new and wondering!

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hi. my nephew is 2 years old and i'm concerned with his developement. i have read about asperger's and it made me wonder if maybe he could have it. here is a list of his symptoms, please tell me what you think. i could really use some info from parents.

1. as an infant he appeared "shaky". he seemed rigid and his eyes tended to look "glazed" over.
2. when there is a lot of action going on ex: "parades", "parties", "events" he seems to "space out" and drool
3. he is an extremely messy eater and eats with his mouth open. it makes you feel as if he has too much in his mouth even when he doesn't. almost seems like he's going to choke.
4. he has very clear speech and can talk in sentences...but it seems monotone or robotic. even when he sings, it is robotic sounding.
5. he will sit and look at books for hours. he loves these "cards that have the Presidents on them" and knows most of them. he does not "play" with toys or make up games. he will kick a ball or throw a ball in the same repetitive manner.
6. if he is engaged in a game with another toddler (like chase) and the other child changes the game up, he becomes upset and bossy wanting the other child to go back to the orignal way.
7. he is "gumby" and noodle like. poor muscle tone, seems to be off balanced, falls often, walks into things, gets hurt often
8. gets hurt (not anything major) and cries loudly for an extended period like he's broken his arm
9. can not walk up or down steps, can not climb onto sofa, chairs, etc... can not climb up a small ladder (on a climber toy)
10. awakes at night often
11. can not hold a crayon properly, does not have the "pincher" reflex and is not ticklish at all

what do you think? he is just now 2, so some things could just be his age. but, i find him odd. just wondering what other parents with aspie kids would say to these things.
thanks!

2?

And he can hold a crayon??

Hi and Welcome to WP!

hi. and thanks
yes, he is just now 2 and he holds a crayon with his full fist and moves his arm back and forth at the elbow (not wrist) and repeats...."I color something" over and over. lol he's really not that into coloring, but did for a couple minutes with me the other day.
something else i've noticed adding to the above list. we have a toy "car ramp" with 3 colored ramps. He get upset if you put the wrong colored car on the wrong colored ramp. the car and ramp have to match.
also with his shape book. he won't tell you the shapes until you first go to the middle of the book and do "oval" first. then, he will do them. but, he will refuse unless you do "oval" first.
it's little quirks like that, that i find strange.
what do you guys think??

Its hard with very young children, but often say to parents your the best judge.

You could start by reading some of the standard books, such as Tony Attwood's :
The Complete Guide to Asperger's - on line book info. nearly 400 pages read and enjoy
To read more click on link:
http://books.google.com/books?id=ZwQGsu ... ers&source
=web&ots=7oaHDdtlwd&sig=jG2umvo_31hWFPQ_rsG8cPUVJiA#PPP1,M1

AS symptoms full official Criteria:
http://asplanet.info/index.php?option=c ... &Itemid=63

and
I have also been putting my own list of things to look out for in children together, may help
http://asplanet.info/forum/index.php?topic=161.0

in addition to the web as you are doing. Then asking someone who knows you well and you trust to give their honest opinion.

If it still looks like AS, the next step is to speak to your doctor, who if feels the need could refer you to a Clinical Psychologist (you have to ask around).

Has he been evaluated yet? There should be an early childhood development resource center in your community, the pediatrician can probably make a referral.

With my son, the first step was evaluation. At 15 months he was determined to be globally delayed. He received infant stim. and occupational therapy until we moved from there, now he just receives occupational therapy. The therapy was essential in getting his development back on track, and now he is near average in every aspect but social/emotional growth.

We are working on a diagnosis in the next few months, but that takes longer. I think especially because my son is not clear-cut autistic, but somewhere on the spectrum, it's harder to get a real diagnosis until closer to 3.

We have an Early Childhood Program (Parents As Teachers) that comes into the home. I have the 24 month (ages & stages) questionaire and the educator who evaluates my kids, said he would not pass in the fine or gross motor skills area based on the observations I gave her. He probably needs OT or PT to help him out, but I think his parents assume that he is delayed, but will eventaully catch up. This is my nephew and I don't want to over-step my bounds. I'm just concerned that something is just a little off. I just wondered if his symptoms sounded similar to parents whose little ones are aspies. Thanks for all your input, I appreciate it!

I think that's aaawesome!

