jean527
01-26-2005, 10:32 AM
I was wondering if you could tell me how you knew/thought something might be not quite right when your child was a toddler. 'Symptoms' I guess would be a better word................
including, sleep problems, allergies or whatever - and if your child is severe or high-funct.
TIA - you ladies are a huge help
Jean
including, sleep problems, allergies or whatever - and if your child is severe or high-funct.
TIA - you ladies are a huge help
Jean
Sponsor
Asperger family
01-26-2005, 10:46 AM
Hi Jean, with mine the symptoms were throughout my pregnancy, I was sick the whole time and preterm labor twice. Then when he was born it was colickyness, sleepless, sometimes stiffened when hugged or held close, fixation on fourwheelers, trucks(as a small baby) cars or anything that moved really.He didnt adjust to formula well and had constipation. He had high temperatures when he got sick and seemed to get sick easy. He had ear infections and allergies, runny nose on and off through out the year. All his motor skills were ahead, he did everythign early, even walked early. He laughed and played alot, could say two words and sounds, but never really tried to initiate talk. HE would pull off his clothes and diaper alot too. He had excessive energy, he went straight from walking to running and never stopped.This is what I saw the first year of his life
Al & Matt's Mom
01-26-2005, 10:50 AM
One thing was that my son had pica. That is eating non-food objects. Mostly paper. He also would sit and flip thru the pages of books for long periods of time. He would head butt, not out of anger, but because he needed the input. He always had a high tolerance for pain, so would not cry unless very severely hurt. Didn't even flinch when he got his vaccinations. He also had a very advanced ability to do puzzles. He always had problems sleeping and is an extremely picky eater. Other than that, he was always very affectionate, always wanted to please and would clap for himself. He had a very brief period with poor eye contact at the time of his regression. At about 20 months, he went from saying 40 to 50 words (including Mommy, Daddy and a lot of other names) to just 10 words with no names at all. Hope this helps, but remember every child is different.
Ryan's mum
01-27-2005, 06:22 AM
With my son we didn't really see anything until about 18mths-2yrs he didn't seem to understand what we were saying and would repeat everything he heard. He could resite videos, tv shows, ads etc so amazingly and we thought he was so clever, even stories he knew what each page said as we were reading it. He would talk to himself and make strange noises constantly. Also he would line things up in rows or just one big long line. He had unusual fears of strange things like certain tv ads, shows, books, pictures. Occasionally he would wave his hands in the air and watch them for ages. He loved faces and touching them almost like he was blind he would feel the outline of your face and he loved to get really close to you and feel your eyelashes on his face. He was very quiet and sometimes would almost forget he was in the house (he is still like that). He also preferred to play on his own which my older son hates because he needs someone to play with ALL the time. At first I didn't ever suspect autism, I thought autistic kids sat all day rocking and not saying a word, how wrong was I!!!!!!!!!!
NineLives
01-29-2005, 01:34 AM
Loss of speech, little or no eye contact, covering his ears and crying when in loud places, reciting movies word for word and wanting us to act out the parts and would become upset if we didn't say the words right, upset if we took a different route to a place that was familiar to him, thought maybe he was deaf at first.
glsmom
01-29-2005, 05:53 PM
Our experience was simular to the Aspergers family. We had alot of problems since birth including no sleeping large amounts of crying and screaming no eye contanct sensory issues like clothing light and sound. We became sure at 2yrs when she had significant developemental delays with talking and social interaction. Constipation and Throughing up were very common the first nine months.
kleaf
02-15-2005, 10:16 PM
My son is 4 and suffers from the following symptoms:
* Major speech delay
* Gross and fine motor delays
* Mild hyptonia (low muscle tone)
* Behavioural problems
* Sleeping problems
* Prone to febrile convlusions, one of which landed him in intensive care
* Doesn't interact properly in social situations
* Goes through stages where he is obsessed with certain things (doors, wheels, fans, lights etc)
* Has a very limited diet (does not eat meat or foods with textures he doesn't like)
* Flaps his hands and makes weird shapes and postures - this isn't severe like with a lot of kids, but is becoming more noticeable as he gets older. He'll wave shis hands quickly if he's upset or excited, often slaps the sides of his legs
* Headbutts and often bites when frustrated and when throwing one of his famous tantrums
To be honest that's all I can think of off the top of my head. The one thing that makes doctors believe he isn't Austistic is how loving he is. He's very affectionate which I'm thankful fore because if he wasn't it would make coping so much harder. But personally I think there are too many other characteristics that do point to Autism. I don't believe every child is a text book case and HAS to not be affectionate or loving, and I think my son is one of them.
I didn't realise there was anything wrong until my doctor referred us to a developmental paediatrician when he turned 2. But looking back I can see the signs were there, I just didn't realise at the time.
