My son has been diagnosed with sever autism but other people say that they don't see it because he can hold eye contact. He has all the signs of autism and sensory problems also some echolalia he is the age of a 10mos old and has sever behavioral problems and sleep disorder too. can anyone tell me if an autistic child hold eye contact?

Thanks
LEANN

My son has been diagnosed with sever autism but other people say that they don't see it because he can hold eye contact. He has all the signs of autism and sensory problems also some echolalia he is the age of a 10mos old and has sever behavioral problems and sleep disorder too. can anyone tell me if an autistic child hold eye contact?

Thanks
LEANN
My son Christopher turned 15 yesterday and was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3.He does have the ability to maintain eye contact!!! Christopher will keep eye contact until he is no longer interested(as far as I can tell,this seems to be the deal breaker).He responds to his name when called and will look at whoever wants him. The fact that your son can maintain eye contact is something to be greatfull for. There are alot of missunderstandings about autism,autism spectrum dissorder,and the sings and symtoms of them...there are more than you can imagine.I suggest that you talk to a pediatric neurologist with questions - EVERY PERSON IS DIFFERENT AND EVERY AUTISTIC PERSON IS DIFFERENT TOO- I have found over the years that many times the advise of friends or family is although well intented it can lead us moms in the wrong direction. I have also found that talking with other parents/caregivers of autistic kids is VERY HELPFULL, but don't forget to go through the professional route also.Many Dr.'s (like my sons old one) just say "he's autistic" and then can't wait to send you out the room so they don't have to answer any questions that they really don't have an answer to anyway.So keep looking, ask your sons Dr. for a referral to a Psychiatrist(he's too young..you're probably thinking,but the Psychiatrist may have answers for your questions).Also one for a Pediatric Neurologist,mine was very helpfull when Christopher was first diagnosed,and still is.

thanks alot for the help the way other people make me feel is that something isn't wrong with him when I think differently. He don't even speak or jabber around strangers. He looks at me when I say his name and holds eye contact but he only speaking 10 words and signs 10 words he only speaks one sentence and he repeats it over and over again. (what's that) and he is almost 3yrs. He is very violent to his sisters but not to his brothers. He is violent toward other kids that he just meets. He has no remorse and no emotions. I can get him to laugh by playing rough with him. He only sleeps 2 to 3 hours a night and wants to get up and play. I do have an appointment with a nueroligist and hopefully find out more about him.. Boy is this a rough road but in the end I guess it is worth it and I wouldn't change anything about him. Isaiah is who he is and nothing or no one can change it we all love him!

LeAnn

I am so glad that you are going to the Neurologist,he/she may be very helpfull for you with ANY questions that you have, for present and future concerns.
My son also had sleeping issues- I actually had to put my bed in the living room for about a year because the front door and the sliding glass door were both in that area-he was a runner,he would just take off running all the time,especially when he was bored or frustrated.I wasn't thrilled with my "sleeping arrangements" but I knew he would wake up in the middle of the night or even just a few hours after going to sleep and either want to play or just take off and go outside.As a single mom it was my only choice for his saftey.
My son also had aggression issues,sometimes they were provoked, but usually not,he would just run over and knock over another kid on the playground or slap someone in the face.Other people were very quick to judge,that is what initially bothered me the most(aside from the agressive behavior).Don't let other peoples opinions bother you !! I did,and it was hard to get out of that cycle of second guessing myself about whether or not his behavior was because I wasn't a good mother.
I'm so glad to hear you say that Issiah is "who he is" and you clearly love him very much.The same here with my Christopher,sure there were/and are bumps in the road,but even through the tough times there will be a light at the end of the tunnel...for every awkward situation,every Dr.'s appt.,and sleepless night,tomorrow is another day and you never know what it will hold,but you will both make it through-he knoes his mommy loves him and that is so important,that is when I used to get the best moments with him during rough patches-looking into his eyes and saying mommy loves you,he would look back and even if he didn't say anything I saw a sparkle in his eyes-priceless.

