New here, need advice on my sons symptoms!!

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Hi,

New here ... obviously and would love some advice / guidance from parents with children diagnosed with autism.

I have had my son at a speech therapist and from the test that she did it seems very likely that my son has autism.

I struggle too believe it, he just seems so normal too me besides the fact that he does not communicate.

What I guess I am trying too ask is what do parents who actually have autistic children think of my sons symptoms, I think that you will know much better that a therapist observing him for one hour.

Here are his problems:
He is 24 months and does not say one word.
He does not respond too his name, except sometimes, but maybe he is just responding too the sound.
He is only starting now too take me too things he wants me too get for him, holding out his arms for me too pick him up, or bring things for me too play with him.
He does like too line up his toys, but he does play in other ways too, although I have too admit he lines up stuff every day.
He is independant and will rather try get things himself, by pushing a chair too reach something than asking us. But lately he will push me too the thing that he wants.
Sometimes if his granny comes too visit he will run too her and give her a big hug and other times walk past her as if she isn't there.


He tries too interact with other kids but when they often are also more interested in their own thing than playing with him. I am a SAHM and he doesn't really see other kids so difficult too judge his interactions with kids.
He has good eye contact and often looks at my face too judge my reaction, especially when he has done something he thinks is funny or that is naughty and he knows I will be cross.
He doesn't toe walk, stim, get stressed when things change, loves too go out and go too the mall etc. and never has a problem with changes in routine.
He has excellent fine and gross motor skills and is good at putting things together, puzzles etc. He is intelligent, you only have too show him once or twice and he can do something. He does think up his own games and initiate with us, although not as much as a normal child
He doesn't have sensitivites too touch etc. and eats like a real champ, he will eat anything, even lumpy porridge!
He is very loving and will run up too you and give you a hug and kiss.

What I guess I am trying too ask is do any of you have kids with the same characteristics as my son who either are or not autistic. I know I am cluching at straws here but the internet is so confusing, all have so many different signs, I don't really know what I should be looking for.

Would love too hear from other parents!

Not to invalidate your concern, but two is VERY young so keep that in mind. My son was obviously autistic at age 3, yet to look at him now you wouldn't be able to tell without getting to know him. Now, he would probably test off of the spectrum, and with the new criteria coming out he definately will test off the spectrum even though he exhibits a lot of characteristics. His biggest problem is language, and he didn't say one word at all until he was 3. The big thing for me was that he wasn't imitating either. He did not imitate anything at all until he was 3 which may have been the obsticle in learning language. I would check that. If he doesn't imitate yet you may have a concern.

Look up language disorders, dysphasia, dyspraxia, anything else you can find. Language issues are a large part of autism, so some of the symptoms overlap. If you look up developmental dysphasia for example, a lot of the characteristics are very autistic like. I personally don't get the autism vibe from your description of your child.

Kids typically parallel play until they are older so I wouldn't worry about that for now, closer to 4/5 probably, and the fact that he walks past his grandmother just may simply mean that he is on a mission, he'll get to her later The lining things up may be a little OCD, but not necessarily autism and it may just be something he does.

If you are in the United States you can get a free evaluation through your county's early intervention services. It wouldn't hurt to have your child evaluated. It may clarify some things for you, and teach you more of what to be worried about and what not to.

Good Luck!! !!

By the way...Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Basd on the concerns, and the fact that at 2 he has NO words, I would get an eval. You may or may not get a diagnosis, but you WILL get services.

At 2 there should be some words,even 2 words strung together. he SHOULD be responding to his name, etc...you should also rule out hearing loss.

I would worry about the list of concerns that you had. My son at 2 was fine with transitioning, never had issues with that until he got much older!

good luck!

Thanks mmjmom. I would like too hear more about your child at age 2. Of course I am more edging towards that my son has autism but I so wish that he didn't ....

Is there hope of a normal life? If he does not seem so bad now besides the serious lack in communication does that mean he is 'mild' or can it get worse? He seems too be learning new things daily so it doesn't seem that he has regressed, he has just not gotten language at all yet. My heart is just broken for him, life is going too be that much harder for him.

I took him for a hearing test and he has no fluid in his ears, but the other one where they insert a thing into his ear and he must sit dead still for 2 minutes didn't work as he would not sit still and I couldn't get him too sleep either. She said she thinks his hearing is fine but couldn't say for 100% sure without the other test.

My son was 15 weeks premature so keep that in mind.

No words at all until he was 3. None...didn't understand anything really either. Did a lot of pulling me around, but he was taught that by the way.

He screamed at every transition until I found a visual cue that would work to warn him that we were transitioning. If there was any kind of difference, like coming from the playground rather than the classroom he would freak out. I spent several years getting pummelled in the face at every transition.

He got stuck with routines if you did something the same way more than twice. If you changed it up constantly then he wouldn't get stuck and he would deal better. I had to consciously choose which door to leave my house out of every day, making sure that I didn't have a pattern because he would pick that up quickly as well (he's really smart)

He started using a little bit of sign language but he did much better with that at 3. I used sign to teach him language, plus being so visual he would respond to that immediately, where words he would need processing time.

He would run from me, all the time, with no fear. I even hid behind something at the mall one day to see if he would panic. He didn't, even after 5 minutes, he just stood there. I used a harness on him because I had to.

He was a very picky eater then, and still is but getting better.

He toe walked, he rocked, he played with his hair a certain way so he stimmed quite a bit.

He's always been very independent

He lined everything up. He used to line up his cookies and eat them from right to left, every time.

He would look at the chair rail out of the side of his eye and follow the rail looking at it like that. He did that a lot too.

