Aa
not sure about my 13yr old son
my dd was just recently dx with pdd-nos at the age of almost 18,i always knew something was wrong but at the time i never heard of autism disorders,now she cant live on her own because of it her daily living skills and communication piece are considered to be mild MR.now im worried about my son cause i see some of the same things but not sure if im overreacting cause my 2 girls have been dx autism,he is overly friendly with everybody not that this is a bad thing,he constantly scripts movies and tv shows at home and during school,he has an awkward posture.when i talk to him about anything he shakes and looks at the ceiling rarely in my eyes.i also notice although cute when i send him to the store he skips and hops all the way there(not sure if this behavior is typical for almost 14yr old boy)his grades are good but he is in special ed and has been since kindergarten,his language is pretty good but he just basically scripts all day not much spontanious language there.should i worry?
Hi,
I think that as you already have a number of children with a diagnosis that it would be sensible to have your son assessed as well.
He sounds like he is echolalic and uses delayed echolalia alot. My son is also on the autistic spectrum and he is supported in a mixed mainstream/special ed school. My son also (since age 3) has been repeating TV and DVD dialogue alot of the time.
I think he does that because he likes it. For him it is like he can re-play a TV programme or DVD in his head. But he also does it if he is bored at school because he doesn't understand what he should be doing, or when he is stressed he will retreat into his own world and watch TV in his head.
By scripting (or echolalia), that shows he has learnt language in a different way, and that he does have a speech disorder that is associated with autism. That is why he doesn't have much spontaneous speech. He should really be seen and assessed by a Speech and Language Therapist that has experience of autistic spectrum disorders and speech disorders. There is alot that can be done to teach children these skills, and although they never become automatic, they can learn phrases to say that can help them in social situations. For example my son is learning how to use learnt scripts to initiate play, join in, hold a conversation etc.
I don't know what country you are in, but as any of your children with autism get older and want to have more independence, they may need help and support to do that. In the UK we have Social Services who would be involved. So I think it is useful to start this process so that Social Services can also become involved (or your equivalent) as they may have alot of teenage and adult services that would be useful to them.
But I am rather surprised from your post that school have never raised the question of autism?
I think that as you already have a number of children with a diagnosis that it would be sensible to have your son assessed as well.
He sounds like he is echolalic and uses delayed echolalia alot. My son is also on the autistic spectrum and he is supported in a mixed mainstream/special ed school. My son also (since age 3) has been repeating TV and DVD dialogue alot of the time.
I think he does that because he likes it. For him it is like he can re-play a TV programme or DVD in his head. But he also does it if he is bored at school because he doesn't understand what he should be doing, or when he is stressed he will retreat into his own world and watch TV in his head.
By scripting (or echolalia), that shows he has learnt language in a different way, and that he does have a speech disorder that is associated with autism. That is why he doesn't have much spontaneous speech. He should really be seen and assessed by a Speech and Language Therapist that has experience of autistic spectrum disorders and speech disorders. There is alot that can be done to teach children these skills, and although they never become automatic, they can learn phrases to say that can help them in social situations. For example my son is learning how to use learnt scripts to initiate play, join in, hold a conversation etc.
I don't know what country you are in, but as any of your children with autism get older and want to have more independence, they may need help and support to do that. In the UK we have Social Services who would be involved. So I think it is useful to start this process so that Social Services can also become involved (or your equivalent) as they may have alot of teenage and adult services that would be useful to them.
But I am rather surprised from your post that school have never raised the question of autism?
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