Singer Toni Braxton appeared on The View this week and discussed her son's diagnosis with autism.Braxton disclosed that she spent two years looking for answers to her son Diezel's developmental issues. He was ultimately diagnosed with autism after starting school in Las Vegas last year.
She says, "I get all emotional... I just found out, and, when you're just finding out about something, it takes a second to get used to it."
Braxton was a special guest host for the shows special on autism. She revealed that her son, Diezel, started struggling when he was two years old. He showed many of the classic symptoms of autism such as insisting on order, developing speech problems and refusing to socialize with other kids.
She explained, "(There was) no eye contact. He didn't play along with his brother; he would play at his side. All the kids would be in the house; he would be away from them. He had to have an order, always an order - he had to eat on the red plate with the Mickey Mouse fork, everything had to be in order. He had to sit on the left side, always."
As a pediatric speech-language pathologist, I can understand Toni Braxton’s frustrations with the late autism diagnosis of her son. A parent must remember that they are the most important expert of their child’s health and development. If a parent is concerned about their child’s language development, they should seek a proactive pediatrician who would (at least) refer them to a pediatric speech-language pathologist to rule out any delay. A well trained pediatric speech-language pathologist can see autistic characteristics and refer for further assessment by a specialist and recommend therapy services. Marvie Ellis, Speech-Language Pathologist/ Children’s Autism Author, E-mail marvieslp@yahoo.com, www.speechkidstexaspress.com
ReplyDeleteAs a parent of an autistic child I can relate to the frustration... I spoke with my child's pediatrician about sending my child to a specialist and the Dr. said my child was fine. Not true. After a year and a half of going it on my own... looking for specialists, speach therapists, occupational therapists, behavioral therapists, I realized that many Drs. & educators just don't want to deal with "special children". Many do but do not know how.. .but trust and believe there are a few out there that don't want to take the extra effort to assist special needs children.
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