Child speech problems- autism spectrum ?

marleyboy

LutonGuy wrote: »

Well, I am not sure where to start from really. What is the best possible way to move forward? How can I help him and myself to identify the real underlying issue. What are the common signs that i should look at.


My question for those of you with autistic children is, when they were this age 24 - 30 months, what signs did you see that told you that your child was different?

Should i maintain a diary for his behavior to show to doctor on next visit so dr. can easily identify if it is autism or something else?

Should i go private or just wait and see. if go private where to start looking from.

anything else (even if very little) you think might be helpful

We didnt go private and things certainly dont happen overnight whether private or NHS. A diary is a good idea. We did not recognise autism in our child, We at first just had him down as being profoundly deaf, it took a teacher at his S.N. Nursery to notice the symptoms of autism.

He could not get statemented until he was over 2, an array of tests and diagnosis was involved and no one doctor could diagnose it.

At 15 Months we had noticed he was still only crawling, no fun playing and no attempt to babble, but as he was very premature we just put it down to delay. The common signs for our Son was the twirling and flapping his hands, which seems to be a common trait for autism, on saying this, each child is unique and symptoms do vary.

Getting a statement was the first priority for autistic children, but only today the news was reporting that the Government have replaced the Statement with something else.

Savvy_Sue

LutonGuy wrote: »

Should i maintain a diary for his behavior to show to doctor on next visit so dr. can easily identify if it is autism or something else?

A diary could well be helpful, because some things will be 'normal' for that age, and others won't. But there is no 'easy' way to diagnose autism: it's a spectrum rather than specific issues and behaviours.

I have a son with mild Aspergers. I knew at the age of two that he was not 'neurotypical', but he was never so far outside the range of his peers' behaviour that I felt the need to seek medical advice. He spoke late, but very well once he got going - as a friend said, "he was waiting to have something worthwhile to say" and probably thought my inane chatter very tiresome.

I am sure nursery and primary school had 'clocked' his peculiarities, eg at nursery the head teacher asked if I ever sang to him, because he wouldn't join in singing with the class. I just said that he probably wanted to sing his own song rather than theirs, and thought no more about it.

He was 12 before the school doctor mentioned AS to me.

Indie_Kid

Catie_the_Investor wrote: »

Fortunately, that isn't the case.

I've been told it is.

Frith

I have a son with Aspergers Syndrome and am trying to remember what he was like at 2.5 - 3!


He barely spoke but when he did, the words were always clear. He didn't acknowledge people and didn't make much eye contact.


He doesn't really see the point in playing/making up scenarios so it was quite difficult to keep him amused.


Nursery was difficult as he didn't talk at all (had selective mutism to the point that in year R, 1 and 2 at school he didn't even answer the register).


The main thing I noticed that made him different from his brother and other children is that he was cruising round the furniture at 7 months, walking by 8 and has never sat still since. He fiddles with everything - light switches, door handles - and often even now messes with things until they snap!


The NHS had 2 or 3 goes at diagnosing him but struggled as he is high functioning. He was diagnosed at 9 which is the average age of diagnosis with Aspergers. He started at a mainstream high school 2 days ago where there is an autism base.

Indie_Kid

Catie_the_Investor wrote: »

You haven't said ''who'' told you

I work as an Independent Educational Psychologist, and am approached by many worried parents who feel that ''the system'' is failing their child. If after examination I feel that a child has a problem, I will then produce a report for the family's GP identifying my concerns. He will then forward my report to the relevant team for investigation. Any report produced is treated with respect

Someone on the spectrum in that situation.

hedgewytch13

My little boy is 3.5 and we have a diagnosis of "probable ASD". I first noticed that he'd been chattering away with clear words until about two then all of a sudden he seemed to stop talking. When he started saying words again they were very unclear and most people couldn't understand him apart from us. I took him to groups with other toddlers but I noticed he wouldn't play with the other children, he wouldn't sit for story time and spent the entire time trying to escape even though he seemed to enjoy the group. I started choosing groups on the basis of security! I decided to start him at child care last September as I thought it would help his speech and socialising. We'd also noticed he started to get really upset and anxious when routines changed or at Christmas and birthdays. While other parents were taking their toddlers to meet santa I realised that my little boy didn't know who he was. Christmas he spent his time rolling balls off wrapped parcels but wouldn't want to open them. He would spin round and round for ages or spend hours playing with the sunlight beams coming through the window. Then the lady from child care gave me an update and they'd had noticed his speech delay, his lack of eye contact, socialising, his constant escape attempts, opening and closing doors repetitively and flushing toilets. There's also the head banging, not coming to us for comfort when he hurts himself, his high pain threshold, sleep issues. That was how we got referred to the CDC. The health visitors didn't pick up on it at all, and when I mentioned my concerns I was told he was quirky and his scores were too high to be referred for speech help. The consultant told me this week she's convinced he's autistic but they're reluctant to make a diagnosis as he's still very young. But having seem the children at the CDC assessment, they are all so different.

thorsoak

Eldest dgd (now 14) did not speak at all - she would point to things that she wanted, she would nod and shake her head if asked questions, but did not speak at all until she was 3. At that time, my DD and her OH lived in Tokyo, and trying to get an assessment of anything was extremely difficult, without coming back to the UK- and DD brought her back here three times in 1 year to try and get a diagnosis/set up some sort of programme without getting anywhere.

When dgd was almost 4, still just nodding and shaking her head, they were waiting at the airport for a flight, she wandered over to Daddy who was working on his laptop and said "what'cha doin, Daddy"? He answered her ...and then realised who it was who asked the question! Since then, it's hard to stop her talking.

No reason could be given for what obviously was some sort of selective mutism - nor why she suddenly started talking - but according to the specialist that had seen her 3 times before, it does sometimes happen.

Vicky123

So many people jump to the conclusion that language delay or difficulties = autism when it could be something else.
Lack of imaginative play is often the first red flag, possibly playing with toys inappropriately ie turning toy cars upside down and spinning the wheels, lining things up, moving on from that failure to make connections with their peers.
At first consultation the paed will look to see how the child plays.
It would be appropriate to check for physical issues as a possible cause of language difficulties it has to be eliminated in order to make a proper diagnosis.
Across the autistic spectrum social problems are a core feature from the very severe non verbal to the isolated high functioning Asperger.
Just my own opinion but I think this lack of early play is what isolates the higher functioning kids from their peers, they may be rejected very early on which causes further problems with social skills, play is early learning it's hard to bunny hop over it.
Kids can be taught how to play though, the sooner that's addressed the better.

merlin68

My dd couldn't talk and I pushed and got a camera down her throat and she had a submoucas cleft and also later discovered glue ear.

PoorCharleyBear

A friend's 4.5yr old child has just been diagnosed on the spectrum.

She is affectionate but wary, happy to play on her own (but in your case that's how 3 year olds play), like a fair degree of order, if she plays with another child, it will just be the one. The biggest issue is her language. She talks but not much. She does not instigate conversation but talks about things which she likes. So a question like - did you have fun at the zoo? What was your favourite animal? will bring seemingly suitable responses.
A question like : did you have fun playing with John? She will answer about something different.
Specialists have said this-her inability to hold meaningful conversations indicates she is on the spectrum.

In your case it can just be delayed speech. but it could be ASD...only specialists will be able to guage.