Is this related to autism?

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Hi everyone, my son (age 3) does this thing when he gets upset where the throws his head back and it can be kind of violent. I am not sure if this is voluntary or not but I did notice him doing this the very first day we took him home from the hospital. Does anyone know if this could be a type of spasm? Is it something I need to be concerned about? I'm afraid he might hurt himself some day, for example if his head hits a wall.

Thanks

Can't answer your question as to whether or not is autistic-related.

I can only say my son does it too, at 4 1/2. He has hurt himself, thankfully not too seriously . . . He will arch his back and throw is head back and so he has conked his head on a doorway or the floor or a car door frame a few times. Not 'growing out' of things like this is one reason we are in the process of evaluation. I've never thought of the physical action itself as atypical, more his overreaction to what is going on. My 3-year old daughter doesn't do it, but they are also just very different in personality.

I have also noticed my son tends to sleep with his head thrown WAY back (since infancy). Looks so uncomfortable! I personally guess for my son that comes from his first years of severe reflux--seemed sleeping that way helped him not reflux so much or something. That was just my guess. I'll be interested to hear what others say~

Yeah, it does seem like mainly an overreaction to me.

I've seen many 2-3 year olds throw their head back like that during tantrums.....both autistic and non-autistic kids.

Check with you pediatrician BUT from my personal experience with my own son and other kids, they do that when they're angry about something but don't know how to explain how they feel. The inability to complain properly about what's buggin them is autism related. In the mornings, when I used to get my son ready for day care, I'd put him on my bed and he'd slam his head backwards into the wall! I'd had to ALWAYS prop a pillow behind him. What I gatherd is that he HATED daycare. He wanted to stay home with all his toys. He was at peace at home. He also was three at the time but three-year olds should be able to tell you what they don't want to do. My son was unable to this at that time. He's 13 now. He has NOOOO problem now. All he does is complain about every blessed thing!! He's come a VERY long way in ten years after special ed from K to 3rd grade. He had assistance for the following two school years and now he's a quite independent honor student. He doesn't have millions of friends though - just two. He has many females admirers. They call a lot. He's annoyed by it. Again, he fails to communicate properly but at a different level now.
Instead of just telling these poor girls that he has homework to do or let the answering machine take the call, he answers the phone and will deliberately call them by different names to upset them into hanging up "on him". He gets rid of the girls he's not interested in and alleviates his guilt as well. He's a jerk. (but in reality...it's the autism....this may offend some people but I believe it to be very true.) He's has NO finesse in handling what he doesn't want. Just like when he was little. Like dropping an atomic bomb to kill a flea. I told him that if he keeps this up, word will get around and when he's older and NOBODY will date him when he wants a date. You have to care what people think of you and maintain a good reputation - that's important to the neurotypical social world. A lot of autistics are emotionally immature and constantly juggle with "immediate gratification" issues. They need to learn patience. "Over-reactions" get you no where! They simply put others off - even parents.