from my childhood. I thought that mentioning that in the story was a very important and a key detail in terms of understanding how she felt. It was beautiful and real and without that detail I don't think it would have been quite as easy to feel the moment with her. 💜
I'm 27 and yet I still haven't been professionally evaluated. 🙃(Yay for for systematic racism) Long story short I'm so glad that Sadie got her answers.
I think it's good I wasn't diagnosed earlier, in the 90s I feel like my "therapy" would have caused more harm than good, plus I may not have been pushed as much or had expectations, maybe I'd have been a lot less able than I am now.
I went through speech therapy and OT as a kid for many of my issues that sound similar to Sadie's and through high school was in special ed. As an adult first unexpectedly diagnosed in 2002 with Asperger's and due to losing records, and needing work accommodations I just got assessed (to some degree, not a super deep method, it was a couple hours of interviews) as autistic again, as well as ADHD, and I learned recently, it's not the most common to have aphantasia (I didn't realize it was normal to daydream, or actually fully visualize things while awake) in addition to my other issues. From all I know of ABA especially that which involves aversives, had I been stuck in that, there would have been some "therapists" with a shortened life, if I could identify how to do so. I recognized I needed to stim just to process, so keeping me from doing that by itself would have a natural result of that energy going to resolving the problem. Sadie is a very special young lady of great seriousness. I hope she can find environments where she doesn't feel a need to mask, because masking is a slow-motion form of suislide (deliberate misspelling) likely to first cause burnout. I hope she never experiences that, it's horrid.
In some ways I'm glad I wasn't diagnosed when I was younger because I imagine my parents would have been pressured to put me into therapies beyond the speech therapy I was already doing. I do wish I understood myself better when I was younger though. I'd have liked to be diagnosed before middle school but after I had enough of a voice to speak for myself. Still have several months before I hopefully get my official diagnosis, and so far it hasn't been great. I saw a paediatrician last year who definitely didn't know autism beyond non-verbal and he actually put false information in the referral, making me sound less autistic. I think that lowered my expectations significantly, but I'm still hopeful.
As a mom I really love this. I also am kinda glad my son was diagnosed later (age 6) if he had been diagnosed at 2-3 I might have missed so much time with him, putting him in therapies that he may not need, and might possibly hurt him or change him. He also would have never met his best friend (1/2 day school, his mom's my friend now) who really took care of Edward and guided him if we had been doing 30+ hours of therapy. He does OT and ST which is nice, but not life consuming. I think having the diagnoses helps me being more understanding.
I was diagnosed in my mid twenties, no regrets. Maybe i would be someone else when diagnosed earlier, but don't want to be someone else, so i don't regret being diagnosed late. I now understand myself better, i understand my past better, but don't think it would be a good idea to trouble my thoughts with "what could..."
Female autistic people often struggle to get diagnosed because they are able to cope the social interactions way better and often don't get more than a 3min chance before the people judge.
I got diagnosed at 14, while the suspection to autism already stood in room for 6 years then. I'm 17 by now, and I am always like: "why didn't they go for the diagnosis since the suspection?" But I fairly have to say that my mom understood the suspection as a diognosis, so I already knew that I am autistic since I was 8 years old
What a mess it wasnt your falut. And I know how frustrating it can be. And I know all the red tape you have too go through. And I know how it is. Your an amazing mother keep what your doing. Its amazing your wonderful .treila
Having issue with speaking. I had speach theropy because I couldn't say sp, th, and gr. No dx of what I had. It really hard for girls and women to get an ADD dx.
I don't know about Sadie, but I had OT as a kid with no diagnosis, just recognized sensory issues and anxiety. Enough professionals recommended it that it wasn't an issue. I wasn't diagnosed with autism until age 15, but plenty of people said I was "on the spectrum" long before that.
@@evag-s5177 Sure, so I was wondering what they identified with Sadie when she was little... any kind of identified sensory issues or issues with praxis/motor skills etc. in order for her to go to OT (considering they said she wasn't on the spectrum).
