Could this really be autism ?

[vickilynnpurdy]

O.K, So we are at the neurologists office last week with our 22 month old, due to his seizures {generalized} and we were discussing some different behaviors that he has....Plugging his ears and screaming, spinning in circles......likes or LOVES to chew up food, but most of the food is spit out. I would say that he swallows about 3 percent of his food, so therefor he drinks high calorie formula. He used to be a head banger, but as soon as they put him on phenobarbital for his seizures he INSTANTLY STOPPED BANGING HIS HEAD!!! { Is there any study out there that shows phenobarb effects head banging or other self stimulating behavior?}..anyhow.....He talks well, has a huge vocabulary, BUT CAN NOT PUT ANY TWO WORDS TOGETHER AT ALL!! He points. he has good eye contact. Responds to his name. Likes to watch other children from afar, but not up close....She suggests that he is autistic?........Is here any way thaat this could be true when he does have good eye contact, responds to name, points........ALSO: His sclera is BLUE..is there a connection between blue sclera and autism?   Please answer......I am exhausted!!!!

[timmysmom2005]

Hi vicki! Just wanted to say I am so glad to hear that your son is doing so much better! That is wonderful news! My son did not have the skills to put two words together until he was 2 1/2, but once he started it just took off! He now speaks in full sentences all day long! It is confusing during the diagnosis process but honestly take advantage of the services you have access to with the diagnosis while you can. The neurologists can always change their diagnosis later down the road. I have seen it happen many times. And what a happy day that will be! But a little speech therapy and OT will still be nice because you will learn so many teaching methods for children to use at home. It's so worthwhile. I wish you and your son all the best!

[vickilynnpurdy]

Hi Timmysmom!! =)
Thanks for the note. I so appreciate it!
Yah. I am a bit confused with the whole autism thing at this point. He used to bang his head, but nolonger does this. He used to spin in circles all of the time, but now he does it only to be silly and laughs about it.....and only does this maybe one or two times per week. Until nine days ago he would not swallow food, but suddenly one morning he walked up to me, wanted a bite of oatmeal and has been eating ever since..Eating like a little piggy! Though we are only nine days into this, I can't imagine he will stop now after twenty three months of eating nothing....He points at things, gets what he is asked to go get. Has great eye contact. Doesnt have any repeatitive behaviors that we can see......infact other than the seizures and the temporal horn prominence {mri diagnosis} he acts like any other almost two year old...Other than not putting two words together....and even this really doesnt worry me as there are many many two year olds that can not do this yet. His vocabulary is amazing!! Can say hundreds and hundreds of words!!!.....Even knows his shapes and honestly the name of just about anything that you ask him "what is this?"......Just so confusing to get a diagnosis..when you really dont see a problem, but then cant get a diagnosis when there really is an issue..ha ha

I do find it all amazing though how so much DID change for him once he was put on anticonvulsent medications!!!......=)  Thanks again!!  

[timmysmom2005]

Hello. I must tell you that I think if your son was displaying all these symptoms I applaud you for pursuing the diagnosis at this age. My son had all these symptoms at 14 months and began early intervention getting speech and occupational therapies and attending play groups for social skills. He was then diagnosed with autism at 21 months. He had every symptom you named except the seizures. My son also makes eye contact and is very affectionate which is rare for kids on the spectrum. It's a struggle getting people to accept that he is autistic because of this but what you have to always keep in mind is that no 2 autistic kids are the same. They share some symptoms and have their own. It truly is a grieving process for a mother to accept such a harsh diagnosis but it is a very good thing to find out so early. The sooner the therapies begin the better the outcome. My son has made tremendous growth compared to other children who were diagnosed later and in fact next fall will be moving on from a preschool class of only autistic kids to a more advanced class with children on the spectrum and typical peers. Wishing you all  the best!

[888mom]

It sounds good that you found the phenobarbital helps his seizures and head banging.  That is excellent news!  I don't know anything about blue sclera.  22 months is young, so sounds like you are going to have to make sure he gets whatever therapy and meds he needs and keep seeing the specialist over time.

My daughter at 24 months did not say a single word and did not comprehend a single word either.  She was also not able to point, not able to follow your finger to what you were pointing at and didn't get pointing at all (understanding shared attention).  She also didn't have any interest in socializing at 24 months, aside from us, her parents, she had no eye contact with others at all.  She flapped her arms and walked on her tip toes.  We started sensory integration therapy and that started helping immediately.  She did not have a history of seizures ever and still does not.  She is now 3 1/2 and is talking a year behind and has overcome some of the issues she had previously.  We saw a developmental pediatrician.  They don't do MRIs or anything of the head.  They do some genetic testing and do a thorough assessment of your child with speech, motor skills, social skills, etc.  If she had seizures, we would have seen a pediatric neurologist, though.  

Our daughter was not diagnosed with PDD until she was almost 3 (2 months shy of turning 3).  It was after several visits to the specialist over many months.  And he still didn't want to differentiate between PDD-NOS and typical autism, though he felt strongly she had PDD-NOS which is a milder form on the autism spectrum.

Anyways, the important thing is dealing with the delays and sensory processing problems, if it is autism or something else.  I don't care what label they give my daughter.  What helps her is getting therapy from a speech therapist and an occupational therapist and me keeping up on what things work to deal with her developmental delays, sensory processing problems, and overcoming some of the ritualistic behavior (at least the stuff that impacts other people aside from herself).  If the docs want to call it PDD or Global Developmental Delay or whatever other term they want to use... no matter what you name it, it's what she has and it's her and I love her regardless.  A label for what your son has is not goign to change who he is.  Sounds like you are a great mother for getting him the docs so young an age.  Hang in there!  Autism is sometimes a hard diagnosis.  It's a huge spectrum including PDD-NOS and aspergers along with the typical autism and even then every child with autism is different from other kids with autism (who later become adults with autism).

Anyways, hopefully some of the adults with autism/PDD might respond or the parents of them.

Eating is a sensory issue -- my daughter gets half her calories from Pediasure (with doctors supervision).  I have a friend with a daughter with just sensory issues and her daughter will not touch solid food at all so her daughter is on 90% of her calories from Pediasure (she will eat yogurt and liquidy things like that).  I think that's where a therapist might be able to help you out with your son... if it is indeed a sensory processing issue, sensory integration therapy might help alleviate some of the fear of food textures and get him eating something.