Aa
from Asperger's more svere autism agin Aspergers?
I have a 4 1/2 years old boy, when he was a toddler he showed signs of being above average intelectually, and showed always interest in learning intellectual stuff eg: before two he liked maps and would remember and reconize all the States of US, and the larger countries in world map, love space and building blocks, but aver all dinosaures!!! even though I tried he never showed interest in balls or trycycles or playgrounds or play together with other children the only outdoor activity he likes is hiking and find a place to "dig" for dinosaurs bones" so in his gross motor skills was below average (still is) he had a good speech( wich he lost it for certain time that I will describe later) prefers long and more complicated words than those children tend to use (although since he is a special preschool program he comes home with more "normal words" that other children use).
When he was 3, I enroll him in a playschool, the teacher asked me to have his hearing test because he would'n answer when he was called, most of the time when I when to pick hin up I saw him play by himself. I refer all of this behaviors to hi pediatrician, and told me she suspected ASperger's syndrome and that it would be a good idea to check just in case.
At about the same time he showed allergyc reactions to various foods and enviroment so we treat him for that he was better but I noticed changes in his memory started to confuse information, he started having tantrums, which we always felt lucky he never had, (as long he would have a book with him he was always easy going)
After he turned 4, he had a more severe reaction to enviroment, got very violent, he would hit and scream instead of speaking there were days he would scream four hours with not confort we took him to allergist and treat him as case of allergies, but the worst was to come when he suddenly stop talking , didnt wanted me to touch him, he would go crazy evn with the sound of the trash truck or his little sister cry, got in to an obssesion to turn on and of the lights, he was not looking to us, he seemed to look somthing in the distance but nothing in special.
WE took him to a neurologist who couldn't find anything wrong in the results of MRI and EEG. II started (or continue) looking for anwsers in the internet about his syptoms and saw that his symptoms macth a lot in the spectrum of autism, my son's pediatrician lend me a book about autism and how to help to treat him and also would give information about reports in how a gluten/casein frre diet could help my son in my desperation I stoped anything that has gluten and casein ( my son wanted to eat bread like crazy sometimes I was shock of his reaction it was like an addicted who seek for drugs, since he started drinking cows milk around 14 months I remember he use to vomit very frecuently it could be any time for not reason and somtimes he would have this mild cough for not reason either) when I started the diet he never vomit again, no cough, started to try to talk and look to us.....it was like he was waking up from a dream. I started looking for phishycians who where experienced in Autism, we found the only one listed in our state just 35 miles from home. He again recomended us the diet, we fiiled up a questionarie of 30 pages which included family history, my pregnancy labor and , and details in his foods, behaviors etc.
WE had many test odne to oaur son that would show us how his body chemistry was doing and was found high level of toxity and low levels in nutrients(eventhough I always had fed my family in a healthy way), so with his guide we started to give him special suplements and dtoxificate him......gardually slowly we started to see great results, he started to talk more, every day more ( specially when we started to detoxificate him) all his odds behaviors started to disppear with the time, He is still with his supplements and diet and he is reciveng OT here and is shool, he sitll has sensory issues but he is improving with the exrcise and all the learning . He is a pleasant gentle boy awre of people, before we started the treatment it seemed impossilbe his potty training or for him to complete a task, now he is focus in learning again !!!! he feel proud of himself being a big boy who can do many things, always concerned how his sister feels and us too, now he is talking all the time and to people too, specially his favorite topic Dinosaurs.
Now Thanks God all the autistic (severe ones) behaviors have dissapear I see him again in the Aspergers side, we never had him diagnose for autism in the time he was acting diferent, we are in the process , for that take long.
For what we experienced can a child/adult being in the spectrum, going from a milder to a severe level?
When he was 3, I enroll him in a playschool, the teacher asked me to have his hearing test because he would'n answer when he was called, most of the time when I when to pick hin up I saw him play by himself. I refer all of this behaviors to hi pediatrician, and told me she suspected ASperger's syndrome and that it would be a good idea to check just in case.
At about the same time he showed allergyc reactions to various foods and enviroment so we treat him for that he was better but I noticed changes in his memory started to confuse information, he started having tantrums, which we always felt lucky he never had, (as long he would have a book with him he was always easy going)
After he turned 4, he had a more severe reaction to enviroment, got very violent, he would hit and scream instead of speaking there were days he would scream four hours with not confort we took him to allergist and treat him as case of allergies, but the worst was to come when he suddenly stop talking , didnt wanted me to touch him, he would go crazy evn with the sound of the trash truck or his little sister cry, got in to an obssesion to turn on and of the lights, he was not looking to us, he seemed to look somthing in the distance but nothing in special.
