Looking back-Your baby with Autism | Autism PDD

I;m not sure why, but my video clips of my son as a newborn & infant were moved to the Hangout w Friends section. While yes, I wanted to share them with my friends :) I also wanted to get some feedback about his "babyhood" which i don't think I made very clear. First of all his head was VERY large (to view the video clips, go to Hangout With Friends and it is right there called Newborn video of my son, something like that). Do you think it was abnormally large? Do you think he acted like a "normal" baby - everyone told me he was very different, but I don't know. I don't have much video of my NT daughter because I was unable to borrow the video camera that I used when our son was little. But I don't think she acted like he does. Anyway, just wanted to know if you had any thoughts on this. Thanks!
(and sorry I didn't make that clear in my original post mods!

HERE IS THE LINK OF THE VIDEOS:

http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=20252&am p;PN=1

MosesJr-Mommy39346.6561342593WOW - menengitis, it sounds like your guy went through a LOT as a baby! Poor thing!
OMG this was Gage, totally! He used to just stare and stare at things for a long time. Even in the last video I posted, he was playing with our window blinds at 11 months - he used to do that throughout the day, all the time. When he wasnt eating or sleeping or in my arms he was playing with those window blinds - even in a room full of baby toys.
"He had an incredible attention span - Again, I thought he was gifted - he would stare at his zoo animal toy (one of those "gyms" that babies lie under) for up to 45 minutes. "

Good luck with your dx Daniel's Mom. I am like Moderngnome, my son was diagnosed as "wait & see, possible problems" by 9 months, Developmentally Delayed by 18 months, and I finally let the school district call it Autism by age 2, but they knew much before that. I was in denial for a long time.
I think those of you searching for the right dx will have an advantage in that sense. I have kicked myself so many times about being in denial - why didnt I just listen?

Oh and I PMd about the moderating of my post yesterday & I got a very kind response from the Mod, I think there was some miscommunication happening there but it is all taken care of. I was wondering the same thing, I think she thought it was more of a Hangout w Friends topic whereas I didn't.

Andrew's head never struck me as big, but it was big enough at age 2 they thought they should do an MRI. I think its more cause he has a very round apple head, and he gets that from his father's side, his grandmother has the same head. She and dh are 100% polish, so I don't know if its that or something to do with autism. But they found nothing in the MRI and drs later didn't think he had a big head at all, so I don't know. Looking at those videos though he reminds me a lot of Andrew. My ds has always had a huge head , always 100+%. Way before his autism
dx his doc suggested doing an MRI because it was so big. Other than
rthat what might have been a sign was how tactile he was and how
unusually enthusiastic.

My ds has always had a big head. I have pictures of him sitting on my lap at 11mos. The pictures look so funny because his head looks bigger than mine in them.

Our dr's never showed any concern over it, though. I can look back though and remember how different he was. He was not a cuddler AT ALL. He never cried unless he was hungry. He never demanded any kind of attention from me.

I recently went back and looked at videos from when he was about 2 yo to 4 yo. Looking at those videos it is glaringly obvious. He didn't speak at all except in grunts or shrieks. He was in his own little bubble no matter what kind of chaos was around him. He also never responded to his name in the video tapes. :( I wish I knew then what I know now. (He's 11 now)

Michelle

we should think back- but remember to move forward too.........my little baby is on his playstation 2 now solving some puzzle!

hope everyone has a good weekend!

Go Yankees Moses Mom!

i do not have baby video son my pc, but i do have some on you tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-NJT93OPeI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TAXrRuB4O8

Sarah has always had a huge lumpy head...for all those brains in there:) She is so smart! Lots of hair to cover it up:)

Jeremy had a big head- and I remember the Drs. commenting on it.

I don't know what or where it happend with the whole Autism thing....

I do know when I took him for his 15 month appt, something about Jeremy was just 'off'......We lived in Poughkeepsie NY at the time.....Jeremy was like a little adult.....god, I remember it so well.......

But- my little one, who is 8 had a big head too! He was really very premature too- and he is fine!

The ingredients were just 'right' for whatever happend to Jeremy, whenever it happend.

Always makes me wonder.....

Kane didnt have a big head! but i did notice signs early! i watched your videos i thought all babies hand flaped! i guess i didnt know, kane is my only child! he also didnt look at us no gestures and he cried and cried all the time he never ever slept still doesnt mind u! He also doesnt speak but had a few words mum dad and then lost them. He had really bad reflux too Ds has/had a big head. Besides being REALLY intense, alert and observant (according to everyone, including strangers) and the fact that he would get so absorbed in looking at something that he sometimes wouldn't respond to his name - we saw no signs in infancy. Developmental milestones were within the normal range and he seemed happy and often "flirted" especially with women.I have no video of my son as an infant or little boy but I have those memories in my mind's eye. And they all come back to me when I look at old photos. Really, even looking back now, he had NO signs. NONE at all, until he didn't start speaking on time.I have no videos of my son either :( But I do remember Jr's head was always high on the precentile. The joke was that's the reason why I had to have a c-section with him.I have videos but not handy to post. C appears no different from his brother in any vids. Like Tzoya, there were no signs until he didn't start talking on time.

My son has a big head. All 4 of mine did, however. I was no stranger to babies as I already had 2 others.

