Autism testing in Colorado Springs area?

[Tim K]

You guys are quite a supportive bunch. It's appreciated. Kids are hard.

[hollohas]

The greatest thing about getting a diagnosis is then you can do whatever research you want to know what you can do to help. When my 13 year old daughter was diagnosed with Non-verbal Learning Disorder in 2nd grade (NVLD) my wife and I took a deep dive to learn what that meant. We learned about how our daughter learned.

We learned that was the reason she simply couldn't understand sarcasm or couldn't pickup on subtle social queues. Which, when you're actually looking for them, turns out are incredibly common in classroom lessons and not just in the halls. This disorder means she doesn't pickup on most of the non-verbal queues that the rest of us understand naturally. Everything is literal to her. She struggles with metaphors and all abstract concepts. If the dog shit on the floor and I said "I'm going to kill that dog" she literally thought I was going to kill the dog. We learned not to say things like that around her. Once we understood that we were able to adapt the way we parented her, how we taught her and develop a plan for how her school should teach her.

She had a classroom helper taking notes for her and teaching her how to take notes. She didn't know what to write down for notes and was trying to literally write EVERYTHING the teacher said. She couldn't identify what was important even if the teacher winked or changed the inflection of their voice...something other kids pickup on. Now she takes notes on her own.

Her teachers break down abstract concepts into black and white for her. She struggles to memorize anything so she gets to use notes for tests. She draws worse than my 5 year old because the NVLD affects fine motor skills big time. So she doesn't have to draw diagrams in class. She'll get a printed diagram that she has to label. She gets pulled out for individual help for just the areas she needs it and is with the main student body for everything else. And with that support, the stuff she needs extra help with continues to be reduced.

She can't ride a bike, so we gave up and got her a scooter. Her fine motor skills are so bad she still can't tie her shoes... elastic laces it is.

But knowing a clear explanation for her struggles saved us so much heartache and frustration. She's slowly learning sarcasm. I have no doubt she'll tie her shoes and ride a bike one day. She's old enough that she's reading books on her condition and how to work through her challenges and can advocate for herself and even learns to adapt by herself. She went from failing everything class to thriving. And when that stress of failure was removed she became a nicer person.

Every day that goes by she beats some challenge. She doesn't think I'm literally going to kill the dog anymore. She's starting to identify sarcasm...and will ask if we're being sarcastic before she gets upset. She's found friends that know she doesn't pick up on social queues so they will explain social stuff and girl drama to her.

Bottom line, you're doing the right thing. Your kiddo is going to be so relieved to know that challenges can be beat with the right techniques.

[buffalobo]

You guys are quite a supportive bunch. It's appreciated. Kids are hard.

Especially teens in todays environment.

If you're unarmed, you are a victim.

[Little Dutch]

Especially teens in todays environment.

If you're unarmed, you are a victim.

My oldest is 6. We are lucky to have an Autism specialist and an OT in the family. Those two people saw some red flags for possible issues and told us about them early, so we got screenings and intervention/help early. For both kids. We're aren't dealing with anything as severe as several of you have mentioned, be we are dealing with, and getting past, some developmental issues.

Kids are hard, but I think it's mostly because we want them to be reasonably happy and set-up for success. I'm not looking forward to social media and whatever else comes along when they get to their teen years. My 6 year old is already taking more queues from the butt-heads in his class than I'd prefer.

Bottom line though, I'm glad you all are looking into any potential issues. Intervention appears to have helped my kids a lot, and I hope it does for you as well.

Edit - The kindergarden teacher contacted us about a potential behavorial issue she was starting to see a few weeks ago. I'm glad she did. I can't correct what I don't know about.
The preschool teacher was/is great about sending out messages about behavorial issues any kid was having in class that might spread to other kids as well. Biting, spitting, etc. It was greatly appreciated. Thankfully none of those were coming from my kids...

Having some support on this stuff helps a ton.

[Skully]

I was going to say this is part of what I do (not the testing) but I am with the CCB/CMA for Adams county, my intake team receives calls like this all the time from parents and we have a list of providers that do testing, we even have a provider that is on retainer for families that dont have insurance or money to do testing.

BTW the school district should also do it, they are ON THE HOOK, but if in CO Springs TRE; The Resource Exchange is the CCB/CMA in your catchment area, you can always reach out to them for referral or advice. They also may help in aligning potential waiver or other services to help if there is some needs there.

TRE – The Resource Exchange