WE took him to a neurologist who couldn't find anything wrong in the results of MRI and EEG. II started (or continue) looking for anwsers in the internet about his syptoms and saw that his symptoms macth a lot in the spectrum of autism, my son's pediatrician lend me a book about autism and how to help to treat him and also would give information about reports in how a gluten/casein frre diet could help my son in my desperation I stoped anything that has gluten and casein ( my son wanted to eat bread like crazy sometimes I was shock of his reaction it was like an addicted who seek for drugs, since he started drinking cows milk around 14 months I remember he use to vomit very frecuently it could be any time for not reason and somtimes he would have this mild cough for not reason either) when I started the diet he never vomit again, no cough, started to try to talk and look to us.....it was like he was waking up from a dream. I started looking for phishycians who where experienced in Autism, we found the only one listed in our state just 35 miles from home. He again recomended us the diet, we fiiled up a questionarie of 30 pages which included family history, my pregnancy labor and , and details in his foods, behaviors etc.
WE had many test odne to oaur son that would show us how his body chemistry was doing and was found high level of toxity and low levels in nutrients(eventhough I always had fed my family in a healthy way), so with his guide we started to give him special suplements and dtoxificate him......gardually slowly we started to see great results, he started to talk more, every day more ( specially when we started to detoxificate him) all his odds behaviors started to disppear with the time, He is still with his supplements and diet and he is reciveng OT here and is shool, he sitll has sensory issues but he is improving with the exrcise and all the learning . He is a pleasant gentle boy awre of people, before we started the treatment it seemed impossilbe his potty training or for him to complete a task, now he is focus in learning again !!!! he feel proud of himself being a big boy who can do many things, always concerned how his sister feels and us too, now he is talking all the time and to people too, specially his favorite topic Dinosaurs.
Now Thanks God all the autistic (severe ones) behaviors have dissapear I see him again in the Aspergers side, we never had him diagnose for autism in the time he was acting diferent, we are in the process , for that take long.
For what we experienced can a child/adult being in the spectrum, going from a milder to a severe level?
As your grandson is sensitive to noise, the chances are he has sensory integration disorder that affects all of his senses. An Occupational Therapist should assess him and it they should have experience of SID and autism.
I also recommend reading a book by Olga Bogdashina called Sensory and Perceptual Differences in Autism and Aspergers. This book gives clear explanations of what they are experiencing which is so different to us and how that affects their perception of the world. This book has a questionnaire at the back which you can complete to get a sensory profile of your grandson. This profile checklist is used by our autism outreach department so I know it is reputable (The OT can also be a sensory assessment with you called Winnie Dunn assessment).
Olga has a daughter with aspergers and a son with autism (who also used to attack babies). Her son is verbal, and the explanation she found to this behaviour was that (a) babies make sudden unpredictable noise (squealing, crying etc) and that sudden unpredictable noise cuts through an autistic child like a knife, therefore (b) her son tried to control this noise by making the baby cry. This made it predictable and easier to cope with than sudden unpredictable noise that caused a huge meltdown for her son. So I am guessing that his behaviour is not about emotional lack of love, it is about the sensory assault he feels when a baby makes a noise.
For my son I had him assessed for Irlen Syndrome (google that to see what it is), it can be rectified by wearing irlen tinted lenses in glasses. I had him assessed for this because 80% of sensory information comes in through the eyes, and if they have a sensory integration problem it can cause other senses to become oversensitive. My son now wears Irlen lenses. I also bought a pair of DIY ear defenders from the local hard ware store. They don't cut out all noise, but they take the edge of sudden unpredictable noise. These are visibly available to him in school and at home, but he needs to be told when he might need them because he cannot 'predict' what an environment will be like. This has made him able to go out of the house into different environments whereas previously he always wanted to stay at home. Finally Olga suggests getting them a small cuddly toy that they can use to represent strength to them. She suggests something like a lion, elephant, shark, dinosaur etc, that type of animal and for them to choose it. This has saved the day on more than one occasion just by my son having this to hold.
Hope that helps.
I also recommend reading a book by Olga Bogdashina called Sensory and Perceptual Differences in Autism and Aspergers. This book gives clear explanations of what they are experiencing which is so different to us and how that affects their perception of the world. This book has a questionnaire at the back which you can complete to get a sensory profile of your grandson. This profile checklist is used by our autism outreach department so I know it is reputable (The OT can also be a sensory assessment with you called Winnie Dunn assessment).
