AboutJames Michael Roan Expertise Expertise: Expertise: I can provide information on autism and Asperger`s syndrome. I cannot and will not attempt to diagnose at any time. I can answer general questions related to assessment and educational planning.
Experience I have specialized in the area of autism for nearly 9 years.
Education/Credentials M.Ed. School Psychology
M.Ed Adult Education
Past/Present Clients Children aged 2-18 diagnosed with autism, Pdd-NOS, and Asperger's Disorder.
I have a twenty month old son. We became concerned after he stopped saying 3-4 words (mama, baba, hi dada) at 17 months and the most of the time he does not respond to his name. We had him evaluated via First Steps and he benchmarked at or above in all categories with the exception of communication (I will say we were not overly impressed with the evaluation process) and they recommended one hour a week of speech therapy.
I was still not convinced so we had him evaluated by a highly regarding/experienced ABA therapist. Her take was he is extremely social, excellent eye contact, and very good play skills with toys. In addition recently he has begun using his index finger to point at a number of things but I’m not sure it’s necessarily used for joint attention (as I understand that term). He interacts with our two older sons and will approach other children/play next to them, etc. When I asked the therapist her thoughts she said she typically does not like to say but she thinks he’s going to be fine.
We went ahead and enrolled him in 5 hours a week of ABA therapy (one hour specifically devoted to speech). It’s been about a month and I guess we’ve seen small signs of progress ---- will many times say hi or wave bye, has started saying Mama again and as mentioned uses his index finger frequently. We’ve also had his hearing tested and everything checked out ok ----interestingly enough he turned his head almost every time to the correct side while they were whispering his name in the sound booth. The pediatric ENT asked us why we were there and we mentioned concerns over autism ---- while he stated he certainly does not diagnose autism he does see a lot of autistic children and did not feel he displayed any outward autistic symptoms.
The only other potential red flag we’ve seen is his receptive language skills seem to be pretty weak and he will occasionally flap his arms when he gets excited and we will notice every now and then he walks on his toes.
We’ve now had three people (First Steps, ABA therapist and ENT) look at him and while no one is willing to say he’s fine ---- all three feel like he’ll be ok.
We are still continuing the ABA and speech therapy but I guess my question is given what I’ve disclosed here (all due respect to the people we have seen) is it realistic that this could be anything other than a condition on the spectrum and if so what could it be?
Answer Hi Clark;
I do not diagnose either. There is always the slim chance your son has a very high functioning form of autism like Asperger's syndrome (AS), but I doubt it. A recent research article reported that 20 percent of typically developing children show stereotypies such as flapping. He may be less social than others or has a social delay and that may be catching your attention. In any case the current intervention program should work really well with him. Social and communication development go hand-in-hand. A delay in one results in a delay in the other.
Kind regards,
James
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Bio
James Roan is a certified school psychologist who has been consulting in the areas of autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, and learning difficulties in the United States and in Ireland for over ten years (http://www.jamesroan.com). James earned his M.Ed. in School Psychology and M. Ed. in Adult Education and receives ongoing post graduate training in autism at the University of Washington’s Autism Center. James Roan has traveled to Galway, Limerick, Mayo, Clare, Dublin, Cork, Waterford, and other cities and counties across Ireland assessing children and adults, and consulting with solicitors (lawyers) in defense of children with disabilities. James Roan was the consulting assessment professional responsible for many of the autism and AD/HD screening tools and other content for Access Special Needs.Com. James Roan consulted with the graduate department of the Waterford Institute of Technology in Waterford Ireland in the development of their graduate program for the certification of private autism tutors. James has conducted formal assessments of students in the Autism Unit in the Claddagh National School in County Galway Ireland.
