I need some of your knowledge | Autism PDD

I watch a boy that will be 3 in November. He is with me most of the time and just adores me. He will do basically anything I want him to do that he can do. With that said I am worried about his development. I know he is behind but I am not sure if it is Autism or PDD-NOS or just dev. delayed. Here are some examples of my worries and confusion.

*Will sit through a whole church service without misbehaving or talking and have nothing to do

*Does repeat words but won't say them on his own. On his own he might have 50 words max. He does a lot of echolia.

*He can not hold a conversation with you at all

*He can speak in sentences rarely and they are only 2 or 3 word sentences. Ex. Broke *pause* shop and that is translated into steph truck broken and is in the shop to be fixed.

*Runs or spins in circle a lot. he does this mainly at church but sometimes at my house. He will do this for like 10 minutes and then do something else or fall down and then get up and do it again. He will also sit on the sit and spin for like ever and never get sick.

*He also only plays with one kid at a time if he plays with them at all.

*Has very little eye contact when you look at him

*He can count to 10 with some help with 2 or 3 of the numbers and doesn't know any of the alphabet.

*He can do a peg puzzle by himself

*He does know about 5 or 6 animals and their sound

I think that is it..but there are probably more. I really love the little guy and try to help him in any way possible and don't want to see him suffer like he is.

*The only color he knows if blue

Hi caculatorgir,
Has he been evaluated yet?
Allegra39327.8271527778My 4 yr old acted the same way when he was 2 1/2 and that is when he got his diagnosis PDD-NOS and now has ASD (more severe)...he was so quiet and would love to spin forever if you let him!!! He also loved his numbers but didn't know anything else...he would use words but only to the TV or the wall but never would talk to me!!!

The lack of eye contact is always a concern.  You are a good caregiver to be asking these questions.  What do his parents think?

First, I'd like to say welcome to the board. There are a lot of great people around here with great advice.

He sounds like he has some strong points, but perhaps a few flags, to me. I would try to keep a list and see how many words he is saying on his own. When I did this with my youngest, I discovered he had a lot more words than I had originally thought. It is quite normal at 3 yrs to only be able to say 2-3 word sentences.

The running and spinning does raise some concerns. If it's happening in a place where you can engage him during the activity, change it into something he does with you. Such as, when he's spinning in a circle, turn it into "Ring-around the Rosies." And when he's running, hold him at an end point and say "Ready, Set, Go!" and then let him run and come back and keep repeating it. That way he's not just doing it for stimulation, but is engaging with you.

The social issues and eye contact issues are definitely flags and things that should be looked into by an evaluator if he's not already been evaluated.

Hope this all helps. At his age, he can be evaluated by early intervention in your state, but I would encourage you to talk to his parents to suggest early intervention and just pick key issues you are worried about. As I don't think any of us here would say we are qualified to make a diagnosis.
Okay, somebody in my neighbor(I don't know who) called social services on Branden's mom. My mom told me it was becasue she brings home a case of beer every day(and drinks all of it) and because she lets Branden escape out of the house and onto the street(basically not watching him). I am really worried, that I might loose contact with him. I am not sure what is going on and am almost in tears right now. They are supposed to be coming back on Wednesday(don't know what for). I know it will be better for him in his home life, but I don't know what I will do without that kid. He is basically my light and joy. Please pray that things go well for this little boy. I have also seen a lot of anger and hatred from him and his language has gone down hill too. I hope its not going to get worse, which I know it will without therapy. Just pray for me and this Little boy. Thanks so much. I just needed to vent.sig has been removed because obviously its not her child and i agree on protecting childrens identity. I am not all the way sure what to make of the above post.
If you have true concerns about the child's safety and welfare you should
call local child protection. For your concerns about autism you could also
call your local special education department in the school district. They
have a program called 'childfind' that tries to identify all preschool kids
with delays and will offer free services to the parents.
I hope everything turns out okay for the little guy. Calculatorgirl, I am sad
to hear that to you the parents seem oblivious about his care. I hope they
realize that something is wrong and look for the help he needs. Still, this
gives a non-family member no right to post his picture on the net - this
has nothing to do with us being happy or not. It's about boundries.

I am sorry about the above post..I was having a bad day and wasn't think. I totally understand the safety of the child and am so sorry about what I said

I really don't think the parent would mind, since she lets him do a thousand other worse things and doesn't ever watch her child,but if it makes you happy I will take it down.

I will definately go take that assesment and tell you what the score is.

Thanks for all your info. It is really helpful. He has not been evaluated yet. His parents don't see anything wrong with him and just him as a normal boy. They are not the normal parents that take concern into loving and interacting with him. Me and his sunday school teacher(her son has different disabilities and knows the special ed school system) have been talking a lot and are just waiting for his 3 year check up. I am thinking about writing his peditracian(sp?) a letter telling them my concerns about him since I know his mom won't say anything. Melody thank you for the advice about the running in circles, I will definately try that. I  will also try to count how many words he says on his own without prompt or repeating me. Thanks and I just love this forum, it has been so helpful to me.

Go to the pdd assessment at www.childbrain.com and fill out the questionnaire yourself. I will give you and autism spectrum score.  The higher the score, the more likely the child has some sort of PDD (ASD) disorder. 

However, be forewarned -- It is HIGHLY likely that the parents will NOT thank you or the child's Sunday School teacher for pointing out to them that their son is likely on the spectrum.  Wait until they mention something to you themselves before you turn them on to this site.

Hi and welcome!

It's great that you're looking out for this little guy, and hopefully, he'll get an
evaluation and help, if he needs it.

I just want to say though, and I don't mean to sound harsh, but if you were
babysitting MY kid, and you posted about him on an autism board AND
posted his photo, without my consent or knowledge, I'd be livid, and
definitely get a new sitter...

You may want to take that photo down out of your siggy.I was just going to say the same thing as the pp.  I would take that photo down ASAP.
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