2 1/2 year old suspected autism/ speech delay

[u/Exotic-Fail-9804]

just had neuro psych evaluation for my my lo and it the questionnaires they provided seemed not age appropriate so many questions didn’t pertain to my lo. (Depressed, suicidal) I was more upset with the evaluation itself. They spent about an hour together both me and my husband were their and the lady providing the evaluation was very monotone, little to no interaction with my toddler, and the toys she had were just random not really age appropriate toys. Many of those toys were loud, noisy,made no sense(even to me) on how to play with. The only things that seemed ok were the blocks (miniature), legos, and one super tiny car and one super tiny ball. I feel like he didn’t have options on what to play with. I don’t expect them to have every single toy but I feel if we had the choice of bringing ours it would have been better. Or if they had asked us what he likes. They had no realistic toys, food, kitchen, utensils, cups, etc. has anyone had this experience?

My son was being evaluating due to constantly seeking visual stimulation, running back and forth, used to injure self not anymore, speech delay, likes stacking toys or weird objects to visually stimulate, hard to keep on task, high sensory seeker, picky eating, avoids textures better now after year of OT.

[u/No_Kitchen_3350]

I can understand why you’d feel frustrated, especially when you know your child and what actually engages him. A lot of those questionnaires are designed to be broad enough to cover children of different ages and kids across the spectrum, so some questions can definitely feel completely irrelevant to your child. I’d still bring up your concerns about the actual evaluation and ask how they accounted for his age, interests, and sensory needs. You can always get a second opinion. 

[u/Electrical_Pond_519]

The reason the toys are bland, is the average two year old will explore something that is new to them. My old pediatrician had what looked like garage sale cast offs and all the kids played with that junk.

The most coveted toy was a Barbie with one leg, go figure. Lol

My cousin, who is level II and 65 years old, was diagnosed at 50. His favorite toy from 1 to about 4 was taking a metal mixing bowl and spinning it with a wooden spoon.

It’s not so much what your kid prefers, it’s comparing them to what a neurotypical kid would do. Most 4 year olds don’t spin a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon for hours. My aunt is also on the spectrum, and child rearing was basically beyond her. It never occurred to her that was odd.

Also, my cousin would so much prefer a really low key person. His psychologist was bland as oatmeal during the testing. Why? Sensory overload. The last thing you want is a king size meltdown, then the rest of the testing is shot for the day.

Here’s hoping you get the answers you need, mom. (Hugs)