Is Issiah in school through early intervention? Christopher started early intervention (through the local school district) at age 3. They started working with him in many ways,as I mentioned before he had agressive behaviors also,and that was one of the things they worked on with him,along with speech therapy,and many other things.It might be a good thing to look into, that if he isn't enrolled in something offering these services.
Also - I had many friends,family,co-workers..saying the same thing regarding there being nothing wrong with him,my personal favorite was "maybe he just doesn't have anything to say". I wish you well,and am glad to have found this area to talk to other parents of kids with Autism/ASD.Talk to you soon I hope.

rbecca,

You hit upon the key point-we are all different, whatever our diagnosis, and wherever we fall on the spectrum. Everyone is an individual.

Isaiah is enrolled in early interventions and he goes to speech therapy twice a week I am still waiting on to hear from the School Board to see if he gets into to a special pre K. Isaiah is a runner too he wants to run outside every chance he gets. He almost got hit by a truck once and now we put those safty knobs on the handles so that he can't open it but I think he is trying to figure out how to get them off. like the one in the kitchen he bangs it against the wall and pops it off.

LeAnn

LeAnn,Yes we've had our share of running and near fatal consequenses-he jumped out of the car while we were on the way to the hospital once and right into traffic,I still can't believe we got another miracle and I was able to jump out and catch him just as a jeep was about to hit him.Does Issiah escape from things easily also? I mean like car seats,toddler gates were even a joke for Christopher when he was strong enough to stand up.I never did find a car seat that would hold him for long!!!
I'm glad Issiah's getting help thru early intervention-it really helped my son interact with others better and get used to the stimulation of classroom noise,etc..Christopher also has music therapy and has blown everyone away with his progress,not just in learning how to play the piano,guitar,&drums,but the fact that in order for him to do that he HAS to communicate,whether he perceives it as communication or not isn't the point-just the simple act of following one simple direction from the therapist is a form of communication!! He has been doing it for 2 yrs now and now requests his song choice,the instrument he wants to play it on and who is going to sing it,when he first started he used a picture board to pick his choices,then step by step the therapist slowly changed things,adding the word under the picture-and then later just having the word with no picture-now he speaks in complete sentences(sp?) without any assistance. I don't know by your city name what state you are in but here in Colorado(Denver) we have a few different agengies that you can sign up with and they may have funds available to pay for special therapies that aren't offered thru the school district or covered by insurance,also respite care and behaviorial therapists(Christopher goes to an after school program 2x per wk that is considered behavioral therapy-in a group setting,they go swimming,help teach the kids how to act apropriatly out in the community by going to a store to by one particular item-maybe even let them pay the cashier and get their change back if that is something you want the to work on).It has been wonderfull.
I am so happy to see the look on his face when he knows it is time for music or time to go to the after school program-he just lights up with this huge smile and a twinkle in his eyes!! he is who he is and HE IS HAPPY!!! As parents that is all that really matters when there are other concerns in the picture,or that is how I choose to look at it-Autism(and other disorders) have bumps in the raod,that is a fact, but as long as Christopher and I go thru those bumps together and in the end he is a happy kid-happy with himself,I mean,then we deal with hand we were dealt and keep on moving forward.He really has made wonderfull progress over the past few years and he seems determined to accomplish everthing presented to him with perfection,if he doesn't have anything he's supposed to work on that is when he gets agitated.
It is great to talk to someone else

I know not every therapy or suggestion works for everyone,but these have worked for us so I thought I would share.

Hopefully, someone could channel all that running in a positive direction, and your children could become competitive runners. I was a runner too as a small child. They said I was a bundle of energy.

