Child just "different" from a very young age?

Question

From 2 months of age I knew something was different about my son. Various small things that added up to one big question. Hated being held(try breastfeeding a child with this issue!), never cried at home, just stared at everyone/thing around him, but as soon as we'd leave the house he'd cry continually and inconsolably. Very low muscle tone, and slept almost constantly. Doctor confirmed low muscle tone and sent us to ped for follow up. Ped confirmed hypotonia and started battery of tests for conditions where this presents as a symptom. He's 7 now and his "issues" (for lack of a better word) have gotten worse. He's obsessive about things, cries or angers at the drop of a hat for strange reasons (once had an extreme violent outburst at school because he was worried about the war in Iraq...once had a meltdown because it was raining and proceeded to run home with his jacket over his head crouched down crying the whole way..yet the very next rain did nothing to him etc etc).

His hands move in mirror movements to each other...eg when scratching an itch the other hand is scratching in the air. For a brief time he spoke of a voice in his head telling him to do bad things (swear, hit etc). Usually wont play with kids..just watches. Has this strange egotistical issue where he thinks he's better than most people and says things like "I dont need to go to school, I already know everything" or "i'm smarter than everyone" Now he has been identified as being rather intelligent...reading/writing at a grade 3 level in grade 1 but neither his teachers nor I dwell on that and make it a big issue, so he's not gotten those ideas from us. After 7 yrs of testing and everything negative we're only left with mental conditions. We've tried a few meds for OCD, depression etc with no success. Sorry I can't list everything with limited chars to work with..but does this sound familiar to anyone??? Is he sick, mentally unsound..or something else Im missing??

He was assessed for autism at around 3 years of age. The doctor at that time felt he "displayed autistic tendencies" but could not fully be indentified as an autistic child? I think maybe a reassessment will be our next step. Im not looking for a label for him, I just need a diagnosis so we can move on, get the help/tools we need to help him have a better life

Answer 1

I would have him re-evalauted for autism. It doesn't sound as though he has full autism because of his speech but more like Asperger's Disorder which is a form of autism.

What distinguishes Asperger's Disorder from autism is the severity of the symptoms and the absence of language delays. Children with Asperger's Disorder may be only mildly affected and frequently have good language and cognitive skills. To the untrained observer, a child with Asperger's Disorder may just seem like a normal child behaving differently.

Children with autism are frequently seen as aloof and uninterested in others. This is not the case with Asperger's Disorder. Individuals with Asperger's Disorder usually want to fit in and have interaction with others; they simply don't know how to do it. They may be socially awkward, not understanding of conventional social rules, or may show a lack of empathy. They may have limited eye contact, seem to be unengaged in a conversation, and not understand the use of gestures.


Interests in a particular subject may border on the obsessive. Children with Asperger's Disorder frequently like to collect categories of things, such as rocks or bottle caps. They may be proficient in knowing categories of information, such as baseball statistics or Latin names of flowers. While they may have good rote memory skills, they have difficulty with abstract concepts.

One of the major differences between Asperger's Disorder and autism is that, by definition, there is no speech delay in Asperger's. In fact, children with Asperger's Disorder frequently have good language skills; they simply use language in different ways. Speech patterns may be unusual, lack inflection or have a rhythmic nature or it may be formal, but too loud or high pitched. Children with Asperger's Disorder may not understand the subtleties of language, such as irony and humor, or they may not understand the give and take nature of a conversation.

Another distinction between Asperger's Disorder and autism concerns cognitive ability. While some individuals with Autism experience mental retardation, by definition a person with Asperger's Disorder cannot possess a "clinically significant" cognitive delay and most possess an average to above average intelligence.

While motor difficulties are not a specific criteria for Asperger's, children with Asperger's Disorder frequently have motor skill delays and may appear clumsy or awkward.

Characteristics of Aspereger's:

The essential features of Asperger's Disorder are severe and sustained impairment in social interaction and the development of restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interest, and activity. The disturbance must clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, and other important areas of functioning. In contrast to Autistic Disorder, there are no clinically significant delays in language. In addition there are no clinically significant delays in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior, and curiosity about the environment in childhood.

A. Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following:

*Marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction

*Failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level

*A lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people (e.g., by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest to other people)

*Lack of social or emotional reciprocity

B. Restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:

*Encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus

*Apparently inflexible adherence to specific, non-functional routines or rituals

*Stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)

*Persistent preoccupation with parts of objects

C. The disturbance causes clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

D. There is no clinically significant general delay in language (e.g., single words used by age 2 years, communicative phrases used by age 3 years)

E. There is no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior (other than in social interaction), and curiosity about the environment in childhood.

F. Criteria are not met for another specific Pervasive Developmental Disorder or Schizophrenia.

I suggest visiting the Autism Society, they have very useful info on autism, Asperger's and the other Pervavsive Developmental Disorders, including characteristics, diagnosis, treatment, etc.(PDD)

Answer 2

Put him in a higher grade. Give him a challenge. Private school might do the trick. It may cost money, but it could be well worth it. Or see if he can move up in grades at a public school (I've no idea if this is applicable or the school will permit it, but they should, if they don't, that is). Home school him is another option also. This way he can do it at his own pace, which is probably faster than most people, and again you may be able to present him with a challenge.
Give him lots of books to read.

Answer 3

With all due respect from the father of an autistic child, your son needs to be evaluated by a child psychologist.

Responsible diagnosticians will not classify a child as autistic until he is at least five years old. They'll use the term "pervasive developmental disorder," or "autistic tendencies."

Answer 4

sounds like autism honestly i would see a different developmental peditrician then u did at 3 cuz if your son xhibited autistic tendencies he should of called it pdd-nos and then at 3 your child would have gotten help for autistic like behavior
best of luck :)

the thing that stood out most to me is the rain thing
the other day it rained and my autistic child wanted to play in it all day i couldnt get him in
and then the next day it was like fire on his skin he couldnt take it
it sound like the same thing ur child did

Answer 5

Hard to tell what the exact issue is, but if you haven't already, you will want to get him checked by a qualified psychiatrist for an autism spectrum disorder. Your son sounds like he has many characteristics of Asperger's Syndrome. The sooner it gets diagnosed (if that is what he has...) the sooner he can start learning coping strategies, getting regular counseling, and you can start looking at special programs/etc. for school.

Answer 6

Sounds like a classic case of autism. Start researching that. Good luck and God bless your family.

Answer 7

Is he autistic? Perhaps you need to have him checked for that. Many of these "issues" are symptomatic of autism or a related disease.

Answer 8

If you have told your doctor all this, why isn't your son being treated?

Get a second opinion, your son as well as yourself cannot continue in this way. Imagine what that poor boy must feel like on the inside, if he acts out like that in public.

Answer 9

Maybe hes autistic, you should see a specialist.

Answer 10

google autism