Autism evaluation

So, my daughter finally had her autism evaluation today. It was a 4 hour long series (with breaks of course) of developmental testing, speech/social interaction testing, and observation of her free-playing.

Long story short, she was "officially" (I say it in quotation marks, because others have said it but it wasn't an official diagnosis) diagnosed with autism. The psychologist said that high-functioning vs low-functioning is relative, but that she would call her high-functioning, as she does have a lot of skills.

Serena's 3 years old (and a few months). Overall, her developmental skills are at a 2 year old level. Her speech is at a 16 month old level, and her understanding of speech/language is at the level of a child under a year old.

I will admit that hearing her actually say "She is being diagnosed with autism" kinda hit me in a weird way. I mean... I knew it, but actually hearing like that was like 'wow, okay'.

I definitely don't see her any differently though. I always knew she learned and approached things her own way and I'm perfectly fine with it. For example, the only way to really get her to pay attention to something is to sing it. I make everything into a song, lol. She'll do great, she'll just need a little extra guidance and speech and whatnot.

i know exacly how you feel! my 2 year old was just put on the autism specturm. we figured she was on there, but she was finally confirmed. she has a speech/understanding level around 11 months. her problem solving tho is amazing as well as her gross motor skills. her fine motor skills are almost where they should be.