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Child Behavior (Expert Forum)
Does My Niece Have Autism?
Answered by
Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D. - Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, Family Therapy, Crisis Intervention
Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates
This forum is for questions and support regarding child behavior issues such: Child Discipline (behavior management), Normal Child Development, Parent-Child Communications, Social Development
Does My Niece Have Autism?
by bcdef23456, Jun 24, 2009 06:02PM
Greetings,
My niece is almost three years old, and it has been evident for quite sometime that she is not developing normally in at least one area. She does not talk -- she speaks less than 10 (and even that is being generous) intelligible words. She does recognize objects and can identify them, generally she does not exhibit much language development, and virtually no speech development.
Her cognitive and motor skills seem fine. She can walk and for the most part is potty trained (though she does have accidents.) The accidents she does have, I believe, are due mostly to the fact that she can't readily communicate when she needs to use the restroom.
Another big concern of mine is her social development -- she displays very erratic and unpredictable behavior. Most of the time, she is rather mean to people other than her primary care giver, and will hit people, cry and/or look away when somebody looks her in the eye, and often gets hostile when people try to communicate with her. Some days she will hit incessantly, and five minutes later hug you, only to hit you again another five minutes later. Sometimes, she will display a preoccupation with one toy, and if it is taken from her she will freak out. Of course, this is natural for children but I have seen her cry over a single toy for the better part of thirty minutes to an hour.
She is undergoing speech therapy, though she has not received a diagnosis. She has also seen an audiologist and whatnot, but no real problems have been found.
To me, it seems like she exhibits some rather clear symptoms of autism, and seems to fall at least somewhere on the spectrum.
Any information you could provide would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Kara
My niece is almost three years old, and it has been evident for quite sometime that she is not developing normally in at least one area. She does not talk -- she speaks less than 10 (and even that is being generous) intelligible words. She does recognize objects and can identify them, generally she does not exhibit much language development, and virtually no speech development.
Her cognitive and motor skills seem fine. She can walk and for the most part is potty trained (though she does have accidents.) The accidents she does have, I believe, are due mostly to the fact that she can't readily communicate when she needs to use the restroom.
Another big concern of mine is her social development -- she displays very erratic and unpredictable behavior. Most of the time, she is rather mean to people other than her primary care giver, and will hit people, cry and/or look away when somebody looks her in the eye, and often gets hostile when people try to communicate with her. Some days she will hit incessantly, and five minutes later hug you, only to hit you again another five minutes later. Sometimes, she will display a preoccupation with one toy, and if it is taken from her she will freak out. Of course, this is natural for children but I have seen her cry over a single toy for the better part of thirty minutes to an hour.
She is undergoing speech therapy, though she has not received a diagnosis. She has also seen an audiologist and whatnot, but no real problems have been found.
To me, it seems like she exhibits some rather clear symptoms of autism, and seems to fall at least somewhere on the spectrum.
Any information you could provide would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Kara
Doctor's Answer
by Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D., Jun 25, 2009 01:09PM
, Jun 25, 2009 01:09PM
It is possible that she displays a condition along the PDD spectrum. She would benefit at this point from a comprehensive developmental evaluation in order to consider her status along all the important areas of development (motor, cognitive, social, emotional).