I have reviewed home videos ad nauseum. Nothing. He spoke. Pointed. Sat up by six months. Walked by 11 months. Sang. Danced. Tremendous eye contact. And it all stopped at 18 months. We've had to reteach each one of these to him again. I showed our eval team comaparison videos. Some from 8-14 months. Others 18 months plus. They did not have a difficult time believing it, as they indicated they had heard my story a hundred times before.

YepperBepper39346.7992013889I knew Daniel would have issues after is bad birth experience and lack of oxyagen at birth. He was small at birth and still is for his age. He also for school is always the youngest. If had to do it all over no shots/waited a year to start k. He is dyslexic and I knew school would be a issue even when he was a baby. I could tell this when he was 3 never had a interest in education and still doesn't now at age 11. He hates anything educational!I think it is important to be able to look back and see if you notice any symptoms. I really think my son was born with his issues as he had stimming symptoms, noticeable ones, by 5 -8 months old. I am very glad to have found this camcorder tape because I had been unable to watch the video since his diagnosis as it was lost at my parent's house. The main things I noticed is a LOT of "staring" into space - there are moments in the video that I edited out (there was hours & hours of footage) where my mom & I keep testing his hearing. We would shout his name from across the room & he would turn his head, and my mom would squeal at him "See, that baby can hear!" It reminded me how the daycare said he might be deaf. Also My mom mentions "Watch him sit up into his 'Buddah' pose" (no offense to Buddhists, I am just quoting how she described it. He sat up pretty late, and he would push himself up with his arms and then he would support himself on one leg in front ,and the other would be sticking out the back. I think this has to do with his motor skill issues and muscle tone issues that he has today. There is also a moment where I am putting on a new baby shirt and I can't get it to fit over his head so I just grab a button up outfit instead. I also notice there is a moment when my mom says excitedly, "Look, he's looking at me!' then he shifts his gaze and she says, "oh, he was anyway..." I found his gaze to be a bit strange. I haven't been around a newborn in a long time, but at one point I am talking to him and trying to get him to engage with me, and he stares at the pole of his baby swing the whole time. There is also a moment where he keeps turning around to look at this bear image in the back of his high chair seat. My mom (who was usually there as it was her husband's video camera) remarks, "Why is he turning around like that to look at that bear?" To which I reply, "He just loves that bear". He is only about 10 months old doing that. I remember him turning to look at that bear on the seat at probably every mealtime.
So, while yes it is important to look forward, I do think some very important observations can be made when looking back. Primarily because of the MMR connection (not us, MMR wouldn't be until 20 months old), head size theory, and other issues. My son had a big head at birth and a very very small neck if his head bent forward he could not breath. His fist were always closed it was that way for a long time probably until he was 2. He could not suck right and would not eat. He still sleeps with his hands up on his head and legs bent at the knees like he did when he was an infant he is 12 years old now. I used to pull his legs down when I would check on him before I would go to bed, and he pulls them back up as soon as I straighten them. His forward his very big and and his ears set a little low and has big eyes, we used to say he looked like a glow worm. I didn't see your video. I thought this thread was about sharing early infant symptoms, not just "sharing with a friend". Why does the board have so many moderators all of a sudden?

That said... Bug has shown signs since he was a newborn - but I wasn't watching for the right things.

He hit ALL of his milestones early - I thought he was gifted. He rolled early, crawled at 5 months, put himself into a seated position from a crawl at 6 months. Cruised at 7 months.

He had words before 12 months, he was a smiley, interactive guy.

Symptoms/Red Flags: He would not co-sleep with my husband and I. I could not lie down and hold him - he would just SCREAM. I thought it was left over from the meningitis, and the fact that they put him in a crib in the hospital to sleep... (I stayed with him, but the first week in PICU, he was hooked up to tons of machinery - and I didn't get to hold him as much as I would have liked).

He had an incredible attention span - Again, I thought he was gifted - he would stare at his zoo animal toy (one of those "gyms" that babies lie under) for up to 45 minutes.

He was so ROUTINE. He got hungry on the three hour mark like he could read a clock. He would SCREAM until that bottle got to him - SCREAM. Right at three hours, every single time...

He Had a normal head (and it was measured CONSTANTLY after the meningitis) - but it jumped up in size at 9 months.

He started head banging at 9 months - but stopped at 16 months - and the Pedi wasn't concerned (he did it during tantrums).

At 13 months, he fell and cut his eye brow - and probably needed at least some of those butterfly closure stickers - or maybe glue - but even then we knew he was "difficult" enough that we opted not to take him in...

It's hard to put my finger exactly on it - but I started to worry - even asked his Pedi about Autism at 18 months (more Mother's instinct than worry at that point) and my Pedi reassured me he was fine.

I think we all figured it was such a miracle he survived the meningitis that no one ever thought he'd then end up on the spectrum...

(He has severe sensory issues at 2 - but he was my first child - so I didn't realize how "off" it was, KWIM? He wouldn't wear a coat all winter - he hated hair cuts - I just thought he was difficult and strong-willed).

Diagnosed at nearly 4 - though I spent the better part of a year in denial - after getting a referral from my Ped at his 3 year appt.

Those of you with young kids. Daniel still is missing a wrong dx. We have herd the following issues. Regulatory disorder at 3. Loss of lang.at 12 months.drug 1 leg while crawled at 9 months. Other labels we have herd dyslexia/capd/adhd/bp1/low iq and achevement.

ot since age 1,St since age 1 until now. eci also did oral motor therapy.

Daniel's sister totaly indepenedent from birth.

Daniel never seemed like other kids.