Autism....I Have Read Other Posts About This, But....

Well, each one alone could be developmentally normal. Even together. However, there is a long list you have... Maybe for peace of mind you can talk to the doctor. It is likely nothing, but she is getting to the young end of the age when autism can be diagnosed, and I know that early treatment can make a lot of difference.

Keep an eye on her behavior. Contact headstart and see if they have a program for Autistic children or a support group for parents. Also contact the ARP (assoc. for retarded persons) contact the schools and talk to the special education department. Keep gathering information, look into her diet and try to get her into play groups.

There is so much information out now and it's all so confusing.

I think the only thing you can do is talk to your pediatrician. Don't rely on Moms Message Boards, please. There are many early intervention programs available IF she is in fact, autistic. Your pediatrician is the ONLY person you should trust when it comes to advice on such an important topic. I say this with such meaning because my husband has 3 autistic family members. It's not something to toss around on message boards for certain. It's very serious.
Good luck,
Lynsey

I was fostering a 18 month old that started to show signs of being behind and possible autism. First thing we did was get him in an early intervention program (called birth to 3 in our state) to address the developmental delays (language, etc -- at 18 months he had no words, but made lots of sounds and did point). Your doctor should be able to tell you about an early intervention program.

Then i started to notice some things that appeared autistic, but i wasn't sure. he would walk exclusively on his tip-toes. when asked to participate in group activities at daycare, he would back himself into a corner and cry for 15 or more minutes. he didn't make eye contact much and didn't respond to his name all the time. He also did this thing where he would repetitively flip his ears with his fingers and rock himself back and forth. he also had sleep issues like your daughter and woke up every few hours screaming. One time he was throwing himself against the bed repeatedly trashing hysterically. i'm not sure if it was a nightmare / night terror or what but it was scary.

At that point i decided to talk to his doctor and social workers about getting him tested for autism. The first step was a hearing test (this was required to rule out any hearing problems before they would even see him for the autism). Then it took a long time before we could get into a center to get tested (there are long waiting lines where I live), but when we finally got in they did diagnose him on the spectrum even though he does things like pretend play and showing affection and socializing with his caregivers.

I guess my best advice is that if you have any concerns, make an appointment with your doctor and just get tested. It'll put your mind at ease and if she is on the spectrum, you can get her help as soon as possible which is vital when dealing with an autistic child.

Good luck and I hope everything works out.

The pretend play and rolling a ball with you are very good!

Her ignoring you when you call her name -- or selective hearing, as I call it -- is not uncommon with her age group. I would be more concerned if you were to approach her from behind, call her name and touch her on the shoulder while doing it, and she doesn't turn her head to look at you. Even deaf kids will respond to a touch on the shoulder by looking. A child with autism will not.

You mention that she lines up her toys in rows. Does she seem to know how to play with them otherwise? Do you see her lining up her toys but also rolling her car down her pretend street or build a tower of blocks then topple them down? If so, then I really wouldn't worry too much about her lining toys up as a sign of autism.

Pointing and waving are really important pre-linguistic skills. She may have a little bit of a communication delay that could benefit from some speech therapy but it's really good that she is pointing and waving. Kids with autism usually have to be taught to point and wave. Some children beginning speaking sooner than others. Some late talkers do need the added help that a speech therapist provides but that is not always the case.

Her spinning until she falls down until she falls down and hurts herself may be a self stim. How often does she do it? Frequently throughout the day? Or maybe just a few times throughout the day at most? It could be a situation where she just enjoys the feeling of spinning and the dizzy feeling she gets when she does it (and who doesn't). If it seems like she is spinning quite a lot throughout the day, I would have her evaluated by an occupational therapist who specializes in sensory processing disorder.

There are a couple of other things that I usually ask parents who are concerned about possible autism:

When your child is in the same room as you, does she hold up a toy or object to show you from across the room?

When you are close to her, if you comment on something that is nearby (a flower, a dog) and point at it, does she look in the direction of the item that you are commenting on and pointing at?