What is strange to me is that these individual preferences within himself for what he likes to see or manipulate and when and how; are so odd to others.

So, yup, if these are 'oddities' you might have an aspie. (or someone with a sensory enhancement/ie disorder). I'm Sorry!

If I would have been taught that the right to be an individual MEANT the expectation of being 'mostly' a clone; then I TOTALLY would have grown to be more adjusted.

Here is how I taught my kid to hide (develop). .. The Crayon. 1. This is how YOU hold the crayon. (Show-politely) 2. This is how Everybody else holds the crayon. (Show Perfect) 3. This is how YOU MUST hold the crayon WHILE you are in the company of EVERY BODY ELSE.
4. Long Discussion.
(OR ELSE. You will not fit in and will be sad. You don't want to be sad do you? Reinforce with MUCH love and ZERO intolerance, emotives of impatience or disapproval, or other bad things that might distract child from topic or cause mental illness)

5. Let Him Know A Rational Stance About YOU. ie: Look Kid. I DONT CARE how you hold the crayon. It's Just A Stupid Rule That YOU HAVE to follow ok? And It's Like That Because Of...(that's just the way the world decided it would get along-or whatever you feel) REPEAT your LOVE of your child-to your child. Your candor will actually prove this, whereas being UNCLEAR disproves this and causes contradiction, which will in turn result in distraction, disassociation, and dissonance (in my humble opinion) I LOVE YOU. That's all he really needs to know. And Verbage just doesn't cut it.

Let's Practice. See... The Wrist. Can You Try The Wrist. Like This....Point to Wrist So He KNOWS what you mean. Check eyes and demeanor to ensure he is on the same page with you.

It's Dog Training 101
And It Works.

This aspie parent is going to not be too intrusive on the topic
I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope you two the best!! !! !!

Sorry about my run on sentences and bad grammar on 1st 2nd 3rd person thing.
I hope this helps!

I would consider that he is Autistic. But he needs to be evaluated professionally. Often times we see things when they are pointed out to us.

Does he do hand flapping?

Best,

Idaho Aspie
www.AllThingsAspergers.com

hard to say because of his age. some of the things you point out could be just being a 2 year old.....my NT son was always quite a bit stubborn and bossy. if you're really concerned, then an eval would be the best thing to do

+1

Knowing with such a small child is incredibly difficult if not impossible even for experienced professionals. If it was your child, I'd certainly suggest you bring it up post haste with your paediatrician, but given he's not yours, I'm honestly not sure what you ought to do. I'd probably sit it out for a little while, and see if he improves. If he's not gotten any better in 6 months to a year, mention it to the parents as a possiblity.

If he doesn't know how to play with toys, teach him now. I taught my son after early childhood evaluator pointed out that he couldn't play with toys in an imaginative way. He did learn and I believe it really made his world a lot bigger. His greatest strength now is his beautiful imagination and I wonder if he would be different if I hadn't worked so hard on the toy thing.

teaching him how to play without the benefit of a dx is sort of a slippery slope......i had to teach my son lots of things ( before aspergers was ever a dx). i had my son practice making faces in the mirror. i talked with home about tone of voice and ho different tones meant different things.....i never knew that aspergers even existed.....fast forward to the year he got his dx, and frankly , he almost didn't get an aspergers dx because of all the things i had taught him.

It's hard to get a dx. That was my experience. My son saw so many different professionals, floundered in multiple school placements. There is no danger to starting therapy before an official dx.

wow, thanks for all the helpful comments. the "teaching him to play" idea is a great one. he doesn't seem to really "play" or have a "creative" side to himself when it comes to his toys. it is very limited. so, thanks for all your imput.

He sounds like he's just two.
My NT cousins, who I practically live with, were all like this at that age. Two year olds cry forever at just about everything. It doesn't mean they're "messed up" or anything (though in fact I consider AS a bit of a privilege). Delays at a young age actually aren't correlated with Asperger's. Other forms of Autism, maybe, but not AS...
Something I might worry about is the glazing eyes and drooling. That sounds like some other sort of neurological disorder.
You should be happy the kid is writing at that age! That is very advanced. I was very interactive and developed as an Aspie toddler; I don't think these are AS symptoms. I think you're just concerned that he doesn't fit into your cookie-cutter concept of a little kid.