Autism Help

[Candleman]

Hi,
my son is two this weekend and we are concerned that he is showing many signs of autism, anti social, not talking, etc etc. in looking at 40 signs of autism he is showing 23 of them.
He is still not able to ask for a bottle, and none of his words are clearly pronounced.  "Ball" sounds like "Boh"

Our GP said "give him 6 more months to talk" but i know that will waste precious time if he does have it.
the GP did a whiper hearing test and he responded to his name, and asked all the right questions seeing as we didnt tell him what we thought it was.
we have tried to independantly get seen by a specialist, but were going to another GP for a second opinion.

Is there Government assitance with autism treatment?

thanks very much

[Candleman]

(we are in Auckland NZ)

[MJIthewriter]

This is a video from Amanda Baggs. I didn't create it.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JnylM1hI2jc

Not being able to speak doesn't mean not having anything to say. It's hard to say exactly how things will pan out.  I posted in as a reply to your pm, if my parents believed my first dx, I probably not have gotten to where I am. That's one tricky thing autism at an early age.  Your autistic child may learn to speak verbally, or he may not.

Since he is not able to tell you yet, I can't say if this is going on in his head or not. I can say before I actually spoke, I thought for sure I was talking. I guess I must have thought I was speaking rahter than saying it.

One example is when I was 4 years old and broke my crib. (I cross checked with my grandma and yes I was age 4)  My parents rushed in and were talking frantically. I recognized they were talking about getting a new bed. I remember saying, "I don't want a new bed! I like it this way!" But when I ask my parents, they could not recall me saying anything.

There were other cases that I understood language. I just didn't reply. My grandma did a test to see if I understood.

She said, "Come over here I've got fresh cookies!"  (or something along those lines)

I didn't say anything, but I sure came running to get the cookies. This I don't remember, but it was something my grandma shared with me in a conversation.

[Candleman]

hmm, thats interesting

yeah
he definatley understands us..  if we say  "where are the shoes" he will point them out in the book,
or "bring me the paper" he will (sometimes not, but that may be kids being kids)

[MJIthewriter]

If he understands language, it is likely he thinks it. It's really hard to say (not being in his head) but I know with me I sure thought I was talking. Maybe I was just moving my lips? I whispered when I started talking. (sometimes alternating between whispering and talking)

I can't rewind time to see my real reasons or even experiance those memories, but I figure one possible reason was because I was trying to mimic how I hear myself speak in my head. Another reason could have been because I talk really loud and was hushed... I can't say.  I'm more inclined to believe the whisper as an extension of my thought process. I tend to whisper slightly when I type and move my mouth like I am whispering, only speaking a few words, phrases, sentences verbally.

I ponder over it and sometimes wonder if it could be some sort of (for lack of a better term) artifact left over from before I could speak. I tend to ponder over things a lot. That's part of trying to learn about myself.

Perhaps with more research, maybe this can be taken and studied a bit more to see If there is a connection or not.


And yes, just because I hear or understand, does not always mean I will act upon it... If I don't wanna do it, I don't wanna do it... If I hafta do it, then I do it on my own terms when I feel up to it. (unless I am forced to by some modivator, either negative or positive) That's very typical human behavior, lol.

[mjthewriterdad]

two is a bit early to be talking in specifics (ie asutism).   Granted, there is  delay in expressive language,  this is not necessarily autism.  It takes more years of observation.

[888mom]

We saw two specialists for my daughter.  My daughter was diagnosed with PDD (on the autism spectrum) by a child psychiatrist or maybe it was a psychologist.  I can't remember which.  Anyways, we got a second opinion by a developmental pediatrician, and he said it was too early to tell and we had to wait a few years to see what happened.  So, his diagnosis was, wait and see, but she had autistic tendencies.  I kind of liked him better because I would rather wait and see than to have someone say the wrong thing.  But, that isn't to say that you shouldn't try different therapies for various issues, like language delays, sensory issues, behavioral issues, adaptive issues (like dressing, brushign teeth, taking a bath, feeding themselves).  

Having receptive language is great.  My daughter did not have receptive language at age 2.  It has been starting to kick in the last couple months.  SHe's now 30 months old.  Her language is actually starting to develop just in the last week.  But, she's going through therapy, and I think therapies are helping her immensely to get her brain going.  I think it would on it's own even without the therapy.  Her mind is just developing later than the normal child.  At least as far as communicating and social communicating go.  In other regards, she's way ahead of the curve, like with puzzles, problem solving and other concepts.  Anyways, sometimes being patient is hard, but it gets easier.  