If your answer to either one of these questions is "No," then you really need to have her evaluated by a speech therapist ASAP for speech delay. Your pediatrician can give you a referral to your State's Early Intervention Department for the to come to your home (free of charge) to do the testing and assessment. You will want to make the call right away because it usually takes most EI departments a lot of time to start the ball rolling.

Your daughter is showing some really strong skills. If you are still concerned about how she is doing after reading this reply, I would urge you to trust your mama's instinct and make the calls to your pediatrician and your EI Department. Early intrevention is the key for overcoming delays.

Wishing you and your daughter all the best.

As Martha said... autism expresses differently in each person (as do each and every single other kind of disorder). There are baselines, exclusionary things, things that are shared across multiple disorders (many many disorders have sensory components to them, etc.). My cousin is autistic. My (adhd) son's best friend is autistic ... they are *radically* different from each other, totally opposite ends of the spectrum... half my husband's colleagues are autistic (mostly aspies, like my son's best friend).

Disorders are PURELY a way to explain how certain groups of people's minds & brains work. Like someone being artistic, or musical. It's JUST a descriptor. What makes descriptors REALLY useful is that certain things "work" or "help" with most kids/adults that reeeeeeeeeally screw up people with different kinds of brains (spanking a child with sensory issues, is a huge freakin' deal, for example) and other things just need to be done *entirely* different. (Can't force a person with tourettes not to glitch, can't get an adhd'er to pay attention to boring stuff, can't get a dyslexic to read ... JUST BY TELLING THEM TO... BUT there are a thousand tips/tricks/ways to do things differently which really help both the kids and adults - not to mention we adults in their lives).

ABSOLUTELY get a full workup done. She may be totally typical, she may have 1 or more disorders (although I personally gripe at "doubles", like saying someone is adhd and spd... sensory processing stuff is PART of adhd... but breaking things down into whole LISTS of "disorders" is helpful to people who don't get that these are all *myriad* and spectrum disorders that express differently AND interact with each person's personality & spirit & likes/dislikes, etc.)

The absolute *worst* thing that can happen from a full workup is finding out your child is completely normal... because then you don't get the 1009 tips/tricks and ways to understand what's going on. Since that's the worst that can happen... and since the earlier you can start doing things the way that work for your kiddo... why wait?

Autism is a spectrum disorder. Meaning that the traits vary to some degree. When one has some of the traits and does not exactly fall into the classic dx, the are dxd with PDD NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder Non Specific). Have your daughter checked as she does have some of the traits. The key is early intervention.

My dd lined things up from cups to picture frames to toys. She did not react to her name being called either ( we too thought it was a hearing issue as she had mult ear infections). She had some pretend play and was able to engage when it is a repetitive activity that she likes. Mine also loved books. At 18 mos she had 4 words (including Uh-Oh) and was not pointing.

My dd will be 5 in April. She is in an autistic social group with 3 other kids. Funny thing is that although they share similar traits, they still have their own little personalities. Mine is very social. She now initiates some play and conversations as well. Following instructions is still a major challenge as well as some expected social norms yet she has made major strides. She has a full vocabulary, she able to toilet train, able to ask for what she needs and can pass for NT. Now we are starting to write and working on reading. I strongly believe that therapy has played a role in her achievements. She has been in therapy since 18mos dxd at 2 years.

TX has a very supportive program for Autism. Have your dd evaluated, even for nothing but your peace of mind.

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One thing you may not have read yet, and that is, when you have met one kid with autism, you have met one kid with autism, and it is not one of those kids of diagnosis where you can rule it out based on something they can do. There are plenty of kids with imaginatiions, who can look you in the eye, who bond with their parents, or who are really smart who also have autism.

You need to make some appointments. First, call the nearest childrens hospital and make an appointment with a developmental pediatrican. This appointment will be many months off, so in the mean time, call ECI in your county and make an appointment. Call a private speech therapists and make an appointment. You can get started with therapy on the things that you see. If fine motor and sensory defensivieness are issues, see an occupational therapist too. Have her hearing checked too, just in case.

You have reason enough to be concerned, so do not delay. I do not think that you are being paranoid, but coming from someone who has walked in your shoes, it is not the end of the world, even if you get the kind of news that you are dreading. Early intervention is very helpful, and if there is an issue with her development then you want to know as soon as possible.

