He looks at things peripherally instaed of straight on...? - Autism Spectrum Message Board

ThreeBoys · 12-28-2005, 05:49 PM

Hello! My 4 yr old son on the spectrum, Chase, loves to group things and line them up. Then looks at them sideways out of the corner of his eyes. Is it just too stimulating so he makes himself see less by not taking it all in at once?? When we brought our new baby home, for a couple days he looked at him with his arm up by his eyes, then he'd slowly bring his arm down and take the baby in visually a little at a time. He looks at objects all sorts of different ways. Up, down sideways... I know the lining things up and putting them in groups is an autistic trait, I'm just curious about the visual part.
Just wondering if anyone else's child does this and what you've done about it. If there is a problem I'd like to get it fixed as my husband has really BAD vision. But if it's a sensory thing, will some thing like OT help it??
Not to mention if you take him to an optometrist, how the heck are they going to evaluate him if he doesn't talk to say"yeah that's blurry".
Little help please!!!
Much appreciated!!!!-Kim W.

MOM23ANGELS · 12-28-2005, 06:26 PM

lining things up is a form of stimming for our kids and often is an exercise they do to calm themselves down. the looking at things side ways and every other way is also just an extension of that stimming. my son use to lines things up often. he VERY rarely does this anymore, now that he is interested in other activities. as a matter of fact, i can't remember the last time he did this. once he became verbal and stopped isolating himself from others, he stopped the stim. i don't know that he is completely over this, because he does (from time to time) ask if he can line something up. i find it interesting that he asks and probably expects us to say no. i just simply say no and re-direct him quickly before he has a chance to get upset about it. my son is 4.

good luck.

bercol1 · 12-28-2005, 06:46 PM

My son Anthony is six and he too looks at things in strange ways. But it can sometimes be lovely to see what effect it's having, if you do it yourself.
When Anthony is in the park he used to go to this hedge and throw his head back and zoom into it, stopping just short of banging into it. He looked so peculiar when he done this. one day when the park was empty I tried it for myself and the results were amazing if you zoomed in on the hedge fast enough you felt like you were rushing through the network of branches. Anthony just laughed at me he is non verbal, but he appriciated that I had seen for myself the effect. it's great fun as he does simillar thing with trees he stands below trees and squints his eyes and moves his head from side to side again i copy him and the leaves begin to dance and change shape it's lovely. So while all the non autistic children are wandering round the park moaning, eating icecream and going up and down the chute you can find Anthony and I underneath some tree having a ball.

AggieMom · 12-29-2005, 06:59 AM

My son also lined things up when he was younger, but has stopped for the most part. He still looks at things in strange ways (he likes to put his head down on the floor and look at his Transformer toys with his rear end up in the air, it's really funny looking, but he gets very excited). One thing for him that may be a side effect of this is that since he was 3yrs old he can draw objects with depth and detail beyond his years. Like if he draws a car on a road, the road and objects in the "back" are smaller. I guess it's called an illusion of "depth".

BetsyAnn · 01-01-2006, 11:12 PM

Dr. Mary Megson has some very interesting articles that discuss the vision problems associated with autism, in particular the side view vision. Cod liver oil is supposed to help because of it's natural vitamin A content. I would strongly recommend reading some of her research.

I was not aware of her work when I started my son on cod liver oil. I was just introducing the supplements that our DAN doctor had suggested. I did, however, notice a marked improvement in eye contact and speech almost immediately. I can not say the same about the other supplements.

My son has additional vision problems. He has a malformed optic nerve along with amblyopia. He was two when we took him to the ophthalmologist. I wish I would have taken him sooner. The ophthamologist we first saw was able to identify the problem but refered us to a pediatric ophthamologist. In the literature that they have in their office they strongly recommed that all children are seen before they start preschool to rule out any problems. If lazy eye is not treated early in childhood then a child with this disorder will permanently lose the vision in the "lazy eye." You want to see an ophthamologist to rule out any hidden problems rather than an optometrist.