Autism - what signs did you see in your children?

katrina001

My son started speaking at about 13-14 months then regressed and didn't speak at all until he was 3. He wouldn't make eye contact, was aggressive as he couldn't express himself, he had very repetitive behaviour (light switches all had to be the same, on or off etc), he used to line things up, not hear you, you could talk to him and he wouldn't recognise that it was him you were talking to. He always played alone, at 2 he would sit and do 100 piece puzzles for hours on end. His autism is probably genetic though as he is missing part of a chromosome which is linked to autism.

Taadaa

Went to a post natal group recently and a woman from the council was taking about development. Lining things up, and other seemingly obsessive behaviour, is just their way of exploring the world. DS used to stand up, put his head upside down on the floor and look back between his legs for hours. It's an orientation schema. It also explains why some kids love the box over the toy, they get a little obsession with objects going inside other objects.

I do have an autistic nephew but his mam is in denial. He speaks to no one. He goes crazy if his routine is broken. He's obsessed with Thomas the Tank. Apparently Manu autisitc children are, something to do with the facial expressions of the trains.

meritaten

unless a child is severely autistic it can be hard to diagnose. and 'signs' are not reliable indicators. usually it takes lots of little 'signs' and behavioural issues taken together which raises concerns. Then there are 'degrees of autism'. ranging from Obsessive Disorders to Autism. and then ADD, ADHD and Aspergers in between (which are increasing lumped into the catch-all ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder).
I would say raise concerns with HV and GP, but be prepared for it just being another disorder called Developmental Delay. or nothing to worry about at all and your child is simply very laid back and does things on HIS schedule!!!!!!!!!

lollipopsarah

I think he sounds like a normal toddler.
All children are different and haven't read the "book" about schedules.My middle child was a late talker, had speech therapy/hearing tests etc. but caught up later on when she was ready ( I suppose it didn't help that when she pointed/grunted we knew what she wanted) however the youngest was a very fast learner but was in nappies until his 4th birthday -go figure.
Please don't drive yourself crazy, enjoy you child being just that, a child.
I'm sure we are told to expect too much of our children these days.
xx

marleyboy

Our Son is now 3.5 Years old and still unable to talk, however his autism is merged with his deafness. He likes to flap things obsessively, will only eat his food if presented in the right coloured bowls, yellow for his main course and purple for his pudding.

He likes to spin or gets overexcited at the ceiling fan if it is on. He has only just worked out stacking, but only two items at a time, anymore and he becomes frustrated and confused. He has only just worked out pairing or matching objects, which to us is a great leap in his development.

His autistic tantrums can be overzealous, either giggling hysterically for no apparent reason or throwing objects around ferociously. I find he can watch television only if its a narrator and simplistic background (imagine Mr Benn), background noises or too many activities going on on the screen will confuse him to the point he will lose interest.

Of course there is much more to his autism than can be explained, but each child is unique and handle situations differently.

The common traits for autism in babies seem to be the constant flapping of objects, obsessive spinning and the inability to comprehend more than one project - (for example that a drumstick beats a drum is too confusing, either they beat the stick or beat the drum individually).

My child cannot line up toy cars bumper to bumper, nor ask (verbally or visually) for the television to be turned on, if the television is turned off, to him it is no longer a television and is quickly forgotten about.

Make-it-3

Step away from Goggle - you can find a broken toe nail is terminal cancer if you look hard enough on it.

I have a 27 month old and a lot of the behaviours you mention are common to her to. Studying things carefully, put things in order, lining them up etc are them making sense of things. Kids don't actively play together at this age.

My DD is very chatty, but many of her peers still have very limited vocabulary - far less than your child. I think you may be over-analysing the speech issue (how on earth do you know he speaks 99 words?) but if you have experts monitoring this then let them advise you as they know your son personally rather than us random folk here.

Frith

My son (who is 9) at 2 knew a few words. His speech was OK by the time he went to nursery and was even a bit "flowery" and adult sounding.