M.

So many misconceptions. But the worst is to do nothing and wait and see what happens and just watch her. Find out, and not from your doctor, they have no idea for the most part, and they do not "test" for autism, Developmental Pediatricians do that. What someone else's child did means nothing to you. Your child has zero relationship to anyone whose child might look the same, sort of, but turns out to be a rocket scientist. Please, get the evaluation. You have more than one reason to, and that is coming from someone who both has two kids on the spectrum and works with kids and families to get the very best educational services they can. Unless there has been a drastic cold spell in you know where, Texas is dreadful for kids on the spectrum or any other kind of disablity (handicap is no longer PC, and neither is the word retarded in the names of the agencies that serve people with developmental and cognative challenges.) Never, never, never wait on development. Your child has way too much to lose if you are wrong.

Technically, all froms of Autism are considered Pervasive Developmental Disorders or PDD's. Kaners Autism, or clasic Autism is the most severe that most people know of. There is also Childhood Disintigrative Disorder, PDD NOS (not otherwise specified) Angelman Syndrome and Asperger Syndrome. For any one of these disorders, there is a list of issues, and a description of onset, and if the child has, for example, 5 of 8 of the listed issues in one collom, and 6 of 10 in another, and meets the onset criteria (this is a simplification) the child will be diagnosed. Everything you need to know will be explained to you by the person who does your childs evaluation. They should spend an hour or so with you explaining all the findings, and the written repot should be 15 pages long or so, and the testing will include several different indivudal evaluators from differnet diciplines.

As for asperger, the whole idea that they are all successful engineers is just not true either. I know a great many, and while some are, some have great difficulty and need a huge amount of support thoughout their whole lives. The biggest key is probably early intervention, which is the reason why you need an evaluation. The asperger diagnosis requires that the child have typical speech development, which is not to say that a child without typical speech development cannot be extreemly high functioning, it is just that asperger will not be the likely dianosis. Again, early intervention, so do not wait to see.

Finally, keep doing what you are doing for her speech, and wait for a speech therapist to tell you how to help your child given her particular evaluation data. You will have a great deal of homework with speech therapy that is targeted to her needs. Not that others advice about what their speech therapist told them was not great for their child, just that it is not necessarily interchangable for every child. A child with a simple delay or apraxia will not have the same langague needs, nor the same reason to not be talking as a child with possible autism, and at this point, you really do not know what is going on. There are many things that this could be, which is all the more reason to go get a comprehensive evaluation and just tell them what is going on, not what you are afraid it may be.

Since you are in Spring, I would suggest a Developmental Pediatrician by the name of Danny Williamson or contact either the Connections Center or the Monarch School for some more information about evaluation.

Just don't wait. Don't get upset about it, don't fret, don't panic, and stay off the internet. She will be the same child, no matter what. MR

One last clarifcation, ECI is not a replacement for private therapy. You live in Texas, and if you get any state run, federally funded service from your county or your school district you can be certain that you child needs a lot more, a whole lot more. You need a private speech evaluation, and ECI. Get both, she cannot have too much, but it is possible that she could not get as much as she needs if you depend on ECI. Never know less than any agency about your child nor depend on them to tell you what they need, nor depend on them to be right about it. MR

My daughter didn't say anything anyone could understand until she turned 2 and she's gifted. She did the spinning thing too, I think most babies do that, at least most I have known have.
My son did the putting stuff in rows thing, everything was put in a row and groups by color.
every kid has their own little quirk
Take a deep breath and stop freaking out!

Watch her, but don't worry excessively. Some of what you describe does not sound like autistic behavior to me (strong empathy for characters in cartoons), but I'm not an expert.

As scary as it sounds, lots of children and adults are on the autism spectrum without being terribly handicapped. I probably am myself, by today's definitions. In some ways, it is a gift, because "Asperger's" types tend to become engineers and designers, and many of the technological marvels we all enjoy today are their inventions. They may experience problems no worse than some social awkwardness.

If your daughter turns out to have autism, it will probably become clearer over time. Mention your concerns next time she has a visit to her pediatrician.

