New Member Question about Autism | Autism PDD

I Have a few question to ask and see what you people think my Son is now 18 months old and seem when ever i call his name sometime he does respose and sometimes he doesn't he like to play with car wheels and i been getting him away from this. But every time i say to him Cameron i'm goingt to get you he jumps up and laughs and runs away.. he starts early invention this Thurs. they say they see some signs of Autism. He seems pretty playfull and happy does like to Bite alot. If i say to him ready set go and knows to run. i see some good signs and some signs that really do concern me alot. Also if i look at him and laugh he will laugh back. i just really hope he just be hide and its nothing worse. What do you think of these small signs I'm picking up on?

Andrew made eye contact with me and DH almost from day one. He recognized DH's voice during the first week. He smiled and laughed early. BUT, his eye contact was poor with everyone else, he had trouble nursing, his sleeping patterns were impossible to regulate...He loved ceiling fans which were one of the only things that soothed him. He hit every milestone on time but late in the normal range, but he did not talk on time. I wasn't worried because I didn't talk until age 2 1/2. There were subtle signs that perhaps I missed, but he was my first baby...

I knew something was wrong when he was barely walking by the 18 month well child check...The nurse asked if he was running, and I answered, "Running!?! He's barely walking!!!" The REAL IRONY for me is that I am a FAMILY DOC! But it is SO hard to see things in your own child and know for sure. My DH wasn't any help then because every time I had doubts, he said I was "nuts" and everything was fine..."You doctors are always looking for the worst case scenario..."

Anyway, God bless my pediatrician who immediately referred us. We didn't get early intervention until age two after the diagnosis of ASD, but Andrew has been progressing well ever since...Except for pooping in the potty, but that's another post...

What I'm trying to say is, if you have ANY concerns whatsoever, go with your instincts...The earlier you get help the better, and even if your child never gets an ASD diagnosis, the extra therapy can only HELP you! You are 6 months ahead of where I was starting Early Intervention.

Keep up the good work and keep on posting!

Blessings!

I have to second Andrews Mommy. A mothers instinct is very good and
usually right on. My son had great eye contact with his immediate family
and other adults. He laughed and loved to be chased. He however never
played appropriately with toys. Would lay down and roll cars or trains on
floor, turn bigger cars upside down and spin the wheels. He loved ceiling
fans and opening and closing doors. I had small worries at the 1yr mark.
By 18 months I knew something was not right. (MY two oldest were
talking in compleste sentences before they were two) At 2 ys he had
maybe 2 words. My pediatricain said that children mature at different
rates. I finally had him dx'd at 2.4yrs (autism) and started 1:1 ABA 25hrs
when he was 2.5yrs. We gradually increased it to 35hours a week. He is
doing great on ABA and will be in mainstream kindergarten with a shadow
aide next year.
Your child will progress with early intervention. Ask your EI if ABA is
available. A lot of people have a misconception that ABA is for the
moderate or severly affected. That is not the case. Programs are tailored
to fit the childs needs. Good Luck!

It's great that you've gotten him into Early Intervention. That's the best thing you can do. A label is nice, but early help for actual delays is the most important. Keep following his milestones (see www.cdc.gov/actearly), observing him and interacting with him. It's not easy to diagnose mild autism in someone so young, even for professionals with lots of experience.

Here's a link to the CHAT autism screening tool for 18 month olds:

http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=128&a=2226

Good luck with everything.

Chris,

Welcome:)

Follow your gut and get him as much therapy as you can..early intervention is key to your childs progress. Our dd was diagnosed with autism at 2.8 years old.

We did full ABA and speech for 3 years and now she is doing amazing:)

Best of luck and please keep us posted:)

Thank you so much for the reply i was looking over the sheet for what to expect for a 18 month old some were yes and other were no. he sleeps very well and sleeps on a normal schedule. does talk yet but likes to spins wheels on cars ect. but we been working on that and doing very well with not as much spinning of wheels. Also we try to get him to stack blocks or bang them together but seems to show no interested in this. But he will play with other children whenever they come over.. like if a child comes over i will say go get him and he will start running after him or he will push them on the car, and he will allow them to push him also. Thanks for all your input.

Chris

Since play seems to be one of your biggest concerns, you might be interested in this description of the 10 stages of play that children normally go through by age 5.

http://www.autismteachingtools.com/page/bbbbfg/bbbbtj