Hi there

Eye contact is usually one of the first flags that everyone is familiar with.
My son, who is now 5, was diagnosed right before his third bday. His eye contact was very poor then, and that was one of my first indicators, as well as the neurologists. Anyway, after 2 years of aba, speech, and ot, he now makes very good eye contact, especially when you call his name. He will look right at whoever calls him, as long as there isn't too much going on. I guess the only noticable difference in his eye contact compared to typical kids is that he doesn't use eye contact to communicate. He won't look at me to say something,
it's more like a response to being called, or just kind of a random look, but he can make eye contact. I have friends whos kids won't make any eye contact at all, so I consider myself very lucky . They change over time. Autism is a Developmental disability, so symptoms can change with development.

nakama

Nakama,

Hi there, in speech therapy are they using any sign language?
The only reason I ask is because it really helped Christopher with eye contact for some reason.Granted, one of the first signs we started with was "look at me",he responded quickly and started looking into our eyes when we spoke and signed that phrase at the same time.Slowly we added more and the more signs he learned the more he started speaking- Again not everything works well with everyone,just something that helped us improove his communication,I'm having spelling issues today-sorry!

I do have Isaiah in speech therapy and they have taught him to sign and he does very well with it. I am taking ASL and teaching him more because he can't communicate that well he only knows about 20 words at the most and 10 signs for right now. He does have eye contact but they said it was erratic. so that he can look you in the eyes but not for very long. I guess I spelled it right.. Sorry I haven't got to write sooner than this. Very busy with shcool and 4 kids

LEANN, I'm glad the sign language is working well for you guys,there were so many people who told me not to start using ASL with Christopher because of many different theories. I'm very glad I did though,in his case it was like opening a door into the world he was living in -alone-.

I was glad to see you had written back, I was wondering.....there was a reply that I found rather offensive (from another person) and I was afraid after reading it that you might go elsewhere for means of communication with other parents/caregivers.
Take care

You know Rebecca I don't pay attention to those comments I let them go over my head and only read what is usefull so evidently they didn't know what I was trying to say or they was just being really smart about it. I have found alot of people that I have something in common with ans someone that will listen and know what I am going through with 4 kids and Isaiah makes up for 10 babies and me being 26yrs this is a challenge for me and the older kids that don't understand Isaiah and they baby she is 1yrs and she don't understand why he is so mean to her and my 10yr old just found a way to communicate with him. Isaiah don't like to be picked up and Jacob(10) he found out a way to pick him up and bring him to me. He tells Isaiah to get on his back and he will bring Isaiah to where ever he is suppose to be. It is really hard and no one will understand until they have been there in our shoes.
Thanks for being concerned.

LeAnn

That's cool!!! I mean that Jacob can pick up Isaiah and bring him to you.
Will Isaiah let you do it if you do it the exact same way?
If he will then that's good, but even if he is only allowing Jacob to do this with him, that sounds like a good thing to me also. It sounds like there may be a "bond", although it may seem minimal it could be a step toward him being able to be touched without having sensory issues and following directions!!
When Christopher was Isaiah's age one of his therapists suggested "vestibular stimulation". It can be weird to explain but a good example is swinging.Does he like to swing? and if so, does he calm down a bit afterwards? Just curious because I found that it really did help Christopher!!
Have a great day- 4 kids,wow,you've got your hands full!! I thought 2 teenagers were difficult but it was alot harder when they were both toddlers!!! Rbecca

yes Isaiah likes to swing but he is so hyper he can't do it for long. A few monthes ago he would crawl into Abby's baby swing and turn it on to where it would swing him and he would go to sleep but he changes so much that he gets tired of things really quick.

