We had problems from birth and by 4 months I absolutely KNEW something was very off with him. I had NO idea autism. It didn't even cross my mind until someone came to us when he was a little younger than a year.
I really thought MR, even the day they handed him to me in the hospital. I looked at him and thought that.
From birth, although we didn't recognize it. He had trouble with latching on and once he finally learned that had trouble transitioning to a bottle or cup. He also had sensory issues, predominantly gravitational insecurity. Otherwise he was always pretty social -- known to flirt even -- but did not like being physically close to other children as a toddler.Some people say that there is no such thing as regressive autism, children are born with it and it depends on the degree of severity to recognize it. With older siblings and severity of the disorder, many see the onset earlier. In cases where the child is first born, although the differences might be present earlier, parents can't pick them if they are not bad. Atleast I thought children are born with autism, onset can early or late but they are born with it nonetheless.
Mary
Jason showed symptoms from birth... I VIVIDLY remember saying when he was just a few weeks old (around 6ish) that there was just something different about him. Autism didn't hit the radar until 2.5 though as he met all of his developmental milestones on time (always has).
We knew something was wrong from birth...don't want to say we knew it was definitely autism, but from the very beginning there were signs and problems.
Too bad hindsight can't come first. I vote birth. I was sick the entire 9 months and he never has quit spitting up/vomiting. Finally got some answers for that one, though. He did development some language but has lost it all since about 3 or 3 1/2. Once in a while I can pick a word out from his jargon but that's very rare. From birth here, too. Although I only figured that out once I learned moreAnother vote for present from birth. Ds was such a "good" and happy baby, easy to take places. He never cried unless he was hungry (or at least that's what I as a first-time mommy thought, anyway.) But he didn't really start talking. He did say the word ball a few times at maybe 15 months and then lose it, but I doubt that counts. He never pointed and eye contact was spotty. He wouldn't wave or gesture, except for autistic hand leading. We started speech therapy at about 18 months and more services at 2 years.
I'm not sure if the prognosis is the same, better, or worse for children affected from birth or who had some speech and then regressed.
I am still trying to figure this one out. My son was a 'golden' baby except for a two month colic spell. He was extremely active though, even before birth. He was perfectly content to lay in his bouncer and just move his arms and legs endlessly. (I did think it was kinda strange, but not a problem) Since he is my first born, I did not have anyone to compare him with and I think I missed out on some signs. I did not recall him cooing or smiling at us. He was always happy to be cuddled, showed pleasure in picked up and yet happy to be left alone as well, such an easy baby, adored by all.
He did things generally early. He started babbling early and people actually commented that he will surely speak early. We started noticing something was off around 12 months. He was extremely distressed going into social settings and started covering his ears. He did not point, did not respond to name, did not appear to understand language. He was using many words, now I can say that he had a lot of echolalia. The biggest problem remained his over active self though. (We now know that he has many sensory issues as well). His pead doesnt think ADHD but you never know.
I am not sure if it was apparant early on since he was such an easy baby but possible, we certainly did not see any regression just that he stopped developing around 15-18 months I think. Then people were telling us oh he will grow out of it by 2.5/3, he still hasn't. He is almost 4 now with a developmental age age of 2.5.
Very interesting thread!
Mary
I believe it was present from birth, although it did not become noticeable until about 18 months of age when speech development started to stall. From Birth for Sharlet.Kristy... I am in the same boat ... no regression... just the speech delay @ 2... And he is even super social....that is y they r having trouble with the diagnosis...
regression from age 12 months.
My son, from a couple of months old. My daughter regressed dramatically at 2 1/2 years old- lost social skill, eye contact, language, play skills. stopped playing pretend gaes, starting lining toys up, started toe walking. She is now the more affected of the two kids.Born with it.I am just curious. It seems that kids either show symptoms from birthI assume my son was born with it, though symptoms did not start to show until 18 months.
My son displayed no symptoms until 18 months of age when his twin brother started to talk and he didn't. Prior to that, all milestones met on time. Looking back, even with what I know now, I wouldn't have thought a thing until that point. Going forward from that point, social delays became obvious as well once he was 2ish.
C has never regressed, not even temporarily. Once he's learned something, it's rock solid.
I had the exact same situation as Kristys. Ryan seemed to just hit a wall in his development at 18 months. He met all milestones prior to that.
I wonder if onset has any correlation to future prognosis??? Anyone have an opinion on that?