There are lots of reasons for language delays and being "anti-social" other than autism.  If you can get some help for therapy for speech, do try.  At least in the U.S., kids go through speech therapy even if there is just speech delay without any other issues.  There are lots of things like just developmental delays, apraxia, and other language disorders I don't know the names of.  Speech therapy does help.  If you have to do it on your own, that's possible too.  Just read up on various things.  Repeating words often, and  just keep it simple with one or two words.  Like playing with toys... stacking blocks on top of each other, and you'd just say over and over as you stack them "on top" each time you put one on top.  Or if you are playing with a ball toy, you can say stuff like "ball down" or "ball goes down" or just say ball.  One book I picked up was about Dr. Greenspan's floortime method.  It works for kids with autism and also works for any developmentally normal child as well.  It's just a way of playing with your children, on the floor with them, and gives activity examples to do.  There has got to be lots of books out there in the library.  I've found a few from the library.  A lot were just overwhelming to me or just didn't make sense.  My daughter has a speech therapist, so mostly I just take notes from what she does.  But, seriously, it's stuff that people can do on their own as well.  Just a matter of finding out techniques is hard, but once you find them out, you can do them on your own as well.

Hang in there.  And get lots of friends and family to help you out.  I think the more adult interaction my daughter has had, the more social she is being, well, at least with adults.  She won't play with other kids, but she'll play with an adult now, which she didn't do 6 months ago except for with me or her dad.

[MJIthewriter]

I found interacting with adults much easier throughout my childhood because they were less likely to turn on me, which my peers would do. Plus they seem to have more maturity (at least compared to a child).

[TysMom80]

ALWAYS trust your "mommy/daddy instincts". Noone knows your child better than you. I would have your child evaluated asap. You are right about  the 6months that your GP wants to wait; that is precious time that would be wasted if in fact some type of intervention would be necessary. An if no intervention should be necessary, then that would be better:  a.) Less stress for you and b.) Great for your child. (Just remenber, It will not affect your GP or his family one way or the other).

It does not matter if your child gets a diognosis of Autism, Speech Delay, developmental delay, etc. Early intervention is always key!!!  

My son just turned 5yrs old. He was diagnosed at 2yrs old with Autism. I noticed small differences probably between 6mts and 1year. When I voiced my concerns to my pediatrician, I was shoo-shoo'd with "all kids develop diferently and not at the same pace".

Bottom line, get the test. Better safe than sorry.

Good luck and God Speed!

[Candleman]

Hmm, thanks guys.
I’ll see what we have "Dr. Greenspan's floortime method" in the local Libraby,
like it was said…  the extra input will benefit him either way.

Our second GP visit is tomorrow afternoon. We will get the referral tomorrow.
In the mean time all we can do is pray, and try teach/play with him as much as possible.

MJthewritersdad
I saw your post about the kid who screams and points for things, but does not speak.
my son does the same.
He will first scream, then if we dont figure it out he will EG. pick up the DVD he wants to watch or knock at the kettle..  sometimes he has random flashbacks to the sign language we used to to.. but he only signs for things when in a good mood.

would you say a child with autism would only scream? or is the tendancy for them to do as your daughter did & move your hand to what she wants? I'm struggling to understand how they try to communicate.

also is it "normal" for autistic children to do actions to nursery rymes?
he has been beeping his nose and waving his hands back and forth to the song "the wheels on the bus"


this is all helpful stuff.
thanks all of you

[mjthewriterdad]

Pointing is an advanced concept for a child with autism.  When you point, they tend to look at the finger and not the object pointed to.  I saw a thing on Frontline or Nova about apes vs dogs and pointing. Dogs tend to get the pointing when pointing at food behind a screen, apes do not.  It may be the dogs may smell the food, too, i duuno.


I can't make a general statement and say a child with autism never points and screams all the time.  Autism runs a spectrum of functional levels.  My daughter communicates very well (well, here on this forum, anyway).  I thnk she prefers written communication.

It's normal for ALL (even normal)  2 year olds (even older)  to do actions to songs.  Heck, even Barney's or the Donut Man's  children do that!

[Angela77]

You have mentioned just 1 of the 3 major components of autism, which is impairment in speech and language skills.  The other 2 criteria are: an impairment in social skills and odd or restictive interests and behavior.  Does you child have difficulty making eye contact, initating and maintaining social interactions?  Do you see any odd behaviors (hand flapping, rocking, lining up toys instead of playing with them, focusing on one part of a toy and not playing appropriately with it like spinning the wheel of a toy car instead of driving it)?  These are just examples of the 2 other criteria.  Autism manifests differently in each child.  You can contact your local school district and request an evaluation for special education services.  This can get the ball rolling in terms of getting help for your son.  Good luck.

[Candleman]

i'll check where he looks when we point..  i'm 99% sure he looks at what  we are pointing at..  especially when it comes to helicopters flying past. (but then again the sound could be attracting his attention too)


His social skills are a worry,
he tries to hit anyone that gets too close..  IE a friend of ours saying hello to him and trying to kiss his cheek. (he slapped someone Sunday at church)
there are only a few people outside our family he will allow to kiss or pick him up.

he does avoid eye