For those who said ASD child from birth | Autism PDD
In the poll conducted earlier, few of the ladies said that ASD was apparent from birth.
Micki My ds was born autistic
Boobear Mine too... symptoms from birth
Mimom3 My son was born with it too. I even sensed something was off before he was born
Allerga From Birth for Sharlet
JulieA Born with it.
Emerald_521 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.
Fred from birth
Mbrogue symptoms from birth
Booski's Mom from birth
Can I ask you ladies (and others) to clarify, what made you think your child had ASD from birth, was it noticeable then? If they seemed different, in what way? The reason I am asking is that I have a baby, almost 3 months and he seems like a normal, happy, healthy baby to me. Sometimes I obsess about him being ASD too but my gut feeling is telling me that he is NT. He is cooing, smiling, responding well to people, focuses on faces all that sorts of stuff. In retrospect and I did say in this poll, I do not remember my HFA son cooing, or even smiling (I did not even know he was supposed to). But there are people who said that they did not notice anything until about 18 months. I have a question for you guys who said the onset was late, was your child COOING and SMILING responsively?
I also found these reponses very enlightening. Exactly like my HFA son. Very easy baby, not crying unless hungry, and incredibly active in utero.
HeatherFeather He never cried unless he was hungry (or at least that's what I as a first-time mommy thought, anyway.)
143hayden 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.
Amberwaves My daughters ultrasound…. She was extremely hyper from 2 months on and acted deaf
Snoopywoman I noticed difference from birth, possibly in utero. He was SO incredibly active in utero
Somebody posted a link to this earlier, and I am not a fan of developmental checklists but I really liked this one. Check this one and please comment if you saw any red flags earlier on. (for those where the onset was early / from birth)
DEVELOPMENTAL RED FLAGS (1 TO 3 MONTHS)
Crosses eyes most of the time (occasional crossing of the eyes is normal in these first months)
Doesn’t seem to respond to loud noises
Doesn’t follow moving objects with eyes by 2 to 3 months
Doesn’t smile at the sound of your voice by 2 months
Doesn’t grasp and hold objects by 3 months
Doesn’t smile at people by 3 months
Cannot support head well at 3 months
Doesn’t reach for and grasp toys by 3 to 4 months
Doesn’t bring objects to mouth by 4 months
Doesn’t push down with legs when feet are placed on a firm surface by 4 months
Has trouble moving one or both eyes in all directions
DEVELOPMENTAL RED FLAGS (4 TO 7 MONTHS)
Seems very stiff, tight muscles
Seems very floppy, like a rag doll
Head still flops back when body is pulled to sitting position (by 5months still exhibits head lag)
Shows no affection for the person who cares for them
Doesn’t seem to enjoy being around people
One or both eyes consistently turn in or out
Persistent tearing, eye drainage, or sensitivity to light
Does not respond to sounds around them
Has difficulty getting objects to mouth
Does not turn head to locate sounds by 4 months
Doesn’t roll over (stomach to back) by 6 months
Cannot sit with help by 6 months (not by themselves)
Does not laugh or make squealing sounds by 5 months
Does not actively reach for objects by 6 months
Does not follow objects with both eyes
Does not bear some weight on legs by 5 months
Mary
(My post looks like a research paper
He was content to just lie on the mat and move arms and legs endlessly and did not care when picked up. That made no difference to him then, he did not object though. The biggest difference I can see in the baby is the ability to be 'in tune' with whatever is going on. He is very responsive to everything and that seems like a really good sign... Mary My son had very few signs and the PDD-NOS dx was a complete shock. He was my first and I thought everything was progressing as it should have been. Had he been my second child, I may have noticed more. He seemed to meet most of the milestones, smiling, cooing, etc, but looking back, he hated tummy time and never crawled - he went right to walking at 14 months. He had always had eye contact with us, but at three, his playschool teachers noticed lack of eye contact. I guess it was with people he didn't know. He was a very good baby (but all of my 3 have been) he slept through the night at 8 weeks. My MIL noticed he would some times zone out and he also LOVED ceiling fans. He stopped napping at 20 months, but has been a good sleeper since then. Noah is very mild - our dev ped says he should be the poster boy for PDD-NOS as he's about as mildly affected as she's ever seen. A year and a half later, I'm still really shocked. Also, I have to add - at three Noah's language wasn't where it should be. He couldn't initiate conversation or really answer any questions. He was tested as severe expressive language delay, age appropriate receptive language. Things are much better now, but he still has problems with why questions. At five, he was tested at reading at a grade 5 level so advanced with some things, not quite age appropriate with others. That's ASD for you! At five, he was tested at reading