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possible autism in son

I posted below, but thought I would start a new post as well.  
Tomel: In you last post, you were asking about how he played and yes, he does like to spin the wheels on his cars but he doesn't do it all the time.  I am so scared now b/c I know that is another sign of autism.  He likes to watch how the wheels turn and examine things.  But he plays in other ways too with his cars, such as making them crash into each other and he pushes them around the house.  He also plays with a lot of other toys as well.  Not just the cars.  Everything else, he seems to play appropriately with.  
What do you think???
13 Responses
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114870 tn?1210298346
Hi I have a 27 month old boy and my situation is similar to yours.  I am a stay at home Mom and go to school while my husband works.  I dont have many friends that have kids except a cousin with 2 girls his age.  Anyway my Son also doesnt get to be much around kids as others that go to preschools and interact with kids on daily basis.  Because your son is not around kids every day he will not socialy develope as the other kids that are in preschools and daycares everyday.  So dont get confused.  Plus I think all boys love to play with wheels and watch them spin its just fun especialy at their age and like you said it was just a phase.  My son was facinated with that stuff too and that passed just like other things.  Kids that stay home with a parent seem to be more shy and/or more quite and sometimes parents confuse that and get worried, of course, that their child may be autistic.  Yes get him evaluated if that helps you but dont worry your self to much.  My son also had some speech delay and right after I got him evaluated he began talking a few weeks after.  It always works like that.  In the meantime try to get him out maybe even to the nearest playground and you'll see how quick he will play with other kids.  My Son loves loves loves to be with kids and play and build and fight over toys.
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Avatar universal
tmv
I know what you mean, a mom's worries never end. My son is going to be 13 in June. My daughter is 9. Step-daughter 17. Oh, it is just begining! lol! It does seem like there is a lot of discussions about add and autism, and in some rightly so. But a lot of the symptoms are just plain children being normal and thank God they are! Take care, tmv
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Avatar universal
THANK YOU!!! I was/am SO worried.  
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Avatar universal
tmv
Your child sounds just like my son, completely NORMAL for his age and development. Sometimes we expect too much all at once. All kids grow at different rates emotionally and physically. Best wishes to you.
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Avatar universal
i posted on the wrong question sorry ;(
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Avatar universal
Sorry sosad hit the wrong button. my daughter is a blessing to me and she has taught me to see the world in a very different light. I am able to enjoy the small things in life and she has taught me that it is the small things in life that really matters.
If you need any more info or just a shoulderl please let me know and I please let me know how you and your little man are doing.
My prayers are with you!
Your friend,
Christy ;)
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Avatar universal
All the sysptoms that you described are pointing to possible autism. i can say this because not only am I a special ed teacher for children with autism but I am also a parent of  a child with autism. I highly suggest that you contact search and serve through your local county superintentant of school. If you do not have a search and serve ( it may not be called that in your area) you can contact  your local Regional center for children with disablities and ask for an assessment. Every city has one( My city Regional center is called Kern Regional Center) If you don't find a regional center I would contact your doctor and ask for assessment your doctor can be a big help in services. The earlier you receive assessment and intervention the better your chances for success for both you and your child. Please know that if your child does have autism
IT IS NOT A DEATH SENTENCE!
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Avatar universal
mjx
try to visit this site http://besthealthoptions.com/baby-child-care it has great articles about autism. gud day
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Avatar universal
Your son may just have some sensory processing problems, which can very easily be addressed.
The our of sync child is a good book for this.
I really think he will be fine. But get a good opinoin for peace of mind.

Please though people stop allthe myths about autism Alot of kids with Austims/Aspergers want friends and try to play with other children. They just sometimes have a harder time keeping up. THey also will hug and be affetcionate. Alot of info. you may find on the internet is old school. Or only describes low functioing autistics. Alot of uneducation out there as well as stereotypes.
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112359 tn?1226867083
I'm glad I've helped to alleviate some of your fears and I'm also glad to hear the latest playdate went so well. With us it was always two steps forward, one step back... For instance, I wouldn't see the hand flapping for a while but then suddenly for a few days in a row it was back. Things like that. Eventually it was gone for good. My son plays with the Thomas the Tank characters and when he was two years old he had the engines and their train cars in a certain order- they HAD to stay that way. If someone rearranged them he had a fit. If I cleaned them up he got them all back out and put them exactly where they'd been. He was so obsessive about it. To this day he likes the trains in a certain order and likes to keep them that way, but now if someone rearranges them he doesn't usually get upset- sometimes he even thinks it's funny, like a trick or game he needs to figure out! But he still puts them back the way they belong, according to him. He too has always made the cars & trains crash more than we'd like, but lots of little boys do this. The Thomas videos don't help because the trains crash on there, too. But he loves them...

