Anyone dealing with Autism ?

Question

Are there any parents out there with children that are autistic ?!
I would like to know the age that it was diagnosed ? And if there were any signs or symptoms that led you to suspect your child was autistic. My 3 year old son is verbally slower than kids his age.

Answer 1

My brother had 4 kids, two autistic.

The daughter (not diagnosed until almost age 5)is apparently an example of "regression" meaning she developed normally until about 18 months, when she began to loose what speech she had & withdraw from contact with others. 20 - 25% of all cases of autism develop like this.

My nephew was diagnosed around or just before age 3. I don't remember my nephew ever talking or behaving "normally." He seems to be an example of the 75 - 80% of all cases of autism.

There is much more to autism than speech delays. In fact, those with Asperger's Syndrome do not experience delays.

Social behavior such as eye contact is a more important. Does (or did) your son play peck-a-boo. Does he like to show you things ("look what I did" kind of behavior.)

Repetitive behavior such as hand flapping, spinning incessently or lining toys up instead of actually play with them. My nephew never played with toy cars normally but would turn them over & spin the wheels.

Answer 2

Hi i'm not a parent of an autistic child, but i am a kindergarten teacher and i have taught an autistic child. Just being verbally slower is not usually basis for a diagnosis of autism... however, if your child will not make eye contact when some one is speaking, or has a very hard time communicating in ways other than verbal it might be a clue. If i were you i would ask the doctor. If he thinks that it is a speech/verbal problem, then you can get help through the local school district, even if your child is not in school yet. If you are suspecting a problem with your child it is best to get him checked out right away as early intervention works best to help these types of problems... good luck! and remember.... this is your child, don't stop with the first doctor if you truly feel your son has a problem.... ask for a second or third opinion!!

Answer 3

Yep, I'm dealing with it. My son was diagnosed with PDD NOS (pervasive developmental delays) at age 2 1/2. Its a mild form of autism.

Here is what led us to this point - he had a very normal first year of life - other than the fact he had NO words by age one.
He had also had numerous ear infections and had had tubes in, so we thought it may be due to that. However, after age one he started other symptoms - his eye contact was not always great, and the biggest thing was we could not take him anywhere - he would run around like a maniac and couldn't focus. He also did not respond to his name and didn't seem to ever understand what we were saying to him - alot of time he was in his own world. After being sick of my pediatrician pooh-poohing me - kept telling me "he's a boy, boys are active, they talk later, blah blah blah" - I had him evaluated by early intervention (he was still nonverbal at age 2) who from there referred me to a developmental pediatrician where I got my diagnosis.

With that said - my son is now 4 - he did early intervention for 2 years getting speech/OT/PT therapy - when he turned three, he started in our public preschool 4 full days a week - getting speech/OT/PT at school, and was in an ABA based class. He is a different child. At 4 he talks nonstop now, his eye contact is perfect, he understands everything we tell him.
He is on the verge of getting "taken off the spectrum" - our doctor now feels he has a language disorder and possibly ADD (although he's still too young to be diagnosed with it).
His biggest issues now are (a) his speech is still a tad behind, plus he has some word retreival issues and (b) he has a very hard time staying focused at school and has a short attention span.

Hope this helps and good luck! If you have any concerns about your son, have him evaluated. And TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS!! Mothers always know best!

Answer 4

My best friend has a bay that is diagnose with autism when he was 1.5 years old. He is 2.5 and even after 1 year of home therapy, 4 months of Montessori and 3 months in a specalized school with individual attention, he still not talking, he uses maybe 15 words, that is it. So if your child is suspected to have autism, be strong and provide him/her with the therapies, it won't hurt the child, but it might be a great frist step no matter what. Your goal is to get the child to communicate, so get him/her to a speach therapist and get involved. Do not waste time thinking "is this what it is?" Do something now. You want the child to be sucessfull so, suport her/him.

Answer 5

there are several other signs besides not verbalizing. A good website to check out is autismspeaks.org . There you can find the signs of autism as well as much more information. Most kids are diagnosed beteen 2 and 3.

Answer 6

If I were you I would read as much information as you can
get your hands on.Ask questions.Most of the time autistic
children show signs early on,not talking,not developing
as you would expect.