Please Help! My two year old my be autistic and he is eating his poop. Is this normal????

[luvumason]

   I am having my two year old tested for autism Monday because, he has been showing many different signs.I will go ahead and fill you in on some of the things he does.  When we take him in the store and put him in the shoping cart he is ok until we turn. He does not like to turn. Also, when we are in the car if we turn into a drive way or down a street he starts throwing a fit. He lines up things in the house and doesn't want me to touch them. His speech isn't bad..if anything he may have a lisp and he likes to repeat himself over and over. He hates haircuts and doctors. He throws bad tantrums and has broken two teeth and bit a chuck out of his tongue and he also hits me and his little brother when he is mad. When he has a bowel movement he puts his hands in it and  smears it and has recently started eating it. Is eating poop part of a disorder???

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-SH]

First of all, keep in mind that I am unable to diagnose you because I am unable to examine you, this forum is for educational purposes.
     Some of the symptoms that you describe can be found in autistic spectra disorder (more properly called pervasive developmental disorders or PDD), such as lining up the cars, poor social interactions and inflexible quirks.  However, since his speech sounds relatively normal (he should have 20-70 words at this point) then he will probably fall towards the less severely affected PDD such as Asperger's syndrome.  It is normal for children to explore their bodies (even poop at the time of potty training), but this should not be a recurent activity.  I agree that you should have him tested by a professional (pediatric neurologist).
I hope this has been helpful.

[FloridaSunshine]

My nephew 14 has asberger syndrome part of Austism. He would roll it in balls and hide it in cracks in wall,when he was 6 yrs old.  bed etc. please seek help this is not normal. ( his mother was drug addict when he was born and my sister adopted him at 15months old)

[msgoldie]

i have a two year old, normal toddler, EXCEPT

[msgoldie]

I have a two year old, normal toddler, EXCEPT, SHE'S STARTED EATING HER OWN POOP! Is there something wrong with her? She eats a very well rounded diet, plenty of fruits and veggies...Please help!!! Thank you so much!

[luvumason]

Thanks to everyone for your help. They did the assesment today and said that he definatley shows signs and they know that he is delayed in development and speech. They don't want to label him as being autistic quite yet so they are going to work on his speech and development and assess him again in 6 months. Then, at the age of three they want me to send him to a school in our area. I didn't know this but, they said that area Elementary schools accept three year olds that have developmental problems and they prepare them for pre k and help them in certain areas.

[vega1318]

Great!  Sounds like you're taking responsible and appropriate steps!  I am sure it will help your son in the long-run and your doctors appear to be very sensitive and not rushing to conclusions.  You'll do what's best.

[Capital H]

Yes a lot of what you describe is consistant with autism, lining objects up, reacting to changes in the environment by tantruming, repetitive speech and poop smearing.

There is some suggestion of hypersensitivity for instance dislike of haircuts. you need to be aware of things in the environment a non autistic person would not react to in order to understand the triggers for the tantrums.

I don't believe autism is in the province of neurology at all, albeit it is caused by differences in the brain, they are not the kind that are detectable by neurological investigation and a diagnosis of autism is made by reference to behaviours arising from that difference.

[luvumason]

Thank you everyone for all of your help! I will post what they say Monday as soon as I can.

[shireen]

Hi. My son is 3 years old. At the age of 2 1/2 he was diagnosed with Autism, although my son doesn't smear his excrement he smears everything else. He will smear butter, sorf cheese, yoghurt and things of similar consistancy everywhere. I asked his paediatrican he mentioned that autistic people have sensory issues - they can be over sensitive or under sensitive in there senses. My son craved touching things that have a soft consistency, tha\t's the reason why he did the butter and soft cheese smearing. I was told to have a time each day to let my son have something of a similar consistency but more appropiate to smear in an appropiate place ( some paper) to relive his sensory issues. I used flour and water - cheap and satisfying for him.
My son was talking at the right age except now his speech is deteriorating and now he only speaks when he is repeating something. My son screams in shopping centres again to do with over sensitive vision and hearing, he can't distiguish frontline noise with background noise so to my son the tills beeping and the people chatting all around sound so loud to him. All the colourful signs and labels and colours of peoples clothes and patterns overwhelm my son so again makes him scream in frustration. My son also lines things up. He has never played imaginitivly. He has 40 toy cars which he lines up in colour order - he started this at 18 months old - amazing but a sign of autism. My son won't play with other children, he can't even stand them near him. Not even his brother. It's great your having your son tested because the earlier you do the better outcome you will have with your son. I don't know about your son but my son has an obbsession with numbers. From the age of 12 months he could count to 20 and recognise the numbers when written down and I had never formally taught him them. He now at the age of 3 can count to 79 write his numbers and recognise them, again with no formal teaching. But he has problems like he can't feed himself properley he isn't showing any toileting awareness, is very clumsy. They are other signs you can maybe watch out for.  

[vega1318]

Kids in that age are curious about many things, including those that come out of their body.  It is not all that unusual to play with and even taste feces.  You should be able to teach him out of it, either with distraction or,perhaps, minor form of punishment.  Some of the other characteristics are a bit worrisome and should probably be checked out.  It's encouraging that his speech development is good.  But self-mutilation is not and may be part of an "autistic" spectrum.  There're many forms of autism and some are milder than others -- a good pediatric neurologist should be able to carry out the necessary tests and follow up your son to see how this progresses.  He may also need to be enrolled in special behavioral therapy program as soon as possible.