My son (age 3.7) was recently diagnosed with PDD-NOS. He has been previously diagnosed with apraxia and global developmental delay, but his most recent evaluation added the PDD-NOS as he has shown some deficits in all three categories, mild as they may be.
I realize that all children on the spectrum "look" different, but I have yet to find a child either in my community or even the online community who presents like my son.
Michael's most obvious delay is with speech, possibly due to his apraxia. He currently has the expressive language of a 2.5 year old. He also has mild sensory issues, but nothing extreme or even enough to affect his daily life. His eye contact is so-so with strangers, excellent with family and close friends. He likes children, but doesn't quite understand the back-and-forth play that other kids his age are starting, other than chase and rough play. He is very sweet tempered, does not tantrum or "loose it" like most spectrum kids I've encountered.
His fine and gross motor skills are slightly delayed, but he's made huge strides in the past year, and is almost caught up.
He has some stimming behaviors, but again, they are mild and infrequent.
He has trouble with engagement, especially with new people. For example, if a check out person in a store attempts to speak to him, he will generally glance up, then look away as if he was not spoken to.
His play is well rounded. Enjoys a variety of toys and plays appropriately most of the time. He's very bright, knows all colors, shapes, alphabet and numbers to 20. Early reading is emerging.
The most wonderful aspect of Michael is his loving, sweet nature.
I understand the "spectrum" includes a wide variety of abilities, and some kids are more impacted than others. I would love to hear from people who have a child similar to mine in temperament and abilities.
Hi; My son sounds similar to yours. He was dx as pdd nos in March although there are days that I wonder if his dx is accurate. Then there are those other days when the stimming behaviors are more obvious and the communication is not as good as it should be for his age. He also loves numbers, colors, shapes, and most of all the alphabet. He is a loving and even tempered child. When he gets upset, he is very easily redirected. I know we are lucky in this area where his communication is an area of delay, but he doesn't tantrum. We went to a birthday party yesterday and today to a First Communion Party and he had a good time at both. He didn't interact directly with anyone in particular, but he was out in the mix having himself a good time playing with all of the toys that were around. It was great to see him as one of the gang !!!! My son is so very affectionate and sweet and unlike the stereotype description of kids on the spectrum. From what I have read on this board, I think Autistic kids are much more affectionate than people/doctors realize.
My son sounds very similar to yours also. He won't be 3 until the beginning of July. He does not have an official diagnosis yet. He is most delays in the area of speech, both expressive and receptive. He likes children but mainly likes to observe them. He struggles with engagement. He does not acknowledge new people either. My son likes to play with toys but not necessarily in the right manner. He has not shown preferences for lining items up, nor does he have an obsession with one item. However he mainly walks around with them, while banging them on furniture, or drops them into other containers. My son also has sensory issues, but they are not severe enough to stop him from enjoying his life or receive OT through Early Intervention. He likes to feel vibrations and run his hands across all different types of surfaces. He LOVES to taste/eat ALL things (most autistic children have an aversion to certain foods). When I mentioned ALL things...I mean ALL, including things that are supposed to be inedible. He also exhibits some stimming behavoriors. Some days you have to focus to see if he does any...other days they are very obvious. He walks around our house from room to room again and again. He plays with doors...opening and closing. He flicks his fingers and also his eyes while his fingers are in front of them. He turns in circles while staring up at the ceiling/sky. Now, his therapists all have different opinions. His speech therapist who comes to our home twice a month thinks it is possible for him to have autism. However, his play therapist doesn't think there is a chance. She sees his stimming behavior and the lack of eye contact. Her interpretation of autism is that either they have to banging their head on the wall completely in another world or memorizing the phone book from A to Z. My son smiles a lot and loves to be cuddled. He loves when we hold him tight but this is also one thing that bothers me...he wants to be held when other children are around. My son is very easy tempered. Recently he began to throw more fits but I think it is from frustration because of his lack of verbal skills. He also enjoys going out to new places on his good days, but other days he shuts down. We have an appt. at the beginning of June. I can't say for sure if my son has PDD-NOS but he sounds very similar to your son.
My son is 3 1/2 and dx with mild autism. Same with all the letters, numbers, colors, shapes. He even knows all the sounds of the letters, counts backwords and can type in passwords in the computer or his name. He likes to be picked up by Mommy when he is around people that he doesn't know. Sometimes even when it is around people he knows. Eye contact poor sometimes. It depends on his mood. He will hug you, kiss you. My son does the best when we do sensory games. That has become the way I teach him anything. To speak, to make eye contact, to learn how to ask for something. Tossing and swinging and patting his back. Playdough and sandboxes. I didn't think he had a lot of sensory issues. But now I have learned that he needed more input, harder food, more things to touch. It sometimes runs through my mind that he is "normal" and they have made a mistake. Then he does something that brings me back to what is real. I'm just glad that my stat offers so much for him. I am very lucky.
Goog Luck to you.
Michelle
Michelle, I feel the same about my son. Some days he seems so typical that I think maybe I didn't give him enough time to develop before I pressed the panic button. Then there are the days that it is obvious he is on the spectrum. I'm doing a better job with accepting him for who he is, how he is, and not looking at the future, just taking it as it comes. I have gotten him so much therapy at this point it seems like a full time job, but he is handling it relatively well and has continued to improve almost daily. We feel lucky too. I was able to line up the necessary services almost immediately after his dx and he has been able embrace it all. I can't say enough good about Early Intervention. With all the therapy he is getting, I think it is very possible that he may be indistinguishable from his peers. I can already see it beginning. We attended two partys this past weekend and he appeared like a typical 2 year old. The only thing that was noticeable and it was probably only me who noticed was some of the sensory issues with his peculiar body movements. Other than that, he was very involved in his surroundings using his language which he has had a major break through and happy to be there. Yeeee Haaaa much different than a year ago !!!!!! Best Regards
Linear Mode