Contact Early Intervention. It may have another name in your state. We did with my son because he wasn't pointing at 18 months and didn't have any words. The neurologist has told us that he is not autistic (it took several visits and several months), but we still see them for the delayed speech. It has been very helpful to be able to talk to people that understand your concerns and can give you constructive things to do to help your child. (Everyone kept telling me nothing was wrong and all kids are different, but I could tell he was different and he is, just not autistic).
One of things they have us doing is sign language so he can tell us that he is thirsty or hungry. We' watch the baby signing time dvd to learn more signs. It's been really helpful.
Contacting EI can't hurt, it can only help.
Also, we used to give my son milk before bed and then he would wake up at night and I would think he was hungry so I would give him more milk. One night we didn't give him any milk and he slept through the night. We've been using soy milk since and he sleeps though the night every night. If your child drinks a lot of milk, you may want to switch for a day or two and see if you notice a difference. We noticed it right away. I would not switch long term without talking to your doctor.

Is she a happy child and does she smile and laugh. Does she interact with anyone other than you? If so, these are great signs. You have to remember that kids do quirky things. For example, lining things up and spinning. I had myself convinced that my son was autistic at a young age because of rocking and scratching things. He does have some minor sensory processing issues but is "normal." Now the possibility is always there (that she's on the spectrum). If you are concerned, contact ECI for an evaluation. If it does turn out there is some mild autism there, do not panic! I know a lady personally who's child was diagnosed at 3 and he is awesome now!!! You'd never know it. In normal classes and doing very well. May have a few quirks but my kids have their quirks too. If you are worried, just have her evaluated. If it turns up that something is there, the best news is that you would have caught it very, very, very early and early intervention works SO well. She sounds social, which tends to be a major issue with autistic children. Try not to worry yourself too much. Just call ECI. Get the phone number from your pediatrician, if you can't find them online.

The only part that is really concerning is she ignores you when you call her name. That one is red flag. The spinning in circles and the rituals might also be if they have been going on for a long time. How many words does she say? I think you should call Early Intervention so they can either get your daughter help or they can tell you to relax.

I have a child in our daycare class that we too think has autism. His sister and brother both have it and now at 15 mos he is showing signs that resemble his siblings. He rocks back and forth, walks in circles, waves his hands, focuses on specific toys, won't answer to his name, won't look you in the eye, wakes up several times each night (his mom says), etc. By googling online and by seeing how his siblings act, I would say that you really need to take her to a doctor who can help you. The sooner you get help, the better chances she has of getting over it IF that is what she has. Therapy is VERY expensive and not covered on insurance. I hope that I am wrong but it is smart of you to start learning more about it early. good luck and God bless.

I feel for you. I learned from ECI to encourage my child to say the word for the thing they want. Don't assume your child doesn't know the word or is incapable of saying the word. Even "kee" for cookies will be a big start. Do learn some signs from ECI (if possible). The ones for Stop, Let's Play, and Quiet are great and important. Communicating, period, is important to do. I wouldn't worry so much about the "how many words is she saying."

I was always anticipating my child's needs. I had water always on the table; I would fix a sandwich around lunch time; get out some apple or banana from the kitchen counter, etc.

Go with your gut feelings but, just from what I have read from you, it's too early to tell. I don't hear you saying she is showing you a toy holding it just inches from your eyes.

Hang you in there! We're right behind you!

Have her evaluated by a speech-language pathologist. You may have to request one from your pediatrician, but that is the best place to start. It is never too soon to be concerned. Don't let other people, even a doctor, tell you to "wait and see": early identification and intervention is best for all developmental delays.
Another option is your area Early Childhood Intervention program. ECI covers kids up to age 3, and provides PT, OT, and speech, in addition to family support and resources.
Either way, intervention at her age will only help her. You won't wake up one day and wish you hadn't gotten help. You are doing the right thing.

Best wishes.
An SLP

Have her evaulated immediately. Call your ECI (Early Childhood Intervention), to get the number call your kids school they should beable to supply it to you. It is imperative and in her best interest to have her evaluated NOW.

And listen, everything will be okay even with a diagnosis of anything. I can tell you are a loving mother and nothiing will change that!

Good luck,
DH