My son the puzzle

Post Reply New Topic

Okay, so the more I read, the more confused I am. I'm anticipating this school-evaluation, but just tonight I realized how a lot of his "off" traits seem to be motor-skill related.

My kiddo rolled over late, walked late, talked late and still walks and talks pretty awkwardly (he actually walks very slowly, taking really small steps). When he runs, his left hand shoots out and circles like a little helicopter propeller. It's cute. He drools pretty constantly and he does the classic hand-flapping thing among other stims.

He draws but his drawings are either cars (primary obssession) or circles (another obsession - circular objects). So I can't really tell how his fine motors sills are from his drawing. The cars are fine. It seems like maybe gross motor skills are off, mainly.

Potty training is going quite well/he has good control over bowel/bladder function. He can feed himself but doesn't seem to be getting the finer points. He still spills drinks on himself when we go to a restaurant and they give him a kids' cup - I have to remind him every time to suck up on the straw instead of holding the cup up and left the drink roll downward. And he still doesn't understand, after much teaching, what it means to spit water out instead of swallow it, i.e. when brushing teeth.

His cognitive functioning is fine. He can recognize most shapes and colors, knows all his letters, can count to 20 and understands object groupings. I'd even say his cognitive functioning is advanced for his age and always has been, but his language skills don't reflect it. Like, he knows the answer, but sometimes he doesn't get that he should answer the question.

His memory is great. His memory for rules, not so much. But the main thing I see are motor skill deficits, like motor planning, maybe? Language deficits, which he's making progress on, and social deficits - which might be explained by him being an only child of two relatively introverted people (with possible aspie traits). And the drooling and stimming.

Wheras I was thinking maybe autism a few weeks ago, now I'm leaning toward some sort of birth trauma? I was in labor for about 48 hours. Al drooling searches say "possible mild cerebral palsy"; I couldn't find any other neuro conditions where drooling was that common. He does seem to lick his lips a lot, too, that could be a sort of stimming. I'm pretty sure he has some (mild, probably) sensory-integration issues.

His pediatric visits never yielded anything other than "a little slow maybe, but within the range of normal for his age". He can pass for "normal" until he gets into a situation where he's around other kids. Then the speculation of "what's wrong with him?" starts - out loud, by the other kids, privately to me by the daycare workers.

I know I'm not a doctor and neither are you. But any ideas?

I am reading a fascinating book called, "Does Your Baby Have Autism?" which talks about motor skill difficulties in infancy as possible precursors to developing autism/AS in childhood. It is a very interesting book, something like an introductory neurology text. It's easy to read and illustrates the developmental steps in order, comparing typical with atypical development.

Hi patternist,
Sounds like High Functioning Autism to me - but only because of the language delay. The reason I say this, is because one of my young family members was given this diagnosis, and she has a lot of things in common with your son. The pediatrician who made the diagnosis stated that it would most likely be changed to Asperger's once she had caught up with her language skills. Like your son, she also used to drool and had problems with the finer points of eating and drinking. We were told the reason she drooled was because she kept her mouth open all the time. This may have been because she has small sinuses and it is easier for her to breathe through her mouth, or it may have something to do with her language issues (delays in gaining control of the small muscles of the lips, tongue, etc.). All of her motor skills, both gross and fine, are steadily improving through practice (a very wide variety of games and activities).

I forgot to mention that one of my other young Aspie family members licks his lips when he is under extreme stress, such as starting back at school after the holidays. It goes on for up to a week, and by that time he ends up with a red ring around his mouth from the constant licking.

I've been thinking Aspergers, because his language delay is something noticed by me, his mom, but not "clinically" obvious. In other words, did he put two words together by the age of 2? Yes. Does he still know how to hold a conversation at 3 1/2? No. He narrates. He interrupts to point out the obvious and (often) repeats what he's already said until you acknowledge it, which might be normal at this age. He doesn't answer questions, especially questions from non-family members. Or - he'll answer them five minutes later, to me, after we walk away.

Neigbor: Did you have fun?
G: (silence)
Neighbor: well, okay then
G: (silcence)
*we walk away*
G: 'I had fun"

********************************

My son leans into his walk. That meant he fell over a lot when he was smaller, not to mention running into things because he's looking down.

Same here, except he draws robots and plants with a lot of fine detail. that may be my fault though because he copies my subject matter a lot.

Girls seem to get this a lot easier than boys. I wouldn't worry about what you're describing here. My wife has daycared a lot of family and friend's kids and the boys all matched what you wrote.

