mama-d
02-11-2005, 12:13 AM
What were the first signs that made you think Autism? Was it a delay in speech, repetion of activities, or behavioral problems, or other? TIA.
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Al & Matt's Mom
02-11-2005, 08:36 AM
First real sign was speech loss, although we didn't realize it was that at the time. We just thought he stopped progressing and it wasn't until after the evaluation that we realized how much speech had disappeared. Also, he had pica since he could walk, but then so did my neighbor's NT son.
sarahrose
02-11-2005, 10:47 AM
Delayed speech, hand flapping, hitting himself, very poor eye contact, pacing back and forth, screaming constantly, the EEEEEE thing, he still does that too, lol. As soon as we realized something was very wrong the school system came in to help us figure it out, we then got him diagnosed by a shrink. there are many signs and they all vary according to the child, but those were just some of my sons. good luck to you!! :wave:
jeffreys mom
02-11-2005, 09:28 PM
My son is not diagnosed but I suspect he will be with PDD/NOS after his appointment with Developmental Medicine at Childrens Hospital. He cried a lot as an infant and was inconsoleable. It crossed my mind briefly in his infancy because he rarely smiled when you spoke to him and wasn't much of a cooer. He also never looked at you when you called his name and did some finger flicking. At 12 mos. he got one ear infection after another so I wasn't sure if he was just unhappy because he was not feeling well and maybe not hearing me. At 15 months when language wasn't progressing either I was finally willing to think there may be a problem and mentioned my concerns to his pediatrician. He went for hearing test ( abr sedated ) and passed so it was clear that he could hear me. I got involved with early intervention and researched the internet for info. When he was assessed by early intervention the Occupational Therapist said she wouldn't be surprised if he is diagnosed PDD/NOS. I had researched about the GF/CF diet and decided to try it. He is currently off all dairy and has improved tremendously. He still shows some charactaristics : he is just 2 though.... He flaps, his eye contact is improved but could be better, his receptive language is behind which worries me, his expressive is coming along but he is delayed, and he has low muscle tone. Obviously I don't want him to be diagnosed, but if it is actually the case, I want to know for sure and just look ahead. This teetering back and forth is driving me crazy. Thanks for listening and good luck to you.
sarahrose
02-11-2005, 09:59 PM
Come to think of it, Sammy cried alot as an infant as well, we used to call him the town cryer. We later figured out it was a milk allergy causing all the excess crying and bowel problems, he also had TERRIBLE eczema. It's funny when you look back on it all now, all the signs were there, but we were new parents, and though we were overreacting. :confused:
heartc
02-11-2005, 10:24 PM
It really seems you discribed my son! I feel like I'm stuck trying to find help myself. School is difficult. At times, I think the school he's at doesn't help either. What's the diet like?
jeffreys mom
02-11-2005, 10:34 PM
my son also had terrible infant eczema. His cheeks had a raw strip on each side that it hurt me for him just looking at it. When I asked the Doctor about it, he said it was just infant eczema. I asked about possible milk allergy and was told that was not the problem. I wish I had gone with my own instincts because if a milk allergy is what caused his symptoms/delays, maybe they wouldn't have been as bad .....
memehegan
02-16-2005, 09:45 PM
My son had terrible infant exzema- it didnt go completely away until he went on the gfcf diet! He did do soy milk until he was 3 1/2. Da looking back now I know the behaviors worsened as we added milk products. I knew something was wrong- at birth he made little eye contact- he'd just as soon look at the fan or window instead of me. he was my second child- my first never took her eyes off me. His eyes were "hyper" right from the get go and as soon as his body could move it kept up with the eyes- the docs said oh no no you cant tell if a child has adhd until they are 5 or so but I was not wrong with my son. He was not cuddly but didnt mind being held and he was always always happy. Very Very Happy. There were days when he was 2ish that I would walk him to sitters to go to work and I truely dont think his feet ever touched the ground. And he escaped from everywhere. He hasn't had a sitter scince he was three. When he was almost four I was given a flyer by his special ed teacher- he qualified for a one-to-one and special ed itenerant teacher because I told the school that if they lost him I would hold them accountable- there was enough documentation of how many times he just ran away- if there was a loud noise or some one looked at him wrong or touched him wrong. His teacher gave me a flyer -screening for autistic like behavior "if your child has more than three of these see your doc" kinda thing . I think there were 20 or so and Jay did more than half of them- mild speech delay (but with advanced language), rocking, hooting, climbing, line things up, spinning things, sensitive to noise and touch ect. There are not alot of diagnostic resources in upstate NY so he was almost seven before he was diagnosised with severe adhd and then PDD/NOS. He was 12 before he was diagnosised specifically with aspbergers