at a grade 5 level so advanced with some things, not quite age appropriate with others. That's ASD for you! [/QUOTE] Is your child hyperlexic then? Mary Our first clue was delayed social smile, which DS didn't do until just before his 3-month check. Since he didn't stop smiling once he started, we were not alarmed, but in retrospect, it makes sense. It was also really strange that he knew from about 3 months the difference between my going to the basement or upstairs and actually leaving the house. I could be out of the room for whatever length of time, no problem, but if I left the house, he would start crying and not stop until I walked in and reached for him. As soon as he saw my hands reaching out to him, he'd stop crying instantly. Needless to say, the ped didn't believe me, LOL! Our firstborn is NT, so we knew our second was unique, but since he was happy, physically healthy, and loving, we thought he was fine. But it wasn't until he was in preschool for a year and was "shutting down" there that we became concerned enough to ask for an eval. He was diagnosed a month before his 4th b-day PDD-NOS, mildly affected. What an education we've had since then! MY situation is different because my daughter has Down syndrome, so when you have a baby with a diagnosis like that, you already EXPECT and ANTICIPATE that there will be delays.....BUT...... Erin NEVER had good eye contact from birth, I took her faithfully every 6 months for hearing tests because I ws SURE she was deaf because she never responded to any noises, no startle reflex. SHe never called out to me ( or cried ) when she woke from a a nap......and as she got older and it was VERY appearant that she wasn't interested in us....I thought I had caused it by allowing her to play alone. When I look by there were so many enormous bright red waving flags, but I assumed it was because of Down syndrome and had no reason to look up the symptoms of Autism. I just WISH someone from EI or her preschool had brought up the POSSSIBILITY of a dual diagnosis long before I discovered it myslef from an online support group for moms with kids who have Down syndrome. i knew staright away with sam he was five weeks old when i first began investigating what problems he had i have six kids four on the spectrum and all have been differant from my norms at birth crossing eyes that is not right at all all babies normal or not have excesive eye crossing i have photos of my norms from babys and they are all nearly croosseyed so no autism just doesnot happen over night and it is not caused through vaccinations the fever after the injection may trigger it off but the injection itself can not cause autism either proffeser paul shattock genius behind the sunderland protocol http://osiris.sunderland.ac.uk/autism/. the main runner is genetics which in my case runs true i have aspergers and four of children are on the spectru ranging from autism to asperegrs love shell http://groups.msn.com/autismaspergersinthefamily My son showed NONE - absolutely ZERO of the red flags you posted - not ONE ! He was a perfect child in every way shape and form, and no one even suspected a THING until 2 years old. Now, he is one of the 'worst' in this forum. So...really...you never know. Deleted My DS did not have any symptoms that were too alarming as a baby. I knew by 19 mo. something just wasnt right with him. He still didnt say a single word, not even mama or dada. Autism never even crossed my mind. He fianlly started to talk right before he turned two, and his first word was also his favorite subject, bugs! -What we now know were sensory problems were evident at a few months old. He liked to be held a lot, he liked the deep pressure. He liked to fall asleep when BF with my , ummm, nipple,
-He smiled on time, sat at 7 mo., walked at 13 mo. -We did think he had hearing loss as a toddler because we had a hard time getting his attention or having him respond when we called his name. -I never thought much of it when he was a toddler or pre-schooler, but he didnt have any empathy for others. If his friend was crying because he hit him or his mom left, he didn't give him the time of day or do anything other than look at him and go on playing. -He has developed empathy now, but I had to teach him over the years. So I knew something was not right, but we didn't get a diagnosis until he was 5 years old. The doctors kept saying he will catch up, they didnt see anything wrong, boys develop later etc. My 17 mo old was just screened by EI and they are bringing him in to do a full evaluation on him next month. He just this week started to talk. He seems to have some sensory problems and it is taking us longer and longer to get his attention or get him to answer when we call him. My son slept the first few months of life, and only cried if hungry. Then, he had stomach problems at four months. Doc said to give apple prune juice in bottle, and he stopped breast feeding cuz bottle was easier. He had crossed eyes as he got older. Just made milestones, until six months. HE could sit up, but began to fall back and couldn't transition from sitting. Didn't crawl until one year and walked at 20 monthes. He was happy but looking back eye contact wasn't as it should've been...many signs with my guy.
