Early Signs of Autism/AS

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I have posted previously, but as always, more to do with my Asperger's 9 year that was just dx'd this summer.

However, now more alert than ever, my careful eye is wondering if my, near 11 month old, could be showing signs of Autism...

I realize that she is still little (I am not naive to that fact) and there is plenty of time to grow, develop and change, but I also know that she would be at higher risk because we already have the other dx in the family (and suspected other cases of it not yet diagnosed).

Currently there are some things that I see that appear very much like my oldest was when she was this age and well, now more knowledgeable then ever before, I would say are sensory needs. That said, I also know that babies tend to do many things that involve their senses, while exploring the world around them...sooooooooo....

I wanted to hear from people that had an early diagnosis...

What were some of the signs that led you to think it might be and seek out the supports?

The early signs of autism I showed was my food had to be served in the same order every morning and my food had to be in the same spot on the plate or I'd refuse to eat it. I didn't like being touched by strangers but I loved being held and rubbed by my parents. I hated wind blowing in my face (dunno if that's a sensory issue there) and I hated having my hair washed (I hated water getting in my eyes) and I had to take a certain step in every room of my house. I had a strong interest in music when I was little and I hated having my teeth brushed. I was also very good with puzzles but my mom said deaf people are good with puzzles too and I took things apart when I was a baby but deaf kids do that too my mother told me. I was deaf when I was a baby from chronic ear infections. My play skills were below the age level it seemed like from what I read in my medical records.
I was sensitive to malls and crowded places but that was because I was deaf my mother says so I wasn't used to all the noise.
I also wring my hands when I was little, a form of a stim. That's all I know about me from when I was a baby.

the earliest signs I had with my oldest was food textures, we couldn't get him off the stage 2 baby food, anything that had the littlest bit of texture he would refuse to eat. It was terrible to get him to eat table food, he would gag and throw up. Also he was developmentally delayed, talked very late, at 18 months still had no words at all, not even mama. He was 18 months before he started walking, all his "motor" milestones were delayed. My second child didn't have the food problem, quite the opposite, but he was (and is) developmentally delayed, especially the motor once again. both kids have sensory processing difficulties, but once again are opposite, one is sensory avoiding (and this was the easiest to see, he wouldn't touch anything hardly, no sand, playdoh etc.) and the other is sensory seeking. These were the foremost things at the youngest of age, more things came along as they got older of course, lining things up, spinning objects, open and close drawers, doors etc.

Hope this helps!

We got a dx at the age of 2. A few of the things I can remember- very sensitive to motion, light, noises, changes. Would never fall asleep in stroller, woke up at the crack of dawn, had trouble nursing away from home or even in different spots in the house, hypervigilant, very high tolerance for pain, hypotonia (super flexible joints, rubbery arms and legs, head lag when pulled up to sitting), very low energy, "easy baby" in public. But he cringed when he was around other children. Also, he started "studying" a baby number book at about 6 months, and he started identifying numbers on his own at what my friend says was 8 months. By the time he was 12 or 18 months old, he knew all the single digit numbers without ever being taught them.

Since they can sense things either too strongly or too weakly, your daughter may not present the way my son did or even you other son did. But I can tell you this- that I knew at 7 months that something wasn't right. Everyone thought I was crazy back then, but by the time he was 2, he was not running around like the other kids, he preferred lining stuff up, etc. etc.

My advice to you would be to get intervention asap if you suspect anything. The brain still has time to rewire itself and create new pathways if you get her in therapy before the age of three. It has made a world of difference with our son, I can't tell you. He is going to preschool, talking in class, talking to us about his feelings, answering questions. You would not ever believe that he is the same boy.

I agree to have him assessed as soon as you have concerns, but! you may run into the problem I am having with my 3 year old (4 in January). He is too young to Dx yet and he may be copying his older brother! I have not taken him yet because he is getting services and that is the most important part, he is in preschool for developmental delay, and they did an autism screening on him and he tested "very likely" but the school doesn't dx and I hate to spend all the money for it only to have them say "maybe he is AS" but come back in a year and see how he does!! !! ! But I already know he has it and so does anyone else who spends enough time around him!

laplantain's story sounds familiar.

