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jenfon
05-24-2006, 02:12 PM
Hello all,

I am new to this board. I am posting this because I think my 17 month old son has Autism. I have an older child that was the “prefect” baby. Never had any problems with her. However my son is completely different. Starting when he was 2 weeks old, something about him just didn’t seem right. Not long after that time we found out he had severe reflux which he struggled with until he was about 13 months. For the first 6 months of his life all he did was cry. He never liked being held, if so only a certain way. When he could eat, he would only take a bottle that was very warm, almost to the point of hot. When he started eating baby foods, he would only eat squash and sweet potatoes, and refused any others. At 8 months old things got really bad. That is when his behavior started getting worse. He would get mad about something and from a sitting position he would throw himself back on the concrete floor at daycare and bang his head on the floor.
His teacher would have to take a “timeout” from him because it was so bad. I could almost never have his picture taken because he always had bruises all over his forehead. At 8 months, I took him to the pediatrician and told him I just couldn’t take it anymore. The doctor got to see his behavior first hand that day, because my son was on a role. The doctor said that he seemed to have some autistic ways but that no doctor would diagnose an 8 month old, and basically told us too ignore the behavior and use “timeout” and it should get better. Well it didn’t! It has only gotten worse. Some of the things he does is: he hates anything cold (drinks, food), only likes the feel of certain fabric, has many, many tantrums throughout the day for sometimes no apparent reason other than the wind blowing the wrong way. He hates his car seat and it sounds like someone is killing him when I try to strip him in. The smallest thing can “set him off”. He does the humming thing “Mmmmm” sometimes, not much. He hardly every makes eye contact with anyone. Does not and has not ever like affection from anyone. Seems to be in his “own little world” about 80% of the time, and if that is disturbed , all hell breaks lose. My husband and I actually find ourselves “tiptoeing” around a 17 month old so that we don’t set him off. It is to the point that my husband will stay home with him when the family goes somewhere because we know that he is going to act out. If we decide to be brave and go to a restaurant, we look at the menu before hand, so that we can order right away, because we know our son has an eternal timer that will go off any minute. Now that he is almost 18 months old I am getting a referral to have him tested. What I would like to know is of anyone else has went through anything like this. Is it Autism? Also if their child’s behavior problems started this early. Thanks in advance for any help!

jenfon

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sross24
05-24-2006, 02:39 PM
How is his development otherwise? Has he met his milestones on time? Is he talking? Is he pointing? Look up the M-CHAT, it will give you an idea if your concerns could be autism.

It definately sounds like he has sensory issues, and although sensory issues are common in autism, it does not necessarily mean autism. Some children have a sensory integration dysfunction which causes them to act out. Their nervous system interprets sensory stimuli different then the rest of us, and could thereby cause behavioral issues.

Have you signed him up for Early Intervention?

-Steph

jenfon
05-24-2006, 02:56 PM
Hi Steph,
My son’s development otherwise is normal, although I am getting a little worried that he isn’t really saying many words yet. Maybe 2. But he did all the crawling, walking, etc. on time. I asked his pediatrician for a referral today for some type of Early Intervention program. I too think he has sensory issues, from birth. What surprises me is that he is soooo smart. It is very obvious that he understands everything and how to push buttons. I was thinking high functioning autism/ high IQ, but now I am really thinking more along the lines of sensory integration dysfunction since you mentioned it. I will look up more information about it. Thanks for the help!

jenfon

jeffreys mom
05-25-2006, 04:40 AM
Hi;

The best thing you can do right now is get a referral to a Developmental Pediatrician asap. It can take a long time to get an appointment with these types of doctors so I wouldn't wait on this. If it is Autism, the earlier the diagnosis comes, the more early intervention services he will receive under the state's Early Intervention Program.

As the last poster sain, contact your local Early Intervention asap as well. He can begin to receive services through them without an Autism diagnosis. If he is diagnosed down the road then the services will increase and intensify to include ABA therapy which is a great approach in treating his symptoms.

My son has PDD/NOS and seems to be mildly affected now. When he was an infant, he sounded a lot like your son. Oh.... how I remember the "mmmmmm"
sound, it seemed constant and I have to admit at times, it drove me crazy !!

You are doing the right thing to be proactive now by making an appointment with a Developmental Pediatrician and Local Early Intervention Program.

Good Luck

9CatMom
05-25-2006, 08:12 AM
Good luck to you and your son. I agree with the others in saying that early intervention is the best.

jenfon
05-25-2006, 02:44 PM
Hi Jaedyn,

Thanks for responding to my post. And thank you for the nice comment about being a good mom. We are in the process of getting the referral completed. I had told the doctors something wasn’t right from the start, and they didn’t listen. And of course if you take your child in enough with concerns they start thinking something is wrong with you instead. That makes me want to tell them here you take him and deal with him one day. I’m sure they would change their mind really fast. But on the other hand, he is sooo cute, and I just love it when laughs. I am hopeful that we will get some great help for him soon.

jenfon

jenfon
05-25-2006, 04:25 PM
Jaedyn,

Yes I did have to be persistent, as a matter of fact this is his 3rd pediatrician and finally we found a ped nurse practitioner whose daughter has had some developmental problems. And even with her being a PNP, she had problems with some doctors not listening to her also. She told me “A mother knows when something is wrong” and I am so thankful to have found her. She and I spoke this morning and she made the referral. Just waiting to get an appointment. One of the things that he is very sensitive to is play doe. He can not stand the feel of it. If you try to hand it to him he will do his best to get away from it and he’ll start crying if it last more than a few seconds. This can be a problem sometimes because my 3 year old loves it. It is ok if therapy is painful as long as it helps him… Can someone explain what ABA, PDD, and NOS is. Thanks

jenfon

 
 
 




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