He had to have every door shut

Never had eye contact issues or sensory problems of any kind except feeling itchy. He likes soft and fleece, doesn't like jeans, but tags don't bother him. Hates to wear pants.

If I think of more I'll let you know. That was a long time ago.

He is doing great now (he's 10). He is in a private school, has a visual IQ of 120, he is a straight A student and an extreme perfectionist. So much so I am battling depression now. He is sensitive, he loves people, he works hard and he will have a normal life if I have anything to say about it. I'm sure my retirement is out the window, but he is capable of a normal life and I will help him in whatever way I can so he acheives that, and I know he will.

Autism isn't a death sentence, it's a difference. It can come with great gifts as well as deficits. You have to help them through the hard things and nurture what comes easy and most of all...accept your child for who he is and help him navigate this very confusing world. He'll be OK. Love and support him, understand him and rejoice in the uniqueness. It's a heartbreaking journey at times, but I wouldn't change anything about my son. He's perfect

Thanks so much. It feels so good to be able to talk too someone who knows what I am going through. I have made an appointment with a Paediatric Neurologist so we will see what he says.

I love my son more that anything and know there are far worse things that can happen too your child than autism (not too downplay autism, is it is not great too have), but there are worse things, I have seen them. Also normal people who do less with their lives than autistic people.

I just want too get him the help he needs as soon as possible too give him the best quality of life he can have, because he deserves only the best, he is just the sweetest thing.

By the way I am in south africa and there is no such thing as early intervention here, and all the tests and doctors and therapy are almost unaffordable. I can't help but too think of the many people living in poverty in our country, many of whom are illiterate and and have never even heard of autism. If they have an autistic child what will become of that child, they will be locked up in a room like an animal I am sure just because their parents don't know about autism. Very sad.

I will let you all know what the neurologist thinks.

My son was mostly non-verbal at 2. He said "ma" and "uh" We were able to get speech therapy through early intervention her in the US, and by three he was verbally caught up to his peers. My son sounds a lot like yours, only he did have some problems with crying inconsolably at times. Since the speech issue was addressed, and for a lot of other reasons I won't bore you with, we did not get an evaluation until 2010. (4th grade) - He is 11 now and in 5th grade. There is a video of my son at around 18 months and my daughter at around 2 1/2 on my youtube channel - ercawfo - The video is called Mac and Kait if you want to compare. Although they are only 14 months apart, the differences in my daughter and son are glaring. I think that is why I sought speech services for my son.

To reiterate what others have already said. Autism is a spectrum and it is hard to tell what your child will be like 6 months from now let alone 16 years from now. Get the help you can, work with him, love him, and be patient. There are a lot of good things about autism as well, and if your child has autism, I am sure you will soon discover those precious things.

Erica

Stay on this website too. There are a lot of resources on here, and I can tell you from my experience that I have learned more about my son from this website than any professional. It's wonderful to be able to ask people with autism how to help. You'll get more insight here than any professional will give you unless they work with these kids as well as "get it". Many professionals don't, and they give you the standard cookie cutter "treatment". Go with your gut, educate yourself and stay on here and ask questions.

PM me any time! I also work in a special Ed preschool so I have a lot of resources at my fingertips.

By any chance, did you watch 60 minutes this last Sunday? They did a story on Jake who was non verbal at 2. Please watch the story and see if it helps answer the question of "can he have a normal life"?

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7395214n

I had my DS who's 12 watch it - he was stoked and has brought Jake up several times since watching.

http://www.babybumblebee.com/I_landings/Austim_PDD.cfm

I used the DVDs with my oldest son with classic autism to get him to say his first words. You can find them used on the Internet at Amazon.com.

I recommend using them whenever you are doing chores about the house or are otherwise occupied. Do not use them instead of working with your son.

Both of my kids also enjoyed learning vocabulary from flashcards, ABC books, and picture dictionaries, which you can find at Amazon.com, teacher supply stores, and book stores.

Of course, please also check out my other sources on my free website, www.freevideosforautistickids.com.

Welcome on WP tmamma,
my son is 4yo and he was similar to your boy when he was 2. He had no words and he was extremely independant. I had misleading informations about autism so I thought he was deaf because he didn't turn whe I called his name... I watched too much "horror videos". You are in the right place to be provided with the right informations.
He was diagnosed when he was 3 and still not verbal, and he started early intervention. He was echoic for some months and then he started to use words functionally (for instance, answering some questions and asking for something) when he was turning 4.
Start early intervention soon, he will progress more! I wish I started when he was 2, but in Italy it's not easy to be diagnosed and I knew nothing about autism.

I will just add that there is no reason you can't do early intervention yourself, in your home, since you mention concern about access.

My son was quite different at that age, at least on the speech question (he, too, looked me in the eyes - intensely) but that doesn't really mean anything, given that each ASD child is unique and develops uniquely.

One thing that helped my son communicate (which in turn helped alleviate a lot of the meltdowns) was teaching him sign language. Go to Amazon.com and look up signing time video's. They are geared to teach kids sign language and they are fun. You can also watch with your child and learn as well. My son is really visual so he would process sign a lot faster than the spoken word. It really helped us both until he could say words. It also was a great way to teach vocabulary, feelings, categories such as food. Some signs he couldn't do because of fine motor difficulties when he was little, so we made up our own for those.

There is a signing time website, but they DVD's are less expensive on Amazon.

You can also use PECS. Picture Exchange Communication System. These are pictures that you teach you child to use to ask for things. I would google that. There is a specific program that you can purchase, but there are also websites where you can get some of this stuff for free. I didn't use them so much for communication, but they also are a good resource to again, teach language in a fun way.