I knew something wasn't right from my daughter's first days of life. She did not cry, she screamed like a five year old kid at a horror movie. She never cried like a "normal" baby, always the pitch issue. The looks we got in public were quite offensive. People thought I was doing something wrong, or that she was hurt and I was too stupid to notice. I even once was told to leave a store I was shopping in because I couldn't control my child's crying (an INFANT!).

By 18 months, the head banging was our most problematic issue. She did this when frustrated and it could happen on a dime. She dislocated my jaw so many times with sudden head-throwings that I actually need surgery now to repair it...I was worried she was going to cause serious injury to herself as well. She never did, thankfully. It is quite unsettling to see your 18 month old bounce their own head on a wall, table or floor though. She's almost four now and no longer does it, so everything else is much easier for me to accept.

So what I'm saying is, depending on the child, I think it's possible to see signs very early.

Wow! Completely relieved to see I am not alone in this (though I knew I wouldn't be:)

Thank you so much for the replies.

Our awareness has certainly heightened a great deal with the information we are armed with, but that does not mean we will ever get a Dr. to listen to us. It took 9 LOOOONG years for a dx of AS *sigh*

So, our 10 mos old is an overall "happy" baby, but it is true to say that when she is angry, overstimulated, annoyed or upset, WATCH OUT! She also screams like someone is murdering her....I haven't actually considered this one, when keeping my careful eye, until now!! !! *sigh*

I have had the exact same looks you speak of

She is extremely in need of touch, at all times, much like my other. My oldest has touch processing issues. She is sensitive to light touch and craves deep pressure. The little one is ALWAYS touching others (clearly could be exploration, but on a whole new level of exploration), needs to have us pressed up against her to sleep. She has always drawn us near since birth. I have been fortunate in the "sleep department", as I have always used a very close and fitted wrap sling which she so desperately needs to sleep when out.

She is always pinching, scratching, biting and putting her fingers into peoples mouths, eyes, etc.

She will not sleep at home without some sort of white noise.

She is incredibly in tune with everything going on around her and while we would hope that she would be talking like our first born (AS) was at this age, she is not. She grunts. All day long she grunts and grunts and grunts. But not just short little grunts, loud, ferocious grunts and I am not 100% confident that she is making the connection when we say ma ma and da da, etc. Though she sometimes responds to her name (which I often wonder if it has more to do with our tone, than the actual name) and we can ask her where the ball is (her most favourite toy) and she will look around the room for it.

She refuses to wear shoes, socks, hats, bibs, etc and if you can imagine my 10 mos. old fully undressing herself, please do, it is quite the sight! Strips down the minute we put her clothes on and turn our heads. Our friends/family are astounded to see such a pretty lil' baby girl when we finally do cloth her to head out for the day!

But she will play with sand, grass, food etc with no problems and eats anything you put in front of her (all textures, tastes, smells, etc). Actually, if you allowed her to, I am sure she would eat all day long. I have turned my head to find her taking handfuls of Indian and throwing it into her mouth!

That said, we have her on a waitlist for Speech & Language services to begin the process and are out to both the family dr./ DAN! Dr. tomorrow, so perhaps it is time I ask????! !!

Oh, yeah. Your last post reminded me that our son would also eat anything and everything. He would eat lemon rinds, salsa, the green garnish off the plate, paper...it doesn't sound so wierd for a baby, except that he did it until he was almost 3 and started getting OT.

When he started OT, he suddenly had a surge of feeling in his mouth and suddenly got a lot more picky about food and started chomping on and licking furniture, etc., biting me, his clothes, sliming stuff all over the house...which he still does when he's overstimulated (except for the biting, thank goodness). he still has drool issues at the age of 4.

really, eh?

What on earth does the OT do for such things?

We have the abilitations ordering catalogue and have been considering any number of things for the kids, but I'd be curious to hear what sort of suggestions were made for the oral processing issues.

Another thing I forgot to mention, but happened again today is that she refuses anything warm to drink/eat and looooovvvves ice cold anything. *sigh*

I was told that I was normal as a baby and young child, except for being a picky eater.

makelifehappen: all of those things could be pretty normal too. I think, keep an eye on the little one and note anything you see out of the ordinary. Don't over-think it though. I think we're hypervigilant about it when we have an older child with AS, but your little one (and my 20 month old) might just be quirky little babies.

believe me, not at all naive to that fact...however....still thinking.