I could not comb or wash his hair from the age of 2 til he was about 8. (it got washed a bit taking him swimming or from lying in the bath. If I HAD to shampoo it, he would become more distressed than I care to remember, even being sick in the bath on one occasion).

He was quite aggressive at school and had selective mutism from nursery into yr 5.

His settling to sleep was (still is) not quite right. He is asleep beside me in bed now! He has phobias about ghosts, using toilets apart from ours and is generally very nervous. Even in our house, if he goes upstairs, he likes me to come up with him to make sure it is OK.

He hates tight clothes, can't wear a hat (although I can wash his hair now!), can't stand labels in clothes and REALLY can't bear having bare feet. He has to wear socks all the time, even in bed.

The biggest problem is that he has absolutely no interest in other children apart from his brother and one friend. Although if that friend comes to play, he gets bored of him after a while and asks when I will take him home!

He used to flap his hands a lot. He also paces about when under stress, mutters under his breath and when at his last school used to walk about making a clicking noise (like sonar!). He walks on tip toes unless reminded about his physio trips...

And his cars (from the movie Cars) aren't just lined up occasionally. They are lined up constantly and preferably hidden in their line up on top of the piano, protected by tea towels.

He was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome earlier this week. It took 5 years to get a diagnosis. I knew something wasn't quite right from when he was 6 weeks old. However, I only had his older brother to compare him with (very bright, very loud and theatrical!) It was when he got into year 3 and 4 at school that I noticed the other children really were growing up, chatting etc and my son wasn't really doing that.

zagubov

DS ran in circles when stressed at an airport and this got our attention. Visiting a friends house that had scaffolding outside it, he refused to accept it was the right house or enter it even though his friend was welcoming him in the doorway. We couldn't leave him in playgoups without a struggle. We found it baffling and exhausting.

When we began to wonder about the diagnosis lots of other people shared their own conerns about him with us. We must have been in denial for ages.

He's diagnosed with Aspergers now but not statemented. I did read somewhere that children on the spectrum don't play-act, (for example playing "cowboys and Indians" was the non-PC game for my generation). My son never did anything like this.

I'd be way of the internet. Every cough' looks like lung cancer when you're online.

sulkisu

Thanks again for the replies,information and links, especially those of you with autistic children who have taken time to respond. I hadn't heard of many of the behaviours that you describe and can definitely say that my son does not display these. I am definitely stepping away from Google - it's hard when you have no older children to compare them with and the few children that you do come into contact with, seem much more advanced.

Make it 3 - I know he has 99 words because when he was referred for speech therapy, I was asked to write down all of the words that he said at the time (which was 25) and then to keep a note of new words that he can speak and understand. It helps them to identify patterns in speech which may (or may not) be significant.. E.g he has only just started to pronounce words begining with B and cant say Ps yet. Funnily enough it is comforting to have the list as it shows me how much progress he is making.

pigpen

sulkisu wrote: »

Thanks again for the replies,information and links, especially those of you with autistic children who have taken time to respond. I hadn't heard of many of the behaviours that you describe and can definitely say that my son does not display these. I am definitely stepping away from Google - it's hard when you have no older children to compare them with and the few children that you do come into contact with, seem much more advanced.

Make it 3 - I know he has 99 words because when he was referred for speech therapy, I was asked to write down all of the words that he said at the time (which was 25) and then to keep a note of new words that he can speak and understand. It helps them to identify patterns in speech which may (or may not) be significant.. E.g he has only just started to pronounce words begining with B and cant say Ps yet. Funnily enough it is comforting to have the list as it shows me how much progress he is making.

Sounds which are made at the back of the mouth.. 'g' and 'ck' for example are often late to learn because they cannot see what to do with their tongue etc.. First sounds are also often missed off.. 'S' being a common one ... 'lide, (slide) ... and sounds like 'sh' and 'ch' and 'th' are often late.. They all usually get there in the end.. OH still has a slight mispronunciation of 'r' which is not too obvious, until he wanted to name our daughter Gabrielle! :eek: ... lol

Keep practising and encouraging him to talk though it sounds like he is doing well to me.