* Always floppy - couldn't crawl or sit up until after he turned 1. And would often be hard to hold because he'd be all slouched in your arms
* No speech
* Didn't walk until 20 months
* Obsessed with fans and doors
* Would often stare off into space with a vacant expression on his face
* Shook his head all the time
I just actually watched a video of his first birthday and noticed all of these things, it's amazing what a difference a little education makes. At the time I seriously just thought 'oh all kids are different, he'll do these things in his own time', but to see it now so many different things jump out at me.
Good luck with everything.
* Major speech delay
* Gross and fine motor delays
* Mild hyptonia (low muscle tone)
* Behavioural problems
* Sleeping problems
* Prone to febrile convlusions, one of which landed him in intensive care
* Doesn't interact properly in social situations
* Goes through stages where he is obsessed with certain things (doors, wheels, fans, lights etc)
* Has a very limited diet (does not eat meat or foods with textures he doesn't like)
* Flaps his hands and makes weird shapes and postures - this isn't severe like with a lot of kids, but is becoming more noticeable as he gets older. He'll wave shis hands quickly if he's upset or excited, often slaps the sides of his legs
* Headbutts and often bites when frustrated and when throwing one of his famous tantrums
To be honest that's all I can think of off the top of my head. The one thing that makes doctors believe he isn't Austistic is how loving he is. He's very affectionate which I'm thankful fore because if he wasn't it would make coping so much harder. But personally I think there are too many other characteristics that do point to Autism. I don't believe every child is a text book case and HAS to not be affectionate or loving, and I think my son is one of them.
I didn't realise there was anything wrong until my doctor referred us to a developmental paediatrician when he turned 2. But looking back I can see the signs were there, I just didn't realise at the time.
* Always floppy - couldn't crawl or sit up until after he turned 1. And would often be hard to hold because he'd be all slouched in your arms
* No speech
* Didn't walk until 20 months
* Obsessed with fans and doors
* Would often stare off into space with a vacant expression on his face
* Shook his head all the time
I just actually watched a video of his first birthday and noticed all of these things, it's amazing what a difference a little education makes. At the time I seriously just thought 'oh all kids are different, he'll do these things in his own time', but to see it now so many different things jump out at me.
Good luck with everything.
BetsyAnn
02-15-2005, 11:56 PM
My son is 4 and suffers from the following symptoms:
The one thing that makes doctors believe he isn't Austistic is how loving he is. He's very affectionate which I'm thankful fore because if he wasn't it would make coping so much harder. But personally I think there are too many other characteristics that do point to Autism. I don't believe every child is a text book case and HAS to not be affectionate or loving, and I think my son is one of them.
This is such a common misconception. I also think that autistic kids can be very affectionate. My son is very affectionate (he did however, have to be taught how to hug.) Most of the kids in my son's autistic pre-school also seem quite affectionate.
I can really relate to what you said about not seeing the signs. Until I was educated on autism I did not consider anything about my son unusual, nor did anyone else. Looking back he had characteristics from birth. A lot of the stereo-typic behaviors are so subtle, especially in a toddler-they all do odd things. Once I started reading about autism there was little doubt in my mind that he was on the spectrum. Alot of people we associate with thought I was just an overprotective neurotic mom for even considering it. Most people think that autistic behaviors are all blatantly bizarre. People often misread the signs. My mother in-law was very impressed with how my son would always line up the cars so neatly. She took this to be a sign of how intelligent he is. Guest at our home were always very flattered by how he grabbed their wrist and drag them around the house (using them to get what he wanted or needed). He did it in such a way they always took it as a sign of how affectionate he was and how much he liked them.
The one thing that makes doctors believe he isn't Austistic is how loving he is. He's very affectionate which I'm thankful fore because if he wasn't it would make coping so much harder. But personally I think there are too many other characteristics that do point to Autism. I don't believe every child is a text book case and HAS to not be affectionate or loving, and I think my son is one of them.
This is such a common misconception. I also think that autistic kids can be very affectionate. My son is very affectionate (he did however, have to be taught how to hug.) Most of the kids in my son's autistic pre-school also seem quite affectionate.
I can really relate to what you said about not seeing the signs. Until I was educated on autism I did not consider anything about my son unusual, nor did anyone else. Looking back he had characteristics from birth. A lot of the stereo-typic behaviors are so subtle, especially in a toddler-they all do odd things. Once I started reading about autism there was little doubt in my mind that he was on the spectrum. Alot of people we associate with thought I was just an overprotective neurotic mom for even considering it. Most people think that autistic behaviors are all blatantly bizarre. People often misread the signs. My mother in-law was very impressed with how my son would always line up the cars so neatly. She took this to be a sign of how intelligent he is. Guest at our home were always very flattered by how he grabbed their wrist and drag them around the house (using them to get what he wanted or needed). He did it in such a way they always took it as a sign of how affectionate he was and how much he liked them.