Would love your opinion | Autism PDD

You are not crazy. I can say that because I know for a fact that most
parents who worry about their kids development feel crazy at some point,
especially when they are not being validated.

The spectrum is so wide and every kid presents differently, so it is hard to
figure out exactly when developmental delays are pointing to something
more sometimes.

The great news in your case is that your child is already receiving services
and interventions. If you don't agree with your dev. ped., you can always
get a second opinion.

My guess is that with all the therapy and medical care that your child is
already getting, there really is no need to push for a more formal dx yet.

My son developed in a quirky way, but no suspicions of probable autism
until he was about 2 1/2. His social delays and gross motor skills delays
weren't really glaringly obvious until that stage of development.

Trust your gut, and watch his development. Talk to his therapists as he
grows, and spend as much time with him in enviornments where you can
get a good take of how other kids his age are developing, so you have a
good point of reference. You are doing a wonderful job learning about
child development and monitoring your child's growth. Good for you.

Hello,

So many of you have been kind enough to offer your opinions about what I have been seeing with my son. I'm still feeling like everyone thinks I'm the crazy dad right now.

My son is 18 months old (was 5 weeks premature) and is receiving Early Intervention, Speech Therapy, and has seen a Developmental Pediatrician twice (same one twice). They are all saying that they believe that DS is not on the spectrum. The developmental pediatrician went as far as to say he is "the poster child for an NT kid". But I still don't agree and I don't know what else I can do, so I would like to get some opinions.

Positive Things

* Good receptive language (will point to objects and people when named, will go get shoes or a book if you ask him to,

*Points to indicate wants, and maybe things of interest (but not often)

* Decent self help skills- eats with spoon, will try to put shoes on (he can't but he tries),

* Will play chase games- If I go hide he will come and find me

* Plays appropriately with toys (talks on fake phone once in awhile, pushes toy car and makes vrooom sound)

Worrisome Things

* Still zero eye contact when he is being held- Pretty good from a distance though

* No real words yet ( kind of says outside when he wants to go out, calls me and mom both dade, signs more for everything even when we haven't given him something initially. But he doesn't seem to initiate any words- he will sometimes try to repeat things that we say though.

* He does spin sometimes- Is this normal for a kid his age from time to time? My wife gets mad and says he's a kid and he just learned to do it and it's fun- I've never seen him do it for longer than 2 minutes

*He does flap his arms but only when he really wants something or he is excited and he is usually making eye contact and smiling when he does this

*He seems to zone out quite a bit which I don't know if that's normal or not?

*Shakes his head no constantly- almost think it's a stim- he gets that it means no but sometimes does it even when we haven't asked him a question. He doesn't know how to shake his head for yes yet.

*Has never been a cuddler- doesn't like to nap with us or anything.

That's enough for now. I would be grateful if you would be willing to share your opinion with me and please be as honest as possible. If you think I'm being crazy, please tell me. Thanks so much.

John

he sounds normal to me, honestly, but since he's in EI, you have your bases covered. More will be revealed later, one way or the other.Any other takers?I think so long as you have EI & a dev ped taking care of things, you can just
keep going and see where your child is in 6 mos, 12 mos, etc. Lots of kids
w/ speech delays or apraxia can appear like a child on the spectrum. Also,
kids w/ sensory dysfunction can also seem to be PDD. Put the two together,
and you may see a few soft signs of PDD, but not actually be on the
spectrum. I think the social things he's doing & communication (not via
verbal speech) are great signs, and at this point would rule out PDD.
Especially w/o any behavioral issues. So, as long as he is getting
intervention, at this point, I think just see what comes of the next few
months. Our dd was officially dx'd not too long ago--she has been in
therapy from 8-9 mos of age & followed by various docs. There honestly is
nothing different we or the professionals would have done had they dx'd her
w/ autism at 18 mos of age.

It can be tough to tell ASD from NT with the broadened definition of what "abnormal" is. For now, he sounds NT, but if ANY of the "worrisome" behaviors increase in frequency/severity, I'd say he's crossing into ASD territory. Of course, all I know is what you wrote, which is not enough to be sure...and I'm not a diagnostician. If these behaviors are preventing him from functioning and being happy, there's a problem. Lots of kids do spin, but the difference is that (some) ASD kids do it for long periods of time and very often as a means of blocking out unwanted stimuli, whereas NT kids just find it fun and do it occasionally until they're dizzy.

There's nothing crazy about you! With the epidemic rise in ASD, it would be crazy NOT to be concerned, or at least alert, to the signs of autism.

Tracii39273.6171296296That sounds similar to how my son was at 18 months. However, my son's tantrums were too frequent to be considered normal - that was my red flag at that age. EI will help and who knows, maybe with enough help now, he'll never be diagnosed on the spectrum. Time will tell.

*He seems to zone out quite a bit which I don't know if that's normal or not?" - NO THIS IS NOT NORMAL. I DONT want to instil fear in you but u mentioned 3 things which struck me when I had my daughter evaluated -

1. Zoning out

2. Head shaking for "no" - like a stim

3. No words

4. Eye contact

Call Early Intervention and have them evaluate him.

I think he is getting EI and a dev. ped and stating no to autism right now..just keep a close eye on him and try to engage him as much as you can~reward heavily any eye contact or response you get from him.

Increase speech therapy if you can..start making pictures and making posters for him of his wants and needs like foods, toys and activities:) Buy Baby bumble bee videos(babybumblebee.com) ~they are great for kick starting speech!

Get his hearing and vision checked out:) Good luck and keep us posted:)