Delay, Disorder or paranoid mom?

[BuddersMommy]

My son is 34 months and recently started speech.  He says a lot of words and a few phrases "shoes . . wew are you?"  but seems to be behind.  At his first speech session I asked the speech therapist if she noticed any signs or symptoms beyond speech.  She mentioned his hand movements when he gets excited remind her of her autistic clients.  She stated that she cannot make any diagnosis regarding autism and after more sessions she can refer him to a specialist if necessary.  I am now reading every website, etc.  My son does love trains and plays with them more than any other toy, he has a speech delay, seems delays regarding comprehension (I'll ask a simple question and he will stare at me with seemingly no clue), plays ok with kids but we do have the usual sharing and taking turns issues.  He does prefer to play alone some of the time and he does get frustrated if other children get in his personal space if he has decided he wants to play alone.  He was late when it came to understanding his own name and he likes some repetitive actions such as pouring water back and forth between cups.  He sometimes grinds his teeth in apparent over stimulation (he does that a lot when playing with his baby brother and I remind him to be gentle).  When he gets frustrated with peers he growls.  He is pretty shy and will growl at strangers who approach him sometimes.  He also can get zoned out and I have to repeat my statement once or twice.  On the other hand he likes to play with "friends" a lot, he  makes eye contact, loves to kiss and cuddle, no routine dependence or sensory sensitivities, he does pretend play (cooks food, pretends to be a lion), he points, waves, blows kisses, he is starting to show empathy for his baby brother when he cries by yelling "mommy, baby sad" and telling the baby "shhh".  He does not have any gross or fine motor skill problems, he does not stack or organize.  He smiles when smiled at and tends to play with toys appropriately.  Any suggestions?

[Rachel Thompson, Ph.D., BCBA]

Given your description, I am not immediately concerned about autism. Even hand flapping can occur in typically developing children. Nevertheless, I do recommend that parents share any and all developmental concerns with their pediatrician or other relevant professional. We do know that it is very important to intervene early with any developmental issues. I think it is also important for me to mention that the increase in autism awareness has led to early diagnosis and intervention for many children but has also resulted in undue concern for many families. For example, even typically developing children are not interested in social interaction and affection all of the time and many play in repetitive ways.  

[cetta5]

I have a 24 mth old who sounds exactly like your son, except more delayed in speech with only like 7 words.  The doctors advice is so correct that with the increase in awareness of autism, we mom's, get very concerned and rightly so.  I am starting speech and special ed in a week and am very excited to see what progress will be made since his speech and comprehension is significantly delayed. Even though the early intervention team is saying NO to autism i still am wondering since i have read everything on the topic.  You are doing the right thing with Early intervention to help him with his Developmental delays.  I'll share a funny story about my paranoia.  I went so far as to buy blocks and more cars & animals to see if he would be stuck on stacking them or lining them.  Guess what?  My 4 year old started to stack the blocks and line up his animals all around the tub not my 2 year old.  My 4 yr old is clearly not autistic.  It was God's way of saying to me, that normally developing children can exhibit some of the same traits as autistic kids and not be autistic.

Hope this helped.    

  

[zoozoo31]

My son who is approaching 3 was diagnosed w/Autism at the age of 2.  At that time he had no verbal skills at all.  At the age of 1 I knew he had a speech delay of some sort so got early intervention involved.  After some time many other symptoms were showing and I brought him for the evaluation.  I knew before they even started the eval, I had the gut feeling since very early infancy that there was something different about my little boy.  He is very high functioning and honestly I wouldn't change him for the world.  I have quit working and taken time away from completely my BA that is almost done to put all my time into him.  I understand your worries and can relate but honestly I think that you can relax it really sounds like your child luckily only has a speech delay.  Many young children also display the hand flapping or similiar "strange gestures" I hate that so many people seem to think that if a child does that they need to question Autism Spectrum Disorder.  They are kids they get excited!  I believe with the higher awareness with Autism there has also been much over diagnosis with it as well.  I wonder sometimes if enough evals have been done to come to that conclusion or if that diagnosis was the easy way out...ya know?  I am not knocking you by any means, parents know their children best and it is you that can help the pedi with whatever diagnosis if any!  Note your child's behaviors and relax until otherwise told.  Keep with the early intervention- it is such a gift!  Good luck to you and your son!