@bebespeaks SMH so we cant say stim or stimming now?🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️ Sorry, that's ridiculous to me. I think the autism word police do more harm than good. There is no central worldwide autism police or law department. It comes down to personal preference.
Sadie is perfectly herself. I was so elated to see how proud she was of her new diagnosis. Personally, I was thrilled for her.
I’m a school psychologist, and what you expressed about Sadie’s first autism evaluation is exactly why I dislike relying on the ADOS! The rigid scoring system it requires can lead an evaluator to end up missing significant symptoms (like how Sadie’s play was so scripted - the evaluator would’ve known that if they had included a parent interview). As an evaluator, you aren’t “allowed” to include extraneous info (really anything that happens outside the ADOS testing session) when you’re scoring the ADOS. I’ve noticed the ADOS missing other girls with autism due to their tendency to copy others’ play and “mask,” as you said. This is why evaluators should be doing much more comprehensive evals, which might INCLUDE the ADOS, but do not rely on those results alone or treat them as the most important aspect of assessment. Anyway, I love to see how much you love and embrace Sadie and her siblings - all parts of them! And I’m so glad Sadie eventually got the diagnosis she knew in her heart “fit” her.
I was diagnosed at 20 years old. I wish I was diagnosed at 11. I started self harming a lot and had some suicide attempts. It wouldn't have happened if I had the proper care I needed.
I think the commenter misunderstood her “using her allowance” I understood it as, she was so adamant about it she would help pay for it. The poor child just wanted answers as to why she was different than others her age. People on the spectrum are very aware, they just have difficulty expressing it “typically”. And not everyone on the spectrum needs therapy, often times they just need more time and explanation. My son, now 21, had minimal therapy. The therapy focused on things like riding a bike and tying shoes. My son to this day cannot do either, but he has a job and graduated high school on time with his “typical” peers. He could have and still can go to college, he has just chosen not to.
This story actually gives me hope. We had one passed ados but we had AN AMAZING day! Fighting for a second one
Good luck to you and your family. I know it can be so frustrating. I saw Sadie's developmental pediatrician who had been making the referral since she was six yesterday, and told her we finally got the diagnosis (Sadie hadn't seen her in a few years) and she said "Finally! It took them long enough!" I wish these things were easier.
@@Autmazing Sorry to inform you, but not everyone knows everything about Autism. I was diagnosed with Asperger's in 2007 at the age of 19 and still get told you don't look Autistic. I was even told by a recover nurse Asperger's isn't autism so sadly not so much is known by everyone.
That’s true Katie. But the people making the diagnosis should be knowledgeable. I expect ignorance about all sorts of things in my day to day life, but people making the diagnosis should stay up to date.
Honestly when she described asking to get and evaluation and offering to save and pay for it, it reminded me of being nervous to ask for something as a child and saying I'd save my money and do chores for it.
I felt like I knew exactly what that moment was like for her because it so effectively took me back to moments like that from my childhood.
I thought that mentioning that in the story was a very important and a key detail in terms of understanding how she felt.
It was beautiful and real and without that detail I don't think it would have been quite as easy to feel the moment with her. 💜
Our son was diagnosed just before his 12th birthday and I’m so glad he wasn’t diagnosed earlier. Thanks for sharing this video!
I'm 27 and yet I still haven't been professionally evaluated. 🙃(Yay for for systematic racism)
Long story short I'm so glad that Sadie got her answers.
Have you still not gotten one? I'm 28 and same
I think it's good I wasn't diagnosed earlier, in the 90s I feel like my "therapy" would have caused more harm than good, plus I may not have been pushed as much or had expectations, maybe I'd have been a lot less able than I am now.
I went through speech therapy and OT as a kid for many of my issues that sound similar to Sadie's and through high school was in special ed. As an adult first unexpectedly diagnosed in 2002 with Asperger's and due to losing records, and needing work accommodations I just got assessed (to some degree, not a super deep method, it was a couple hours of interviews) as autistic again, as well as ADHD, and I learned recently, it's not the most common to have aphantasia (I didn't realize it was normal to daydream, or actually fully visualize things while awake) in addition to my other issues.
