Nephews diagnosis - Autism Spectrum Message Board

perlee · 02-29-2008, 09:15 AM

My sister took my 7 year old nephew yesterday to Houston's Children Hospital to get evaluated. My Nephew started flapping his hands and tends to jump alot. He also tends to go into another world and starts laughing. When I ask him whats he is thinking about he'll tell me spongbob or talk about video games, this happens alot. It breaks my heart to see him do this and I know this evaluation was delayed because of fear, but now he is fallling behind in school and the school wants to fail him. This will be his second time they put him behind a grade. My sister has a tutor helping him that specializes with kids with leaning disabilities and he's doing great.

My question is, my sister told me they told her yesterday it was Autism but now she has to see a speech pathologist and a therapist.
Do they need to do this to determine how bad it is?
Can they live a normal life?
He is such a sweet boy and my heart is breaking.

autismsso · 03-01-2008, 05:36 AM

The earlier doctors can diagnose the problems the quicker he can get help. What I find to be useful is to keep a diary of the things they are good at (their achievments) and what they do not like. you will find that your nephew will deffinitly hate some things and absolutly love others. Speach therapists and and other specialists will be able to help his family improve his communication skills and will help him to adapt into school life. Autism is a hugely varied thing. Some people with Autism live relatively normal lives but personally struggle with the social problems they have. Other do find it difficult and will need ongoing support. Always be positive, take every step slow and trust what advice you are given, atleast give it ago. It is also a good idea not to leave all those valuable nick nacks around the house - they can become missiles during times when your nephew becomes frustrated or stressed.

Keep reading the comments on this web site too - it is always good to know you are not alone

golfhat · 03-01-2008, 10:06 AM

The jumping around and flapping is a sensory issue. Also clinching teeth and clinching hands are other SENSORY issues---they need to do something to calm down or get the mind ready to learn. It is very complicated.

No one knows for sure if autism is strictly neurological which leads to sensory problems or if the sensory issues are there from birth.

Just as a clarification in terms:
1. Austistic children almost always have sensory issues. but they also have verbal problems, social problems even physical issues. More or less to a degree. I beleive there are meds being used for autism now.

2. Sensory Integration Dysfunction is not autism. It stands alone as a diagnosis. You will recognize the difference if the child never went thru a time when he/she lost verbal or social skills...

He has a normal life, is friendly, and outgoing but still refuses to participate in certain activities or seems to not be be listening properly. It may confound his teacher and parents because OUT OF the BLUE he will not want to do something and may have a temper tantrum to avoid an activity. This is typical of SID. There are special treatments for this condition and does not usually include meds. There will be good days and suddenly a really bad day will pop up. A wise teacher will recognize the offending activity and inform the mother.

Therefore you HAVE to find out what is actually the diagnosis.

The treatment for SID is for sensory issues and not social concerns per se... But the social improves because they are not longer hampered sensory wise.

My gs definitely has a few sensory problems which he is being treated for. But he is not Autistic. That changes the treatment is big ways.
He has inflammation of the aural nerves brought on by WHO KNOWS WHAT!

Once they can hear properly their behavior changes drastically. Sometimes it takes up to a year for the treatments to work completely.

A neuro-sensory specialist may be a good place to start testing---as they have treatments designed for SID. They will do a LOT of testing before starting any treatment.

When a child's senses are overloaded he cannot function normally. he may ignore a lot of what is said to him because he is not distinguishing sounds properly. Then the teacher thinks he is misbehaving is deaf or autistic. And in many cases none of that is true.

I have been wondering if chelation therapy might help kids who rec'd vaccines with mercury and then started to display autistic tendencies.

I hope this helps and lets you know that the hand flapping is NOT necessarily autistic. If he is bright and outgoing and social, it could be Sensory Integration Disorder/Dysfunction. You must know the difference to get the right help...

perlee · 03-01-2008, 12:11 PM

Thank you all for answering my questions, its been very helpfull and I've also told my sister to post here if she herself needs support and just need to ask other parents. I have fowarded everything to her so she sees she not alone and that there is help.

thanks again