the diagnosis

I took Lexi to her doctor for her 2 year old check up. At that time i told the doctor what i suspected and she did the m-chat. the m-chat is a quick little test to see if they should be evaluated further for autism. She scored high enough and was referred to a developmental pediatrician. We went to see the developmental pediatrician in august 2010. She started off asking me questions about Lexi's development and how she developed as a baby. I told her how she developed and my thoughts. We then moved out into the hall where she closely examined her and watched how she ran, how she acted with kids her own age. The evaluation lasted 3 hours but when it was all said and done she diagnosed Lexi with classic to moderate autism, sensory integration disorder, behavior disorder, and hypertonia. The doctor said that she is functioning at a 18 to 24 month old. she has a vocab of about 10- 15 words. When i heard she has autism i was in shock and didn't want to believe it. Mostly because i really just wanted to think she was just a little behind and would catch up. Now i accept it and want to do whatever i can do to help Lexi. My hope is she will be able to talk like other kids but if not thats ok because she is truly an amazing child.