autism

[busyalicemum]

I am a mum to a DS2 now aged 3 and ¾  years. He was a bit slow to get going. Although he seems to be doing everything thats age appropriate and has been since 18 months  I find myself fretting continuously about autism amongst other things.  

My worries
Didnt point until about 18 months. No problem with following a point or joint attention and pointed and points to objects that he wants
At about 2.5 years developed a dislike of loud noises like a siren or a loud horn.  Still has it a bit. Doesnt or didnt have tantrums or anything. He just says  Whats that noise  or  I don’t like that loud sound/noise and covers his ears sometimes. He sometimes anticipates a loud noise and covers his ears.However  DS1 also does this a bit. If  hadnt read about it being an autistic thing I would never have given it another thought as it doesn’t interfere with  anything and I know that fear relating to loud noises is common amongst children.
He flapped his hands a little when excited for a while about a year ago  but no longer does it anymore
Used to like looking at the TV very close. However he is longsighted and again I notice he isnt doing it much anymore
Never repeated questions back to me or anyone else but an odd time repeats a word at the end of a sentence. Did this more a year ago and now much less. I feel hes only processing the word or trying out a complicated word . Has tons of spontaneous speech
Took a while to start playing directly with other children . He knows all the children in the nursery school and is very friendly to them, i.e saying hello and goodbye , but I think
that he played alongside them pretty much until recently. He always joined in play with DS1, eg  DS1 would say Come on outside lets go on our bikes and DS2 would compy. However he is now initiating play a lot more.

The good things
He speaks  well, up to 12 words in sentances, his grammer is fine, ie past tenses, pronouns, plurals etc.
He is very sociable , loves talking to everyone he meets.In fact many people comment on how friendly he is.
He is a very good eater.Has known all his colours for over a year. He knows his shapes, numbers and recently his letters
Can do 15 piece jigsaws, although this is a recent development. Was not that into them until recently
Understoods 3 part commands
Can read peoples body language , like happy , sad  etc
Has imaginative play. Hes big into food and enjoys pretending to cook and bake etc as well as pretending to be a policeman, driver etc
He loves nursery school and joins in with the other children with singing etc
He knows loads of nursery rhymes
Can count to 25
Asks and answers  lots of  questions
I know he is doing what he should be doing but as I said, I see one or 2 symptoms and I go beserk.! Sorry for the lengthy message and thanks for reading.  

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

It will be important for you to look at the 'evidence' - i.e., to all that your child is accomplishing - and to be reassured. If you overly emphasize any small detail it will worry you without good reason, and it will keep you from enjoying your child. It's not necessary to examine children's developemnt with a microscope. Every human being has one or another area or specific of their development which might not be exactly on a par with other areas. There is absolutely no evidence that your child displays any condition along the spectrum of Pervasive Developmental Disorders, let alone Autistic Disorder.