Global Delays

You may remember from a previous post that Cole was due for a multidisciplinary preschool team assessment with the Child Development Centre's Preschool Team back on August 2nd.  This appointment was and is a big deal for us because it would be the first time we would actually get an official Medical assessment and initial diagnosis for Cole's various identified delays.

The appointment went very well as Cole was having a good day.  Of course at these types of appointments I'm never sure whether having a good day is an asset, or, whether it would be better for others to truly see him at his worst.  I think after seeing the written report of our appointment, it probably didn't matter since the Pediatrician was clearly observant of what was atypical behaviour no matter what the degree it was presented.

The team seeing Cole that day was made up of a Developmental Pediatrician, a physiotherapist and an occupational therapist.  Here is what the Pediatrician had to say in summary about Cole:

Cole is a 3 year, 4 month old child referred for a developmental assessment.  Based on assessment today, his fine motor skills/visual motor skills were at a 27 month old level while his gross motor and problem solving skills were around a 30 month old level.  On the other had, Cole was certainly ahead with his letters, numbers, colours and shapes.  Based on our assessment today, Cole has a diagnosis of global developmental delay (language, cognitive, fine motor).  I suspect that he scored lower than what his true potential is in terms of his Cognitive Adaptive Test since most of the tasked involved visual motor skills.

From history, Cole has a number of atypical features in terms of his language development, communication, play skills and poor joint attention.  On the social communication questionnaire filled by mom he had a score of 21, which is significant.  I suspect that Cole does have autism spectrum disorder but have not made a formal diagnosis at the present time since I need more information around his social skills.  I suggested to the family that Cole be placed in a formal daycare setting for his social and overall development.

Diagnosis: Global developmental delay

The Pediatrician has recommended that Cole be referred for speech and language assessment as well as to a social worker for paper work and funding.  She has also recommended daycare for Cole as she had mentioned above.  After 2 or 3 months of being enrolled in daycare she would once again like to review Cole in order to make a better diagnosis about his social skills with the input of his teachers.

So indeed, it is likely that Cole does have autism.  But for now he has been diagnosed with Global Delays.  This primary diagnosis enables us to be approved for any programs and/or funding that may be available to help him with his needs.

So where do we go from here?  Step One:  Put Cole in childcare!  Stay tuned for a whole other post on this topic.