does my son have autism?

[jaimet]

My son turned 2 in march. He doesnt speak at all not even mama or dada. He walks on his tip toes more often then not. He only gives about a second or 2 of eye contact. He runs up and down the hall yelling and laughing out of no where, flaps his arms n jumps up and down when music comes on the tv. Screams and runs down the hall when something comes on the tv he must not like.(example-after the show scrubs they have a baby say bye bye n then some music he will watch the tv from behinde the couch until after the baby says bye bye once the music comes on he screams like someone is hurting him and runs down the hall) When u call his name its as if ur not saying anything at all. He doesnt play with other kids most of the time doesnt even notice that there are other kids. He doesnt point to anything or shows us stuff. We have to guess everything with him. The dr says nothing is wrong that maybe he has some speech problems and thats it. I have 3 older children 13, 8, and 5 I know something is wrong I just dont know what?                                                          
                                                                                                     Thanks for helping
                                                                                                               jaime

[specialmom]

Hi!  I would call your pediatrician right away and set up an appointment.  Has your child met other developmental milestones?  In the US, most states have government grants to provide free developmental evaluations and services to families.  In our state it is called Help Me Grow but most likely, the city you live in has such a program.  Your physician or local Children's Hospital should be able to direct you on how to get in touch with coordinators for the program.  They do home visits and help to set up speech evals, occupational evals, etc.  

I would say that from this description that I'd be concerned enough to move into action to finding out if anything is wrong.  My son has sensory integration disorder which is not on the spectrum but is a developmental delay.  Walking on tip toes can be a sign if a child is avoiding the way the ground feels (won't walk in grass, that type of thing).  Speech issues are also an early sign of sensory integration disorder as motor planning can be affected.  Sensory also has difficulty with social skills and need a lot of help in that area.

I would so recommend that you go ahead and make contact with your physician and start the process of evaluations.  They can do amazing things to help our children whether it is something on the autistic spectrum, a global delay or sensory integration disorder.  I've never regretted for one second evaluating my son and working on his issues.  He's come a long way and wouldn't have been the same had I not done that.  The earlier the better.  So please have him evaluated.  I'm happy to help in any way I can as you go through the process.  good luck

[Ashelen]

well, some of those behaviors are red flags for autism HOWEVER....he would need to be evaluated by a child behavior expert, or someone who can identify and treat autism if he does in fact have it. autism is not a specific disease....it's actually a very broad term encompassing a lot of different behaviors, symptoms, and disorders. if you truly feel like there is a problem, and from what you're describing I would agree that there's a developmental delay if nothing else, then you need to either push your doctor to write a referral to a child behavioral psychologist who can accurate identify autism, OR find one yourself after researching who in your area is the most qualified and experienced in this.

It's very hard to say "yea" or "nay" because behavioral red flags like those you mentioned can mean he's just "on the spectrum" of Aspergers, or it could point to something more serious like autism...or it could mean he's got a developmental delay. no matter what though, it's best to have his behavior analyzed if you believe there's a problem because they're finding more and more that they key to treating autism and other similar spectrum disorders is early intervention and if you can begin corrective therapy now you have a chance to slow and even reverse potential problems in many cases.

So get him analyzed as soon as possible (sooner the better)...best of luck. who knows, maybe he's just stubborn and has a quirk personality...but better to know and get him treated if he needs it :).