My Little Enigma

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Hi, my son is 2 and half and is yet to be diagnosed. We have 2 big evaluations coming up. He's been in EI 16 months for a speech delay. I feel like no one can figure out what's going on with him or relate to our situation and it's getting isolating. His speech therapist sees some red flags, but thinks it could be appraxia. His OT sees hypo sensory stuff and some red flags too. He doesn't like his dev therapist so she sees lots of red flags because he doesn't want to play with her. His pedi says he's shy.

I see signs like he's not a big waver or pointer and seems like those things are sorta ridiculous and does them because they're expected. He's knows his abc's and could count to 20 by 2. He now spells his name and Elmo all the time. He also lined up his flashcards the other day 10-100 by 10's even though we never taught him this. He is OBSESSED with numbers and letters. I'm so confused though because he's not regimented AT ALL and loves chaos. He never has tantrums that last more than 30 seconds and he laughs all the time. He loves to play with his sister and other kids. He's extremely hard to understand so I have no idea how many words he has, but he understands everything. When the therapists are up his ass, he loses eye contact and shuts them out so they think I'm crazy when I tell them he's not *really* like that with me. I'm quite certain they think I'm in denial when I surely embrace everything he is. I think his quirks are fantastic!

I'm sorry if I'm rambling, I'm just curious if anyone has similar autistic traits. My husband says he's an enigma. I just want to know if anyone can relate. Thanks!

Sounds like he is really intelligent! I am always fascinated with the stuff that some kids seem to teach themselves. Your description doesn't ring a lot of bells for Aspergers but 2.5 is so young to distinguish quirkiness, form normal 2 yo behavior from AS. Stay tuned in to him and you will see as he gets older how he is doing.

He reminds me of my son, who is hyperlexic and also really good at math. He is obsessed with numbers, letters, shapes, and logos. There is some controversy over this, but some people believe you can be hyperlexic without being autistic. My son is autistic, however. I didn't have meltdowns when I was little, or at least not ones that others would have identified as such. I am an Aspie (unofficially but not entirely self-diagnosed)

There is a spectrum, so not all autistic kids are alike, there is a range in what traits are impacted and by what degree. They are changing the DSM and the current labels PDD-NOS, And Aspergers are going away, so keep that in mind.

What are his speech issues?

Your kid sounds awesome, by the way!

my son has Aspergers, he wasnt ever regimented and LOVED mess and still has no sence of order. My son tought himself the letters upper and lower case before 2 1/2, all sounds and could give you words that started with the sound or letter you asked him. he knew all numbers, colors shapes, site words, etc...all self tought. He didnt have meltdowns but did as he got older. He did point, he did wave, he did play with kids (older and younger) and LOVED strangers, adults, andanyone who smiled at him,he would go and hug and look up and give big smiles at. He also was an enigma, a puzzle...and it took a lot of persistance and seekinguntil I found people who took me seriously and heard the whole story not just what they saw in a controlled structured setting for a small amount of time, to get his diagnosis.

When they are that young itis hard to tell, and honeslty at his young age, I wasnt worried...I WAS worried when he was 5 and 6.

Thanks for the responses. My son's speech issues are that his sounds aren't there. I'm just beginning to understand him now. Plus he substitutes "yah" for sounds he can't make. He also isn't good with who, what, where questions. If I ask him what sound a cow makes he clams up, but if I ask his one year old sister I'll hear him respond since the pressure wasn't on him.

It's just been really tough dealing with the therapists that only see him for a short amount of time and decide who he is. I love who he is whether that makes him on the spectrum or not. I don't want to "fix him" and I'm sick of the looks and head nods like they feel bad for me. I just want to help him with the things that matter like patience and learning how to participate in a classroom setting. I love that he is so smart with numbers and letters and encourage it. The therapists act like it's just a skill that comes with his autism and I think it's a gift and I'm sick of them trying to discourage that. Like I said in the previous post, he has 2 big evaluations coming up next month. One is part of a huge autism study and he will be evaluated by a nuerologist, psychologist and behavioral pedi and they seem to be really interested in every facet of the behavior. We'll see...

My kids tend to have short meltdowns.....like me, you may just be good at defusing them. My now 19 year old daughter would shut down more than have meltdowns. My 9 year old son has lots of meltdowns throughout the day but the are very very short and he was dx early so he has had therapy and learned how to self calm. The only one who goes on for a good amount of time is my Autie and that is only when she is very stressed or frustrated like she is now with this damn school. She also though, is very good at self calming.
I also would just wait and watch....if hes already getting services there is no reason to push the diagnosis. My son had just turned 6 when he was diagnosed and he is now 9 and seems far more Aspie than he did when he was diagnosed, Aspies sort of morph as they grow.

Have to edit...wow thats something new *sarcasm*.....be glad you are getting all this attention and that he is being evaluated so young....some people would give an appendage for that!

I wanted to say, my DS (age 11) didn't have meltdowns until he was around 4-5. He did have problems self-soothing though.

Sounds very much like my son, who was a very happy toddler and didn't develop meltdowns til later. Which is not to say they are inevitable.

My son is almost seven and he is just really starting asking the "why" and "how" questions. He isn't social enough to use "who" frequently, but he will on occasion. He also cannot answer "why" questions when it has to do with social context.

It sounds like you will be getting an abundance of information with the studies, which is good.

I am sorry about the professionals behaving as they do. It is hard but try to ignore it. The positives are a gift, the negatives are a challenge and just ignore the pity because they know not.