is this typical of autism??

[summero87]

My cousins son is 4 years old and for the most part he's a loving child however he has a side to him that's worrisome..he screams and cries when his mom or anyone says no to anything,hell play with my daughter in short bursts then retreats to a corner to play by himself makes strange noises and will do just about anything to disrupt adults talking ..he bullies the cat dog / anyone or anything that shows intimidation..and lately he screams as soon as water touches him ,its summer time an my daughter loves swimming ,water etc but if she gets the slightest bit of water on him he freaks out..hell squirt others with a squirt gun but if u do it back to him he has a fit .. The last thing is he was born with something wrong with his eyes I can't remember the name for it but the muscle above his eyes were to weak to open them so he already had a surgery to help it an has another one scheduled for when he's older ...if anyone has any advice to offer I would appreciate it my daughter often gets frustrated an I do too im 32 weeks pregnant and get anxiety over watching him because he's so unpredictable...

[summero87]

Thank u special mom an yes he does use his imagination but he did have a serious delay in speech for lack of better terms it sounded like martian talk until he was about 3 he also wouldn't stand or walk until 3 3 an a half ..he would hop around on his knees ...we assumed it had something to do with the eye problems he was born with ..the over reacting and the fact he had melt downs so much over little things sounds so familiar...ill check out that forum too ty

[specialmom]

Hi,  well, he may be a difficult child with quirks or he may have sensory integration disorder.  

Sensory integration disorder is something that involves the nervous system and how the brain processes things.  My own son has this.  Kids with autism will also have sensory integration disorder as a secondary condition or it can be all on its own like it is now.  

Both autistic kids and sensory kids can be volatile and overreact to things and have unreasonable responses.  

But autism has certain things almost always in common---  a big one is speach and language.  Almost always there are issues with this.  Another is ability to attach to others.  That he CAN play with your daughter is a good sign.  Have you ever seen him engage in pretend play?  That is something autistic kids don't do.

My son had great issues with water.  He is a mixed bag sensory child but has tactile defensiveness.  he loves to swim but when he was 4, if his hands got wet, he'd melt down.  If his shirt got wet------------  he'd explode.  His nervous system was sending wrong information to his brain and it was just too uncomfortable.  It's real . . .   so finding ways for a child to cope is critical.  

Same for emotions.  There are ways of teaching a child with sensory integration disorder to better handle their emotions.  My own son is night and day from when we started and functions very well now.  

We've started a sensory intgegration forum here at med help and I am the community leader of the group.  I invite you to stop by the forum and post any questions or thoughts you might have.  It is a new community for med help and just getting underway.  

I've had a lot of luck with things with my own son and am happy to share.  You'll find this forum by going to the top tool bar which is in blue.  To the left it says forums,  click on that to pull up the page.  look for the list of forums on the left side of the page and find sensory integration disorder.  

[summero87]

Thank u for responding ..the water issue was what made me originally think he had autism..I researched autism an its very in depth with a diagnosis because there is so many degrees of it I had no idea how many kinds of sensory disorders there are ..I want to find a way to interact with him and keep situations cool because when he acts up it stresses everyone out ,its not just a temper tantrum..ill look more into sensory issues ..thanks again

[anacyde]

The water issue is a sensory thing, and it is extremely common with people on the autism spectrum.  Bullying is NOT typical autism behavior.  Throwing tantrums over hearing the word "no" is not typical autism behavior, however, autistic children may struggle more with a change in their plans or hopes than a typical child would.  The eye thing is not related to autism.