My answer may not count with no offical DX yet...but I do know that last summer/fall she was talking not great but trying saying 'ouside' for outside and I was mommy and DH daddy,sissy etc...not a huge vocab but starting/trying. This spring/summer (around 18-24mons) for the most part-no speech . If she happens to pick something up everything is that word for a few days then its gone. She is starting to babble ALOT lately. I do know she has always prefered to be alone, however. She was the best baby. She never fussed if she was wet or cold. She loved to swing she would swing for hours and watch veggie tales. I always thought I wa lucky, now I wish I would have known different and thrown that swing away and put her in a sling instead.R was well ahead or on par with NT kids physically and met all milestones perfectly -He rolled over on Day 3 - he could slide on the bed to the count of 3 at age 3 months
We have seen the following changes with him
Progression
he was not a very attached baby at birth and now is EXTREMELY so - more loving to me and his Dad than any other NT kid I have seen
Regression
Aronund 18 months he had 5 words ( baa - ball, ney- bee, ish-fish, shawal- flower) which he lost - but even then Mama and Papa were never his first words
But more than anything I would say his develpment stalled between 18-24 months - in this same time period he developed stims , was crazy about watching TV - Baby Einstein and ELmo
I am going to watch some videos of his younger days to see some more and I will update this post
Born autistic. Lost some things around age 12-15 months. Gained some things. Both lost and gained some things more slowly throughout adolescence. Don't fit into a simple either/or poll.The first sign I can remember is he was a very easy baby, too easy and I thought I was lucky because he wouldnt cry for anything and would just sit in his rocker or be content to keep to himself and would even 'watch-fixate' whatevr we were watching on tv at the time. So id say from birth here.
Snoobywomen[QUOTE=amberwaves]Snoobywomen
Also, My daughter was very active before birth. When I was pregnant her hearing must of developed earily, Not a joke. Fire truck passed by and she jumped or kicked and hit both rip /cages at the same time. She nocked the wind out of me. [/QUOTE]
The in utero auditory processing problem is fascinating to hear about. WOW!
Nicky was "quirky" from birth - would not let me hold him unless he had to feed (he was breastfed) and that usually did not last very long. He also used to self regulate (when crying) by looking at a lightbulb. Had to be constantly stimulated.
And only fell asleep in his mechanical swing with the speed at "high" - if we turned it down while he slept, he used to wake up sceaming.
We've had a busy past year - he has been receiving 40 hours a week of ABA and few hours a week of OT - he is not the same child he was a year ago. He can now express his needs and even spontaneously said "I love you" couple of weeks ago.
from birth.There were no symptoms here until 18 months either. But then the boys were 10 weeks premature so everything got blamed on the prematurity. But they did hit all their milestones on time when we adjusted for the prematurity except when it came to speech. And then they seemed to start slipping in everything else and ended up being delayed across the board. Now they are almost caught up everywhere except speech. But there has never been any regression. They seemed to just stop, primarily in the speech area, but then start back up again. So their speech is at least 50% delayed.I say it started from birth although we didn't recognize the symptoms until around 2 years old. Hindsight leads me to believe it started from birth although he hit all his milestones. Like Kristy's son, Anthony has never regressed. Once he learns something, he's got it for good!
Looking back, it was from the time he was an infant. Although, he was two before I was clued in. But, we took him to an opthamologist when he was four months old because he wouldn't look at us. He handflapped from the time he was able to move his arms. He was a happy baby and loved to be layed on a pallet in the floor by himself. He had inappropriate laughter, slow to sit up slow to walk, could only grunt until he was two and half. Would never and still doesn't like to kiss us in the face. It is always on the arm or the knee. Lined up things and perservered at a very young age. I remember at the age of 1 we went on vacation and he of course could not talk, but we had a particular cd playing and we finally figured out after several tantruming episodes that the tantrums were caused by a particular song ending. So we had to drive for miles and miles listening to the same song over and over and over and over and so on. (lol) I'm sure there are others that can sympathize with that. That cd was worn out!Regression around 2. DS had a pronounced speech delay and was hyperactive. Had a SPD dx. I thought he may have ADHD and learning differences; didn't even think about autism until the early intervention teachers mentioned it.symptoms noted on video at 10 mos ... poor eye contact. Language delays from the outset ... but more notably at the level of frequency of speech, and of putting two words together.
Other sensory symptoms noted from age 12 mos, onward.