It really does not sound like your son is autistic. Remember that personalities range widely among adults and children, including the very young. And not only do kids each develop at a different pace, every aspect of an individual child develops at a different pace. He may be way ahead in one way but way behind in another, and so his behavior is controlled by whatever dominates at the moment. (I hope that made sense)

Don't worry too much that your son hasn't had a lot of contact with other children, although more practice in social situations will help him. My son was around other kids since infancy (not in daycare but playgroups, mommy & me classes, preschool by 3, at the playground etc). No matter how I pushed the social interactions, he still waited to get involved until HE was ready.

I wish you the best.
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Avatar universal
Oh, that makes me feel so much better!  I made a playdate yesterday evening with my son and my 2.5 yr old nephew and I was very encouraged by what I saw.  Jackson (my son) immediately ran up to my nephew and gave him a hug then they continued to play together for a solid 2 hours, interacting and chasing each other and pushing cars around the house and wrestling around.  Jackson was not "in his own world" or anti-social by any means.  They did more playing together than they did "parallel playing" even.  I just have read so much about social delays or avoidance as the key factor in determining autism and he seems to be fine.
Like I mentioned earlier, he has had very limited contact with other children, especially in the past year and I think that has contributed a lot to his delays.  He is learning new words every day.  
Says 2-word sentences such as "read book", "big truck", "arms up", and some others.  Last night he pointed at his grandmother's bed and said "Nana night-night in bed" and afterall, he just turned 2 on March 20.  He points things out in videos and books and in the car and so on.  He gestures and points and waves in appropriate ways.
These are all postives.
He does like to spin wheels on cars but that behavior has kind of faded away, like it was a phase.  He likes to line his cars up but not in any order, just to play.  He plays in other ways with his cars too, such as driving them and making the wreck into each other.  He makes "car noises" for the cars and siren noises when playing with his ambulance and police cars.
He plays with other toys as well and could care less about routines or specifics in his daily schedule.  He adjusts well to new people and places.
I could go on forever.  I just get so scared sometimes and then so hopeful.  It HELPS SO MUCH TO HEAR THINGS like you two have described.
THANK YOU!!!!!
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154929 tn?1196187738
What you are describing does not seem like it is autism to me--it may be that he is not socially aware of his surroundings.  The place you described taking him with all the people and most were strangers--that is the way my boys acted at their grandfathers funeral.  If there is nothing there for them to do or people who are interacting with them at their level they are going to run around and find wahtever they can to do to keep themselves entertained.  By saying this my boys are not autistic.  They are just very active boys who like to runa nd play.  It is good you are going to get him evaluated--but try not to put a label on him and make sure your family does not label him either.  I think that when kids get labeled so early on the have either a lot to live up to or nothing to live up to because they have the label that says "oh, he is this he can't do these normal things."

He may just need to play more in social settings--take him to the park when weather allows--find a friend or two who have kids his age and get to know them and invite them over.  You may be surprised with more play time with other kids how he will change.

Good Luck
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112359 tn?1226867083
Hi, I know what you're going through. I just want to reassure you that all of the things you are witnessing do not necessarily point to the autism spectrum. Of course that could be the case but your son is still very young.

My son flapped his hands (and even his feet if bare!) until he was nearly 3 when stimulated, played contently by himself, didn't want to play with other children, was (still is) a picky eater. He didn't always make eye contact, spoke late, spun toys or repeated the same play over and over, stared at objects for long periods... I could go on and on. It was very scary. He did have developmental delays and was later diagonsed with low muscle tone and sensory processing disorder, for which he has been receiving occupational therapy. BUT he is not autistic. He is now 5 and has some continuing delays with his physical milestones and coorindation issues. Otherwise he is a healthy, happy, extremely social little boy. Two or three years ago if you'd told me he would be this social and outgoing at 5 I would never have believed you, he appeared so shy and "different" than the other kids his age- always on the perimeter, never participating with groups. Suddenly in his 5th year (after his 4th birthday) he started to change dramatically and really blossomed.

Good luck, I hope you get some answers and help soon.
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