From all I know of ABA especially that which involves aversives, had I been stuck in that, there would have been some "therapists" with a shortened life, if I could identify how to do so. I recognized I needed to stim just to process, so keeping me from doing that by itself would have a natural result of that energy going to resolving the problem.
Sadie is a very special young lady of great seriousness. I hope she can find environments where she doesn't feel a need to mask, because masking is a slow-motion form of suislide (deliberate misspelling) likely to first cause burnout. I hope she never experiences that, it's horrid.
In some ways I'm glad I wasn't diagnosed when I was younger because I imagine my parents would have been pressured to put me into therapies beyond the speech therapy I was already doing. I do wish I understood myself better when I was younger though. I'd have liked to be diagnosed before middle school but after I had enough of a voice to speak for myself. Still have several months before I hopefully get my official diagnosis, and so far it hasn't been great. I saw a paediatrician last year who definitely didn't know autism beyond non-verbal and he actually put false information in the referral, making me sound less autistic. I think that lowered my expectations significantly, but I'm still hopeful.
As a mom I really love this.
I also am kinda glad my son was diagnosed later (age 6) if he had been diagnosed at 2-3 I might have missed so much time with him, putting him in therapies that he may not need, and might possibly hurt him or change him. He also would have never met his best friend (1/2 day school, his mom's my friend now) who really took care of Edward and guided him if we had been doing 30+ hours of therapy. He does OT and ST which is nice, but not life consuming. I think having the diagnoses helps me being more understanding.
I actually recently found your channel through the video about Sadie's diagnosis and I'm so glad that I did!
I was diagnosed in my mid twenties, no regrets.
Maybe i would be someone else when diagnosed earlier, but don't want to be someone else, so i don't regret being diagnosed late. I now understand myself better, i understand my past better, but don't think it would be a good idea to trouble my thoughts with "what could..."
Female autistic people often struggle to get diagnosed because they are able to cope the social interactions way better and often don't get more than a 3min chance before the people judge.
I got diagnosed at 14, while the suspection to autism already stood in room for 6 years then. I'm 17 by now, and I am always like: "why didn't they go for the diagnosis since the suspection?" But I fairly have to say that my mom understood the suspection as a diognosis, so I already knew that I am autistic since I was 8 years old
I took it exactly how you did, your children are developing beautifully.
What a mess it wasnt your falut. And I know how frustrating it can be. And I know all the red tape you have too go through. And I know how it is. Your an amazing mother keep what your doing. Its amazing your wonderful .treila
How did she get speech and OT without a diagnosis? (Curious bc in the UK it’s really hard to access anything without one!)
Having issue with speaking. I had speach theropy because I couldn't say sp, th, and gr. No dx of what I had. It really hard for girls and women to get an ADD dx.
I don't know about Sadie, but I had OT as a kid with no diagnosis, just recognized sensory issues and anxiety. Enough professionals recommended it that it wasn't an issue. I wasn't diagnosed with autism until age 15, but plenty of people said I was "on the spectrum" long before that.
@@evag-s5177 Sure, so I was wondering what they identified with Sadie when she was little... any kind of identified sensory issues or issues with praxis/motor skills etc. in order for her to go to OT (considering they said she wasn't on the spectrum).
What are some of Sadie’s stims?
Saf Richards the word is “stims”, or better yet “stimming behaviors”.
Bebe Speaks thank you for the correction.
The most noticeable are probably flapping and pacing! She rarely stops moving. ☺️
Autmazing Thank you for replying back to me. 😇
@bebespeaks SMH so we cant say stim or stimming now?🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️ Sorry, that's ridiculous to me.
I think the autism word police do more harm than good. There is no central worldwide autism police or law department. It comes down to personal preference.
Sounds like the social worker needs to go.
Ahhhh how selfless. How coool.she sure have a huge ❤ art
If she didn't have a diagnosis, how would she get harmful therapy?
Were you able to compare your girls' development to your boys'? Very different?
I love your videos keep making videos please take you📲😎😆😃😂😇☺️😀😃😊😂😁😄