LeAnn

LEANN- Christopher used to be very hyperactive also,just never would focus on one thing for very long and would run off to get into some kind of trouble... I just learned to expect the UNexpected!!!! He has just recently,over the past 3 yrs or so, become more willing to actually partisipate in school activities and be ALOTmore focussed on his academics.He has a great teacher at school (and it's not a "good" school district at all) but his teacher seems to have been dropped from Heaven.In 2002 he was deemed unfit for public school due to his behavioral problems and running and after being out of school (on a waitlist for this special school), and in and out of the psych. ward for an entire year he was finally accepted to this special school that I never felt had anything special to it except that it was usually able to keep a better eye on him.It was a locked facility equiped with quiet rooms and lockdown rooms and pleanty of restraints.It seemed to be his mission every day to figure out who he could tick off the fastest so he would be put into the quiet room,needless to say it wasn't the best arrangement for him- they still lost him, a few times- my favorite escape was when he climbed over a 12 ft fence and ran toward a nearby railroad switching station and easily jumped into one of the train cars.He wasn't injured and the train people called the school to see if they were missing anyone-that is how they found him!!After a very long battle with lawyers and ARC advocates I was able to get him out of there and put back into public school and now, this being his second year there, he is doing so well everyone is amazed with his progress!! He has stopped running away from his teacher,they have a really special bond of some sort and she is a wonderfull person. I am very proud of him. I can take him out anywhere now and he even orders for himself in resturants(sp?) I can deffinatly say I've been there, and I'm sure there may be more surprises to come over the years,but for now things are pretty good,never "normal"- people still stare, make comments, like he isn't even there,and you know what that is their problem,I remember being taught to be polite and "if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all !!" I guess there were only a few of us paying attention to that growing up.....
Do you have any help or access to respite care? I didn't until he was almost 6,when I did, although I wasn't sure about it at first-I realized that even though it was strange to leave him with someone else that it did help,it gave me time to do things with his sister Kimberly that we were not able to do with Christopher.Kimberly never complained-she used to tell people who were talking about her brother that he had a "owee in his brain" and it wasn't nice to talk about him, she came up with that one all on her own,this comming out of the mouth of a 2 1/2 yr old, looking back,that was a pretty smart and observant way of looking at the situation,especially from someone her age.She is 14 now and all of her friends are polite to Chris or they are out ... she is very protective.
Sorry for the really long reply-Have a great day!

Hi

I am so sorry that he has to go threw all of that but I know how you feel because everyone stares at Isaiah thinking that he is a spoiled brat when he has his fits in the store. Even when we go out to eat he throws everyones food in the floor and just looks at it. I noticed that he has to have a hamburger every time we take him out to eat because if I order something different he will not eat and it ruins his whole day out. I have never heard of respite care? The doctors just told me he had autism and that was it. I was left in the dark trying to find out things for myself.

Thanks for all the help

LeAnn

LeAnn,
Sorry I haven't responded before now- I have a few health issues that I tend to neglect frequently and one of them caught up with me and I was swept up by an ambulance and off to the hospital - THAT WAS FUN....
"Respite Care" is a service that is offered for parents or caregivers of children with special needs, a respite provider is someone who is specially trained to work with whatever challenges your child has.They tend to be rather expensive so there are agencies that are out there to not only assist in finding a provider that you feel comfortable with but in most situations..PAY for it!!! You can choose certain times/days and also many times they will offer overnight care. I know it sounds strange,and I didn't want to leave him because I have always been the sole person to take care of him when he wasn't at school,but after speaking with some of the other parents in Chris' class, and knowing how many of them were having their kids go for a few hrs here and there ,I felt alot better about it and tried it.Tina (the respite provider) was great, she also worked for a local school district in a class for autistic K-5th graders and was prepared for anything!! I know we aren't allowed to give out names of the places we go through or use for resorces- I'm not trying to be nosey - have you applied for social security for him? It's called SSI, but you do it through the social security dept.they also may be able to tell you what other agencies can help with respite care and music therapy,or extra speech therapy,PT, OT etc..
I hope this helps, have a great day.

my son makes perfect eye contact. that is why it took them so very long to diagnois him. so i guess the answer to your question is yes. he makes eye contact and he is also very loving.

my son makes perfect eye contact. that is why it took them so very long to diagnoisis. him. so i guess the answer to your question is yes. he makes eye contact and he is also very loving.

Leann


My son was diagnosed with autism. He CAN hold eye contact, very well in fact. I've met A LOT of autistic children who can also.

Le Ann...... Are you still out there somewhere???????
I hope all is going well for you and your family,and hope to hear back from you soon...... rbecca