Concerned about Son - Autism Spectrum Message Board

chilli4 · 05-19-2005, 02:04 PM

Hello everyone. I've reading some of the topics and posts related to Autism. My wife and I have a two year old boy. When he turned two we started noticing that he wouldn't turn to face us when we called his name. We originally thought he had a hearing problem. Also, we noticed that his speech was delayed. He wasn't at the level that he should be. We talked to our Physician and she said to give him some time. Well, we didn't think we could waite. We had him screened by our county and he was diagnosed with speech delay and cognitive delay. His motor skills were that of a three year old, however his speech and cognitive skills were at the level of a 15 - 18 month old.

We then started with a speech therapist. At our last visit she was concerned that he's not acknowldging us when we enter a room or call his name. He does allot of counting, for example when he goes up steps or he will count his toys. Sometimes he will line his toys or crackers up and count them. At first I thought the counting was a good thing. But now I don't know. He's a very happy and loving child. He does become frustrated because his language skills aren't at the right level. He doesn't have many tantrums. However, he doesn't want to leave the playground when it's time to leave.

He doesn't really interact with other children much. He will watch them and follow or mimic what they do. He knows how to put his shoes on and is starting to use more words mostly one word. We are trying schedule an appointment with a Pediatric Neurologist to have him tested.

I feel so bad for him. I feel like I've failed as a parent somehow. It's been really hard the past couple of weeks. Allot of information to digest.

I'm open to any advice or encouragement.

BabyLuv · 05-19-2005, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chilli4

Hello everyone. I've reading some of the topics and posts related to Autism. My wife and I have a two year old boy. When he turned two we started noticing that he wouldn't turn to face us when we called his name. We originally thought he had a hearing problem. Also, we noticed that his speech was delayed. He wasn't at the level that he should be. We talked to our Physician and she said to give him some time. Well, we didn't think we could waite. We had him screened by our county and he was diagnosed with speech delay and cognitive delay. His motor skills were that of a three year old, however his speech and cognitive skills were at the level of a 15 - 18 month old.

We then started with a speech therapist. At our last visit she was concerned that he's not acknowldging us when we enter a room or call his name. He does allot of counting, for example when he goes up steps or he will count his toys. Sometimes he will line his toys or crackers up and count them. At first I thought the counting was a good thing. But now I don't know. He's a very happy and loving child. He does become frustrated because his language skills aren't at the right level. He doesn't have many tantrums. However, he doesn't want to leave the playground when it's time to leave.

He doesn't really interact with other children much. He will watch them and follow or mimic what they do. He knows how to put his shoes on and is starting to use more words mostly one word. We are trying schedule an appointment with a Pediatric Neurologist to have him tested.

I feel so bad for him. I feel like I've failed as a parent somehow. It's been really hard the past couple of weeks. Allot of information to digest.

I'm open to any advice or encouragement.

Everything will be fine. There is always a reason to be concerned when our kids don't reach the proverbial milestones when they should. It is very frustrating, but all it takes is time. It also saddens me you feel he is this way because of your parenting. It most definately is not

. The only time you have failed your son is by treating him as "different", which is one of society's worse labels for the disabled. I am sure you are a better parent than you think. Good luck and look into some early intervention for him.

seesa1 · 05-19-2005, 03:27 PM

Hi,

First of all, you need to know that it has nothing to do with your parenting or failing as a parent. My sister-in-law is a moron (sorry, but she is), she has no parenting skills what-so-ever, let's her kids do whatever they want and they are both smart as a whip!

I have a 4 year old daughter with PDD-NOS and my 2 year old daughter has pretty severe autism. From what I read in your post, it sounds like your son does have some words and you also stated that he "mimics" other children. That is a WONDERFUL sign in itself. My 2.2 year old doesn't have any words at all and will not even go near another child or even her own sister, we can call her name 50 times and she won't look and she just gets fixated on having 2 objects in her hand at all times. We do have her in pre-school but it's only 4 days a week, 3 hours a day. We are going to see a DAN dr. next week and maybe start chelation but your son sounds like he's on the right track.

I would definitely keep up the speech therapy and the fact that he follows other children and copies what they do is an awesome thing.

Keep your head up and definitely keep a positive attitude, our children might not talk well, but they can sense when we are upset or worried. I think they're all smarter than we give them credit for

Good luck to you and your family,
Lisa

heartcreature · 05-19-2005, 09:36 PM

I think you have to go through stages to get to acceptance much like someone would who has a disease like cancer. Acceptance comes in stages and you may feel a lot of different emotions before you get to that level. There's sadness, anger, denial, self blaming and probably more emotions that I've not mentioned. As time goes on and you find that there are things that you can do to help him I think you will be more comfortable with what you are dealing with.
Before anyone mentions it I'm not calling autism a disease it was just a comparison of emotions that you might experience.

jeffreys mom · 05-19-2005, 10:10 PM

I totally agree with heartcreature. The emotions are overwhelming when you feel your child is not developing properly. Much like you mentioned, my son didn't ever respond when I called his name. I had his hearing tested under sedation and was told that he definately could hear me. It was heartbreaking when I thought it was autism. I began to research and came across the gluten casien free diet info which I feel has changed our lives. If you haven't already, look into it. Don't blame your parenting because that's not the situation. Good luck