He seems smart, the not understanding he's supposed to answer is pretty normal unless it's in the middle of a session where he has been answering. Still kids are like that.

Here are Emmett's two rules that we give to all kids that are under our roof.

1. Be nice
2. Ask first

Kids understand those rules and when they do something bad you ask "What are the two rules?" and then ask "which rule did you break?" and they get it. Just a suggestion. It's worked wonders for us.

My son drooled a LOT when he was 2 and under. It started to slow down after a while. He's 5 and still drools when he's upset.

Try having him deal with only one child that he seems to like. Preferably a younger one so that he's not trying to catch up. It still might take time but it seems to be working for my son. One person at a time may be all he can handle. A group might be overloading him.

This isn't terribly unusual although most NT kids will hide to show they're scared, he may just be hiding verbally until the person he doesn't want to deal with is gone.

Every Friday I do two assessments on under 5's, some come out with a diagnosis of some kind, many are put on the " watch this space " list.
It sounds to me like he is a little different. But I am very hesitant to mention anything on here, since without actually seeing your son it is impossible to say anything with any accuracy. I strongly suggest you get an assessment from an SLT/OT and Physio that are experienced in working with children of your son's age and get a complete picture. I am not sure where you live or what services are available to you, but I think getting a thorough assessment would be the best place to start.
Drooling may or may not be a problem .. it's hard to know without seeing him. When I say a problem , not necessarily a problem in itself but symptomatic of something else. If you are thinking about AS it is not what he is doing that will tell you ( if he's mild ) but the quality and frequency of what he is doing.

sorry I have not been very helpful.. but I think diagnosis via the net is not a good idea.. it's likely to be inaccurate and it's just plain impossible to do adequately. So do get a professional opinion and push your doctor for a referral to people that can assess, if he/she will not refer on, then find another Dr that will.

Yeah, I have a screening appointment on Oct. 29th through the school system. I think it's similar to what you mentioned you do. If they feel it's warranted, they refer him for a formal evaluation, then a psychologist, and admit him to the early intervention preschool program. It is supposedly a really solid program, and completely free.

My insurance doesn't cover much in regard to a neurological evaluation - and they are expensive here in the US - but if I don't agree with what the school system says, it's second opinion time.

I'm just trying to gather ideas, while I wait, to help me understand my son a little better in the meantime. It may be months before I get an actual DX, and I'm going a little crazy trying to figure it out.

I think regarding a diagnosis.. all that will give you is a name for the complete picture ( if there is one ) in the meantime , work on the things that you see are hard for him. Having a diagnosis will not change the actual presentation or the therapy that you do with him We often work with children for months that have no diagnosis, but target therapy to the areas of need and find out what works best for the child.

I think he reason I want a DX for my son is the magical thinking that...once it's named...we can own it. And in practical ways this is true too...we will be able to find support, whether it's through support groups, websites, books on the topic, whatever, it is somewhat empowering to be given direction...even if it means someone recommending a book...it's better than "my son has amorphous blob which makes him reverse pronouns and not answer questions and sometimes trip over his own feet". A diagnosis, even if it's a complex and temporary one, gives me a place to start. Even if the diagnosis is something like "very mild receptive language disorder" or PDD-NOS" or something else either really specific or not specific at all. Place to start.

It's probably not necessary for his comfort, but I don't think it's necessarily incompatible with it, and it might be necessary for my comfort.

*****************

I think you hit the nail on the head there, I think with our children we find a diagnosis helpful to access services, find information, gather support and just to * know * what it is seems important. I know with my own son I knew there was something not right, but I had no idea what for a long time. In fact diagnosis has been an on going and lengthy process for my son. From the time he was 3 months old until roughly a year ago ( he's 8 now - nearly 9) He has multiple diagnoses, he has Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy, ASD, ADHD and intellectual disability.
I guess what I would like you to find reassuring ..( hopefully ) is that for a child it will not change how people work with him, they will still work with what they see, so he will not be missing out on much needed assistance in the meantime. It's better I think for a diagnosis to be a process that is gone through carefully and accurately, rather than grabbing at possible straws. At the end of the day, none of it will change who he is, he is still your much loved and dear little boy. I am not trying to say a diagnosis is not important.. just that it is important to arrive at it the right way.

P.S, if it's at all helpful , it is rare to see stimming outside of ASD, and also children with intellectual disability will stim.
Drooling, in your sons case, sounds like it is the result of generalised low tone ( also the reason he trips over his feet no doubt ) and will most likely improve with time. Hypotonia is very common in children with ASD.