Olga has a daughter with aspergers and a son with autism (who also used to attack babies). Her son is verbal, and the explanation she found to this behaviour was that (a) babies make sudden unpredictable noise (squealing, crying etc) and that sudden unpredictable noise cuts through an autistic child like a knife, therefore (b) her son tried to control this noise by making the baby cry. This made it predictable and easier to cope with than sudden unpredictable noise that caused a huge meltdown for her son. So I am guessing that his behaviour is not about emotional lack of love, it is about the sensory assault he feels when a baby makes a noise.
For my son I had him assessed for Irlen Syndrome (google that to see what it is), it can be rectified by wearing irlen tinted lenses in glasses. I had him assessed for this because 80% of sensory information comes in through the eyes, and if they have a sensory integration problem it can cause other senses to become oversensitive. My son now wears Irlen lenses. I also bought a pair of DIY ear defenders from the local hard ware store. They don't cut out all noise, but they take the edge of sudden unpredictable noise. These are visibly available to him in school and at home, but he needs to be told when he might need them because he cannot 'predict' what an environment will be like. This has made him able to go out of the house into different environments whereas previously he always wanted to stay at home. Finally Olga suggests getting them a small cuddly toy that they can use to represent strength to them. She suggests something like a lion, elephant, shark, dinosaur etc, that type of animal and for them to choose it. This has saved the day on more than one occasion just by my son having this to hold.
Hope that helps.
Hi - I'm a grandmother of a seven year old grandson whom I absolutely adore. We have suspected that he has autism or asperger's but have veen unable to get a diagnosis. He is very sweet but often throws tantrums around his parents and sister. He seems very sensitive to noise and does not accept his sister who is now 18 mos. old. He has to constantly be watched so that he does not hurt her. I feel helpless and want to get more info as to how i can help my daughter (who often feels overwhelmed by her kids). My grandson is obsessed with trains and is a talented artist. He is extremely good when he is with us, by himself. His language and social skills have not yet developed to a point where he can play with other kids (as they don't seem to understand him) and i feel sorry for him I love him so much and would love to see him develop a good relationship with my 'angel', his little sister who is so sweet and lovable, yet cannot get close to him at all.
It might be that your child never had aspergers but has high functioning autism. Children with aspergers tend to develop language normally (although they still have problems with semantics/pragmatics, literal interpretation etc and need to be taught social skills like how to hold a two way conversation). Those with autism have more difficulties with speech and language. Although you say your son used quite complicated words he may have been echolalic ie. using words he had heard other people say or from TV/DVDs etc. This is not normal language development.
Also those on the spectrum tend to develop at different rates and can remain at the same developmental level for quite a while and then suddenly improve. This can give the impression of regressing when you see that they are falling further and further behind their peers.
As he also has food intolerances and Sensory Integration Dysfunction, as he found it harder to cope in his environment either at home or school that would mean he would show more and more autistic behaviours. When his sensory needs at met he will not tantrum so much or withdraw into himself to escape from a hostile environment (from a sensory point of view).
But it is also possible to move from one diagnosis to another. The are all on a continum with severe autism at one end and HFA and Aspergers at the other. My son is HFA, but we have been told that if he develops obsessions that his diagnosis may change to Aspergers. However, we have recently had him assessed by a private Speech and Language Therapist who has detailed exactly his speech and language impairments, so now I doubt they would ever be able to diagnose Aspergers because his difficulties are too severe (although to an outside he too uses alot of sophisticated dialogue - it is still delayed echolalia).
Also those on the spectrum tend to develop at different rates and can remain at the same developmental level for quite a while and then suddenly improve. This can give the impression of regressing when you see that they are falling further and further behind their peers.
As he also has food intolerances and Sensory Integration Dysfunction, as he found it harder to cope in his environment either at home or school that would mean he would show more and more autistic behaviours. When his sensory needs at met he will not tantrum so much or withdraw into himself to escape from a hostile environment (from a sensory point of view).
But it is also possible to move from one diagnosis to another. The are all on a continum with severe autism at one end and HFA and Aspergers at the other. My son is HFA, but we have been told that if he develops obsessions that his diagnosis may change to Aspergers. However, we have recently had him assessed by a private Speech and Language Therapist who has detailed exactly his speech and language impairments, so now I doubt they would ever be able to diagnose Aspergers because his difficulties are too severe (although to an outside he too uses alot of sophisticated dialogue - it is still delayed echolalia).
HOW DID YOU detoxificate HIM TRYING TO HELP MY SON SOUNDS A LOT LIKE YOUR SON
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