I would say over all, mild symptoms from birth, greatly aggravated by the stress of starting school.
I haven't read the other responses - but here is mine:
BOTH!
I noticed difference from birth, possibly in utero. He was SO incredibly active in utero - practically cracked my ribs he kicked so hard (I am NOT exaggerating here). He was so long (almost 22 inches at birth) that his feet reached that high.
At birth, the nurses all came to see him because he looked and acted 3 months old. He was raising his head and his eyes were SO intense. He was very alert and observant - EVERYONE commented it - even strangers in the elevators. He did not get any shots until 2 months old by the way.
He was fussy, I wouldn't go so far as to say colicky - as I could calm him down within about 15-20 minutes of walking with him and singing to him.
He stopped napping at 3 months so I read the Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child book and started that method. By 4 months, I let him cry out and that took about a week - then he was sleeping much better. I thought it was rather unusual for a baby to completely stop napping at that age!
He rolled over back to front at 3 1/2 months and front to back was 4 1/2 months (usually this is the opposite). He sat balanced (without props) at 5 1/2 months.
At 6 months, I had his hearing tested. He would not respond to his name sometimes. Particularly when he was in the Johny Jump-Up and focused on something. I spoke RIGHT INTO HIS EAR and he didn't flinch. Hearing was fine, it turned out.
He was happy and made eye contact (actually, really intense eye contact) - enjoyed peek-a-boo. However, he would not do baby signs. He clearly understood them, but would not do them.
He crawled at 9 1/2 months - a little late, but I didn't crawl forward at all when I was a baby (only backward). He walked just before 14 months.
He pointed at 13 months - one month late. This was worrying me at the time - but I thought it was okay that he did it, just a little late. I was wrong.
He had only 4 words at 17 months but had over 100 by 18 months - a language explosion! Then he was combining two word sentences by 20 months - in addition to knowing all the numbers 0-9 by that age. He knew all the uppercase letters by 2 and lowercase by 2 1/2. He still does not read yet at age 6 though (he is getting there though!).
He started having an obsession/fear of vacuums around 18 months. Dad would have to actually take him out of the house so I could vacuum. Then he started to be obsessed with toy vacuums. Played with them for hours - also real vacuums as long as they were not turned on.
Socially at 3, he was not where he should be, but the ped said "wait and see". Then we got the flu shot at 3 1/2 - saw a definite regression. His pre-school teacher agreed. He started to have meltdowns, wouldn't nap anymore (although these were almost gone anyway) and had lots more obsessions and odd talk.
So, sorry for the novel-length response. But, we clearly saw signs from birth, but they got much worse at 3 1/2 - I think that counts as a regression, even though he probably wasn't NT to begin with!
from birthWow surprised at the low number of regressor's
I would love to show video's of my son to anyone who doubts regression. At 1 year he knew about 100 words. He hit all milestones ahead of time. I actually had friends who thought their kids had issues b/c my son was so far ahead of them. He was the life of the party, loved being held by anyone and was even a "ham" for a camera. At 18 months he was starting to use short sentences, including saying he loved his new little sister, little did we know, it would be 2.5 long years before we heard those words again. At 21 months it was like a light bulb turned out. No desire to interact, lost most words, couldn't even name our dogs...My wife worked in daycare and is now a registered nurse working with kids and she never had a clue
symptoms from birth. however we had 2 regressions, one about 3 mos immediately following vaccine where all sound was lost-but crying, severe separation disorder, much worse colic and sleeping, and tremors (possible siezures) then one at 1yr after mmr where he lost most the little speech he had and had to retrain and lost motor planning with body.From birth.I remember one time...Dh took a paper towel tube and put it against my stomach and yodeled through it...I thought the pooor kid was going to come out through my throat...We also went to a Billy Joel/Elton John concert when I was 8 months pregnant - yes, I'm insane! I brought pillows (not for me - actually to put over my belly - my ob's suggestion so that the music wouldn't be too loud for baby!). Ds just started jamming to "Crocodile Rockin" by Elton John and I started having contractions. Apparently ds wanted a more up-close-and-personal view of the show! But, the contractions subsided on the way home. I neglected to tell dh about them until the ride home as I was sure he would drag me out of there.
I have two older children. My 13 year old son was quirky from birth and progressed very slowly. Between the ages 2-6 years I would more than likely could have received a DX for him as well. I never noted any vax reactions...but I am old and tend to forget things.