Does My 26 Month Old Son Have Autism?

[Aris730]

I have a couple of concerns regarding my child's development.  I feel there is something wrong with my son, I can't pin point if he has autism, ADHD or something else may be wrong with him.  His speech is very poor, he is not able to speak in sentences and currently he is only speaking a couple of basic words such as : "dada", "ducky", "go", "help", "color", "book", "broke".  What I am noticing is that he is replacing words that start with a B with a G, so instead of "broke", he will say "ghoke".  I am also concern that he does not pay attention when we speak to him.  I don't know if he can't hear or if he isn't understanding or if he is just ignoring us.  I have taken him to the Dr. to have his ears checked and yeah he has had a couple of ear infections, but he hasn't had anything major.  I have voiced my concerns to his Dr. regarding his development and lack of speech and she just told me to give him some time, ( at least 6 months) and if he is still having a difficult time with his listening skills and having speech issues then she will refer him to have him evaluated.  I have noticed that he gets angry very easily and when he does he starts throwing not just his tantrums but he throws things whatever he may have in his hand across the room.  

[Debbie196843]

Hi i first noticed something wasnt quite rite with my son when he was 18months he wasnt talking or turning round when we spoke to him and like your son got very angry and throws anything to hand i pushed for him to be assessed we are going through the prosess at the moment it is quite long but we have been given a home schooling teacher 1 day a week and a speach therapist 1 day a week.We. have had 2 hearing tests which he didnt respond to but were assured he could hear just didnt want to respond.but now he is going for another in a few days where they put him to sleep and test his brains responce .They said maby he cant hear his low tones!.But they think it could be Autism which im sure he has even if his low tones arent there too many things point to Autism.Dont let anyone make you feel you are a fussing parent keep pushing till you get to see a specialist early help will make a big diffrence.Good luck

[Aris730]

Thank you very much for your attention.  I will continue to speak to his Dr.  And I will take your advice and continue to push to get some answers.  Thanks for your advice!

[webby09]

Hello,
I worked with children who have Autism for 3 years now, If you think your son might have autism what you first need to do is talk to your doctor and ask him flat out to have your son tested for Autism  there is no real way to test for this (i.e. blood work), however, there are people who are specialized and can make the diagnosis. What I am finding is that MANY doctors do not fully understand Autism and what Autism entails . I had many parents in the past ask us (the agency I work for) to supply them with information regarding autism so they can bring it to their child's doctor.

What I would recommend doing is keeping a journal, I know its hard to record data in the heat if the moment but it will be important in figuring out if and what type of help you child needs. Keep a record of what sets him off, things that may have happened prior to and during the behavior this might be something very minor (change in routine). These things are what we look for when we work with our children, so they will most likely be helpful when talking to your doctor. And don't be afraid to push for answers, and testing done, if you think your little boy needs it, the sooner the diagnosis the quicker the treatment will be available.

I hope this helps a bit, I am no expert so I can't say yes or no its autism, it could be something minor that might pass quickly:). I just want to help in any way I can.

Good Luck !