I do urge you to get her tested either way. You have nothing to lose, and this is such a critical, critical time. I am not saying that I think your daughter has any kinds of problems whatsoever. They could test her and say that she doesn't need any therapy at all, at which point you would be relieved and move on. But I can tell you that without therapies, I know for a fact that my son would be in a really bad place.

My husband had very similar delays as my son when he was a baby, and he is an absolute wreck right now. Of course there were no therapies back them. He has relied on his siblings all his life to take care of him, help him at home at work, with friends, etc... now that he is on his own, he is married and away from them, he is literally like an infant. My son is already passing him in a lot of ways.

Anyway, back to the kids:

My son also loves cold things- frozen tubes of yogurt, unheated frozen anything,...the OT said that that is actually good for stimulating those nerves. I am really not sure what the OT does, but when I saw him he was doing lots and lots of swinging.
We actually got him a trampoline from the abilitations catalog (which he hardly used and was really expensive because it's like school-quality), but the first time he got on it, he jumped off with a huge smile on his face, ran toward me like he was going to hug me, and bit my hand really hard.

I told the OT that I thought this kid was supposed to have low tone in his mouth, but she said that the jumping gave him a rush of sensations that his brain wasn't used to feeling, and then he got the urge to bite because that the jaw is one of the best places to let that kind of stuff out.

So all that proprioceptive input of whatever kind was waking up his nervous system. He bit me a couple more times when he was overstimulated like that but looked very happy- once at the beach, I can't remember where else. But he was elated, smiling, not mad in the least, but had the urge to bite me.

He really had very little feeling in his body when he was little. At 18 months he broke his leg in two places and hardly cried. The doctor couldn't even tell that it was broken because it didn't swell, bruise, or anything, and he was happy as a clam, until I pushed the doctor to give him an x-ray. So I think what the OT did was help his brain feel more of what was actually happening in his body.

Thank you.

I tend to feel the same laplantain, but I am teetering on the edge of people feeling we are being overly paranoid (which I doubt can be possible when dealing with such a delicate thing!! !)...

Either way, I am relieved to hear similar concerns about looking into it, viewpoints, etc.

Guess I will report back when we have been to see someone.

Hello Everyone,

I too am very new to this site and am overwelmed by the responses so far on this subject, it's like suddenly being part of a community instead of being on the outside.

In answer to the question about early diagnosis, I believe that you should trust your instincts about your child. I noticed odd things about my son virtually from birth and started to ask questions (in particular about his speech) when he was about 2. This took an full year of being fobbed off, for example he's an only child, he'a a boy blah,blah,blah.

At the age of 4 1/2, he is now getting speech and OT help and with the prep year looming closer next year, I wish that I had been more assertive in my concerns, much earlier on.

So many of the things you have all mentioned ring very true with me. As I am currently having some communication issues of my own with the OT, who seems to feel that he may not be formally diagnosed as 'Autistic'. Regardless of his diagnosis (in early November) the fact remains that he has always done odd things like lining everything up, putting everything he could inside whatever he can find to fit, including himself. He loves icy-cold things and yes, we've had to take frozen food off him before he eats it because apart from still being frozen it's not even cooked.
As a baby he ate everything, including spices, curries, raw onion, lemon rind, olives, pickles and many non-food objects as well.. my hair (which is long) is a favourite, he often sneaks up on me having a nap and plucks it from my hair to eat, yes chew and swallow and smile like it was something delicious.

I could go on and on, there are so many different ways this condition is shown, and that's the bits that we get to see. After reading books and articles written by 'autistic' people I am amazed that so many have even made it to where they are today.

Thanks for your ears.

I have an 8 year old aspie who had severe allergic reactions to his formula as a baby and experienced some allergic reactions to some foods as a toddler . He doesn't seem to have any problems now, but I often wonder if it could be a part of being ultrasensitive to stimuli....I was wondering if any other parent or aspie had a similar experience. Also, we just had another baby in June; I am a little paranoid that he may be ASD, and I'm constantly "looking for signs" according to my hubby. We have two other children that are not ASD, so I shouldn't be so paranoid. But I see certain similarities sometimes...constant changing of formula, screaming and crying, not wanting me to pacify him, not able to pacify himself. (He was a preemie, and others have told me similar things about their preemies). My aspie asked me after the baby was born if the baby would be an aspie too...I said we wouldn't know for a while. He got a sad look on his face and said, "Oh, I wanted him to be like me." I love that my aspie loves who he is