Also, I did not have a video camera when he was a baby but I recently found a video clip of him as a baby that my boyfriend at the time made of Gage. I can't say for sure exactly what it is about it but Gage was about 10 months old & acted very different than my daughter at that age. Perhaps you can tell? Its such a short video, I don't know. I just know from comparing the two babies & others I have seen that he was always a little bit different. LOOK HOW STINKIN CUTE THOUGH!!!
By the way, the sound was broken too so you can barely hear it. this is all I have of him on video as a baby though, so of course to me it is priceless!
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v873567DZCAfEJd
retrospect.
- he had a high pain tolerance,for example never showed a reaction
when getting a vaccination shot.
-his hand would touch hair and he would instantly zone out. If he woke
up at night I would just put his little hand on my hair and he'd be out
instantly (5sec. or less)
- he never went through stranger annxiety or seperation anxiety
- he had single words at 1 but did not combine till 3. When he started to
speak I noticed that he did not seem to comprehend what I would say. He
did not comprehend the meanning of a question before he was 4.5 (did
not answer questions like what is your name before that)
- He suddenly knew all letters and numbers at 2.5. At two he would count
and would shake in excitement and joy doing it. At almost 8 he can't
read.
- easy baby - smiles at 6 weeks, good sleeper, good eater, very
enthusiastic about everything. Though he zoned out frequently he never
seemed dull
-always seemed very young - I called him a 'young soul'' when he was 1
One of the more subtle red flags is a baby or young toddler who is "too good." Mine fit into that category, but that was back in the early 1990's, when few people were aware of the more subtle issues. He also did not like playing imitative games or games that required turn-taking like rolling a ball back and forth. He was affectionate, responded to his name, liked people, babbled, had no stims and appeared to be intelligent in that he explored things and had no seeming difficulty understanding cause/effect. The things that made him "different" were things that it would have been hard to tell someone about back then. So many people would say, "Oh my kid's like that." But it was a matter of degree. MY child was extreme in his reactions. For example, he did just dislike stuff -- he hated certain things. Like pasta (he would throw it across the room from his high chair) or using toys that required him to move (like pushing a toy shopping cart) and he did not enjoy sliding down a slide. But his reactions to these things weren't so extreme that it was truly odd , so it was easy to think these were just personal preferences. My first real idea that something was genuinely wrong was that I didn't think his language was developing properly by 18 months when he only had 6 labels and none of them were mama or dada (the pros told me to wait....all kids develop differently) and the fact that by age 2, he had only about 25 words and he was not putting them together in short sentences. By 2.5 he was placed in a therapeutic preschool half a day for 5 days a week. He was in self-contained classes in our local district thru 7th grade and has been in a BOCES (county-type, separate school) special education program since that time. He is 16 and would have entered the 11th grade this Sept. had he still been in the school district. He has very, very poor expressive language and somewhat poor receptive language. But he is also partially deaf. His strengths are academic, tho he's not on grade level. His language, although disordered and SEVERELY delayed, is totally functional. He still does not stim or have overt "autism" symptoms. He has a 92 IQ on the Leiter. His dx is PDD-NOS. He is emotionally connected and CAN read body language. He is not going to get a real HS diploma. He is certainly not going to go to college. He is not going to get a driver's license. He will most likely work in an entry level job, taking a bus to work, when he ages out of school at 21. He is a happy person and will be a happy man. This is not what I had hoped for him, but I am content that he will be the best HIM he can be. I hope my posting all of this can help you in some way. The truth is, though, that when you've met one autistic kid, you've met one autistic kid. They are ALL so different, just like NT kids are.
My 10 yr old hated to be held as a newborn and just wanted to live in the baby swing (Graco)...I think he slept in it during the day the first 4 mo...he hated to nurse and I think we had strikes weekly for the first 6 mo. To this day, he hates to drink...he crawled, walked and spoke on time, but lost all of his language by 18 mo and was like a zombie until 2 yr old, then all yell broke loose...tantrums galore!!! In EI, he soared and now he talks all the time, but has trouble with abstract words and concepts...he is in a special school were he can get the extra attention he needs to learn!!!!
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