This guy knows what he’s talking about. I heard him discussing this on a radio talk show before our second son was born. When our son was three and still not talking, I remembered what Dr. Sowell had said about late talking children being mistakenly diagnosed as autistic. I had seen real autism when I was in nursing school and never forgot it. I knew my son who loved to cuddle and hug was NOT autistic.
We avoided the public schools and had him tested by a private audiologist, and went to private speech therapy. This did not totally avoid the people who see autism in every kid, though. One young lady who was fresh out of school with a master’s degree and absolutely no experience with three year olds told me she saw “autistic tendencies” in our son because he screamed when she took away his toy(his only available form of expression, not having any language skills at that time) and he liked to line up cars in a row, like they are on a road.
To make a long story short, we ended up seeing Dr. Camarata for evalutations three years in a row. He told us our son was definitely NOT autistic and had a language delay. He and his wife showed us how to handle it and told us what to do. One of those things was to home school our son because kids with his type of language problem did very well at home.
I wish I could meet Dr. Sowell and thank him in person for saving us from a nightmare.
I think that is so cool that you got to actually visit with Dr. Camarata, and have his guidance and support.
I wish I could meet Dr. Sowell and thank him in person for saving us from a nightmare.
As elegant and dignified as he is, he's got the devil of twinkle in his eye. :) So affable, fantastic listener, very gracious, and I must yet state clearly - absolutely charming!