Signs of autism/asperger's in my child?

the_pink_panther_2

My brother was born with a very big head. Nothing to do with autism, apparently my mum had cravings for radishes when she was pregnant, then later read that excessive zinc (which is contained in radishes) in your diet when pregnant can cause a part of the body to grow too large. It probably sounds like my brother has a massive head... he doesn't but it was on the large side when he was small. Back to the point. Although I don't remember whether or not he had those symptoms you're describing on the whole I do remember my parents were worried as he was so late walking- about 18 months. I think that perhaps can be if your head is bigger, could be connected to balance. My brother's anything but aspergers. anything but aspergers.

meritaten

It is a bit early to think about Autism - most health professionals wont consider it until the child is about 3 at the minimum.
I think you would have more indicators than you have posted if your child was severely autistic. he could just be a late developer.
I think perhaps you should just keep an eye on him - but remember the 'milestones' are for the average baby - and to my knowledge nobody has had one of those yet! they are all different and develop in different ways.

JC9297

There is no reason to link your son's late crawling/walking to autism, plenty of children with ASD have no delay in these developmental milestones. He is babbling etc, yes some children do lose this but there is no reason to think your son will at the moment. Don't know quite how to describe it but the hand-flapping in autism is quite distinctive, and I believe (although I may be corrected) is not usually seen in children as young as yours..
Nobody on here can say your son does not have autism, although it is unlikely. If you have concerns speak to your Health Visitor, if just for reassurance, but please don't try to look for things that make him 'fit' with autism- there are so many possible pointers that we could probably all be diagnosed at ASD on some level.

daska

Stop worrying LOL, I know, easier said than done! The milestones are average, it's said that Einstein didn't speak until he was 4 and some kids miss out on crawling completely. That doesn't mean you should ignore these things, in fact make a note of when things change or even video it to show people as it gets difficult to remember a few years down the line and it's useful to have something to refer to if you need it, if nothing else it might be the easiest way to explain your concerns and get the reassurance and/or action you need.

Rocking and stimming (the term used for hand-flapping and other types of self-stimulating activities) go hand in hand with the sensory problems that a lot of people on the spectrum have BUT, even if it is that and not sheer excitement at the prospect of the taste sensation you're about to provide, it doesn't follow that your child is autistic, there isn't a 1:1 correlation.

BUT, and this is definitely a but, my experience (with DS2) is that a lot of health professionals don't actually know a lot about sensory problems so try to work out if there is any obvious cause and effect, does he behave the same way every time he sits up, or if the highchair is in a different room? With the flapping is it just inside his range of vision or over his head or out to the side, or only when you give him raw carrot? (there's nothing particularly scientific or medical about those questions LOL but what he's doing might be relevant and the clearer you can be the better).

daska

JC9297 wrote: »

There is no reason to link your son's late crawling/walking to autism, plenty of children with ASD have no delay in these developmental milestones. He is babbling etc, yes some children do lose this but there is no reason to think your son will at the moment. Don't know quite how to describe it but the hand-flapping in autism is quite distinctive, and I believe (although I may be corrected) is not usually seen in children as young as yours..
Nobody on here can say your son does not have autism, although it is unlikely. If you have concerns speak to your Health Visitor, if just for reassurance, but please don't try to look for things that make him 'fit' with autism- there are so many possible pointers that we could probably all be diagnosed at ASD on some level.

I didn't realise it was unusual? DS2 was definitely hand-flapping before the age of 1 and using anything even vaguely sticklike that he could get hold of to accentuate it - I just didn't have a clue what it was so didn't think to mention it. More worryingly he was displaying some other very distinctive behaviour which we did mention frequently and that was completely ignored by our HV, EY, Paediatrician etc. Thankfully all positions are now irrelevant or have new incumbents.

SingleSue

I have two children with an ASD, middle son has aspergers and youngest has complex autism.

Middle son was an average age crawler, walker and talker, youngest son was a very late walker (later found to be due to extreme hypermobility in his ankles) but was my earliest talker.

Youngest lost his language skills at approx 14 months along with his interest in the world around him, he became lost in his own coccoon, shutters down, closed shop sort of thing. He would also give no eye contact and would react very negatively if someone tried to look at him directly or touch him (there are several older ladies lucky to still have eyes after trying to do so when he was little :eek:)

Middle son however, babbled away with no problems and was very much in your face, too much in your face to be comfortable...he was also extremely active.

