Diagnosis
Making an early diagnosis of autistic disorders is very important for both a child and the child’s parents. A child’s development results from the process of maturing and learning. Therefore, the most effective are therapies on preschoolers or even younger children. Such early interventions give autistic children a chance to function better later on in their lives. Early treatment helps to avoid problems secondary to autistic disorders and stemming from the fact that a child was not dealt with properly in earlier periods of its life. For parents, hearing a diagnosis means hearing the long-searched-for answer to the question: “why is my child different from its peers?” The period of uncertainty is over and the parents are finally able to focus their efforts on finding the best forms of help for their child.
As it has been explained above, the precondition of an efficient therapy is an early made diagnosis. It is best if a child is diagnosed as autistic before the age of three. Experience of many Polish parents shows that the usual way to autism diagnosis in this country unfolds as follows:  

1. Parents’ observation.
The first people able to see that a child develops in an unusual way are the child’s parents and other relatives. However, even in the case of serious symptoms of disorders, parents may repress the thoughts of their child’s possible disability. Therefore, it would be unwise to disregard suggestions of other people having contact with your child. If friends suggest that your child should be examined, it is worth complying with their advice, instead of accusing them of oversensitivity and exaggeration. Even if they are wrong, it is good to make sure that your child develops properly.

2. Own opinions and diagnoses.
Concerned parents and caregivers often start from reading available books or information on the Internet. There are many websites that offer “examinations” based on simple questionnaires. Such tests, however, often give inconsistent results and may either over or understate the scale of the problem. They should be treated only as a part of the diagnosis and regardless of their result, parents should still take their children to specialists.

3. Specialist.
It happens that doctors and psychologists in Poland are reluctant to diagnose autism. Even specialized centers tend to understate the scale of the problem. There are several reasons for that, some of them being a low level of knowledge about the disorder or reluctance to worry parents. There are many parents of autistic children who remember being told that their child was all right. Confident that they had heard a professional opinion, such parents relaxed and stopped worrying only to find out later that their child was autistic after all. Therefore, regardless of the result of the first examination, parents should make appointments with several other specialists. If a doctor or a psychologist oppose conducting additional examinations, parents may doubt their professionalism. A good examination always involves several stages, the most important being an interview with the parents or caregivers of a child, who describe the child’s everyday behavior to the examiner, and several observations of the child made while the child is learning or playing. It is very useful to video record children in the period before the diagnosis and while it is being formed. Video recording allows specialists to analyze children’s behavior starting from their birth. An additional advantage is the fact that such recordings give specialists an opportunity to observe children in their natural environments: at home or at a playground.

4. Re-examinations.
Even after several professional examinations, the development of a possibly autistic child should still be carefully observed. After several months, the child should be re-examined in order to check if it has made progress and make sure that the diagnosis was correct.

 

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