Autism Referral - Strange Delivery from Pediatrician
Last week was my son’s 2.5 yr visit to the pediatrician. He hated going to the doctor, which I think is normal. At this appointment he was fine in the waiting room but once we went back he was in distress, crying, screaming and wouldn’t calm down. He wouldn’t even stand on the scale, we had to hold him. He kept saying “go back car seat” and “go to park” or “go potty”, “potty feeling”. I know he just didn’t feel comfortable. So when the doctor came in, he told her “bye bye” and started to cry. She tried to talk to him but he just kept crying and asking to leave. It was a rough appointment. She tried to get him to tell her his name but he was just crying, he did tell her who me and my wife were and he even said the doctors name. When she asked him to take the pen from her and draw a straight line, he didn’t want to get close to her to take the pen. He was also toe walking when she asked him to walk around, while he was still screaming.
After that 10 mins she told us that she would recommend getting him screened for autism, we asked why and she said because of him repeating himself and toe walking. She also referred us to a PT for the toe walking.
This was shocking, let me give you some background. My son is in music class and an early preschool class. He has no speech delay, high vocabulary and is using 3-4 word sentences. He has no issues with eye contact. He sees people in the store and says “hi friend, how you today?”, says “thank you, momma” and “I love animals”. In class he plays chase with other kids and rolls balls with them. He’s meeting every milestone and the doctor has never shared any concerns about his development. He does toe walk daily, but drops to flat feet when we remind him.
We’re going to get him evaluated because we understand that autism looks different child to child but this just isn’t sitting right with me. I really don’t see any symptoms. Also, the doctor didn’t tell us about trying a screening like M-Chat-r. A friend told me about it and my son was a 1 - low likelihood. I just don’t understand why she referred us so quickly, when he doesn’t have any social issues. It doesn’t sit right with me. She also didn’t take any time to explain anything about the referral or the process, just told us to call the number and gave us a paper. Am I over reacting?