Both were extremely routine bound and they still are now.

Youngest was picked up as having possible autism when he was 19 months old when we were at an appointment for middle son (who was at that time suspected of having ADHD) but he was not formally diagnosed until he was 5...mainly because he is so complex. Middle son was diagnosed also at age 5 as a complete bolt out of the blue, Aspergers had not crossed my mind at all!

As a by the by, middle son is now in year 10 (main stream, statemented) and is doing all higher GCSE exams and is top set for all his lessons...not bad baring in mind he also has moderate hearing loss, brain damage and a learning disability in verbal understanding on top of the Aspergers. They have had to adapt the teaching style for him so he can reach his potential (he also has horrendous short term memory due to the damage to his brain) but I'm pretty chuffed as he was labelled unteachable at age 7 or 8!

Youngest is now in year 9 and also in main stream, albeit with a very very high level of support (1-1 in all lessons, he is also statemented). He is also expected to do the expected GCSEs (he is a maths savant and highly intelligent) but there is work to do for us to prepare him for the exams (the work started in year 8)...he doesn't deal very well with tests, he spent his year 6 SATS under the desk as the noise from the pens writing drove him crazy.

As with middle son, I am very pleased with the progress he has made, we were told he would never be able to go to a mainstream school, particularly a mainstream high school but we all worked together to enable him (and the schools) to cope with it. My relationship with all the teachers became so close I knew all their first names and even got Christmas cards from the head master at the high school...before youngest even started! We had started the process of him moving there 2 years before, so they knew him and he knew them/the layout of the school, very well before he actually arrived.

Mandles

My son has autism and also had none of those symptoms, he was just a difficult baby and would gag at certain smells and when he touched hair(due to him having heightened senses).
My niece had a really massive head in proportion to her body and has grown up normal in every way (and grew into her head ) .
A lot of the things you say could be normal , especially the rocking, lack of walking, hand flapping in a child of that age and some dont speak for ages.
Communication is what is important and he can hear his name so that is a good sign. I really wish i had taught my son that sign language as that would have made things easier looking back as he found communication verbally tricky (he has no problem now) but that would have definately helped him and may be something you could look into.
Do you have autism in your family? If it helps, since having my son diagnosed as autistic , i realised my other much older son was and got missed (and he is well liked by lots of people and will lead a pretty normal life).
So , i wouldnt worry overly right now but let your concerns be noted by health visitor and whoever assesses your child. I knew but wasn't listened to until he went to a very good nursery who noticed . I love my little boy , he is different in many ways which makes so many people really warm to him and love him

the_pink_panther_2

daska wrote: »

Stop worrying LOL, I know, easier said than done! The milestones are average, it's said that Einstein didn't speak until he was 4 and some kids miss out on crawling completely.

Slightly confused by this particular example... it's just that Einstein is thought to have been aspergers... I agree though, although possible your child has aspergers, it seems unlikely at this stage. I understand it's so so easy to worry about it though.

babyemily

I too have 2 with ASD - One walked at 9 months and never spoke, the other didnt walk till 15 months and could talk the hind legs off a donkey!! I know that alot of what you say is normal behaviour for some children but I can see why you are worried Ask for a referral to a CDC if there is one local although in our area they refuse to diagnose ASD till age 4 so it may be a long haul. I too think that alot of what you are describing is normal behaviour so try not too worry too much xox

Gingham_R

the_pink_panther wrote: »

daska wrote: »

Stop worrying LOL, I know, easier said than done! The milestones are average, it's said that Einstein didn't speak until he was 4 and some kids miss out on crawling completely.

Slightly confused by this particular example... it's just that Einstein is thought to have been aspergers... I agree though, although possible your child has aspergers, it seems unlikely at this stage. I understand it's so so easy to worry about it though.

There's no evidence that Einstein had aspergers, dyslexia or any of the other special needs people say he had, though it would be nice to put him in all those catagories.

He was a late talker, but it does happen that some gifted children are very late talkers.

His late talking does however suggest that we shouldn't worry too much about a child not talking at this age!