Can symptoms develop at a later age? | Autism PDD
Kristys is right, BUT.
In retrospect only, my dd had symptoms at ten months. HOWEVER, her symptoms were not frequent or pronounced enough to be diagnosed, unti lage six (and hers is still pending), when she joined a large, loud public kindergarten class, and was expected to process compelx auditory information for the first time.
And the stress of the environment has brought out increased social and behavioral symptoms, as well. There has been a radical decrease in her eye contact, even at home, recently. She is more subject to (however brief) meltdowns. Her play has become more idiosyncratic.
I'm trying so hard to get help for my son, and like all of you here, I"m hitting brick wall after brick wall.
My son developed normally/advanced as an infant/toddler. He was speaking in full sentences by 11 mos old. He is extremely intelligent. However...
At around 3 years of age, we noticed little things. He was very hyperactive- whereas I don't recall this being an issue when he was younger. Then I noticed that in preschool, he would want to be around other children, but would play alone amongst them.
Different behaviors would crop up with him. In kindergarten, he was diagnosed as ADHD, although he seemed to be able to focus on what was being said in the classroom. He could recite back everything the teacher said, but the rest of the class could not, because he was so distracting. I would notice that when he became out of control, there was a blank look in his eye- like he wasn't really there.
Other behaviors are presenting themselves the older he gets. Is this a possibility in the whole Autism Spectrum? Can a child regress at a later age, such as my 9 year old. He seems to be developing more and more symptoms the older he gets (starting around 3 or 4)
He is unable to put words to his feelings, can not give eye contact, has what I think is called "stemming"? He flaps his arms, spins, etc. He is intellectually on approximately 6th grade level but socially he is possibly on a kindergarten level. He is in 3rd grade. We have explored the avenue of Sensory Integration Dysfunction because he appears to be somewhat sensory seeking, yet in other situations he is hyper sensitive. Brushing techiques have a definate calming affect on him. And, pressure is helpful as well.
The school will not help us with any of this because his behavior is not affecting him academically according to them.
In general, is it possible for autism to affect a child later in life rather than as an infant/toddler? Thanks for you answers.
I am not sure of this but am sure someone on here can answer this for you. Hope you can get some answers soon.I do recall reading that for a diagnosis of classic autism that symptoms must be present before age 3. A PDD-NOS diagnosis is sometimes applied for later age of onset as well as subthreshold symptomolgoy.My son's problems didn't become apparent until around age 4, and he seems more and more different as time passes. This is because his age peers are outdistancing him socially.
However, I feel that his problems were there from birth, just too subtle to attract attention -- especially since he's an introverted, bilingual boy. For example, he was rigid -- never learned to use a bottle instead of breast and we struggled to find a cup he'd accept. He wouldn't react the first time we called his name. I didn't give this a second thought and quickly forgot this phase -- until I looked at an old video in connection with his autism evaluation. You might discover something similar if you have any old videos.
The older your son gets, the more demands are put on him, both socially and academically. It is also quite possible that he's reacting to this stress with more stimming and meltdowns than before.
It's quite common to have a mix of underresponsive and overresponsive senses. Here's a checklist to help you identify your children's sensory issues:
http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/sensory-processin g-disorder-checklist.html
And here's an article on stimming:
http://www.tsbvi.edu/Outreach/seehear/archive/mannerism.html #Chart
Good luck with everything. Let us know if there's anything else on your mind.
Btw, my son was diagnosed with atypical autism (PDD-NOS) because of few early symptoms and few repetitive behaviors. The diagnosis came at age 7. There are plenty of others on this forum whose children have gotten a late diagnosis.
My ds made it up to 11 years old and was diagnosed as OCD,Tourette's, and anxiety
then a year later they finally said it was high functioning autism
He was a top student all the way up to Grade 6 he got A's and B's
He was shy but still very verbal
Then the rages started as he grew and puberty set in
He grew tonnes and gained alot of weight
Now he is in a rehab. hospital school program until we find a suitable environment for his learning
He works very slow and his attention wanders but he behaves very well for the teacher
Sometimes it so hard to get help when they behave in class cause they think it's the parents' fault but it's not
If u want to ask me anything at all PM me
My ds went to the hospital many many times before he got a combo of meds. that helped him
He is on Lithium, Zyprexa, Inderal, and Fluphenazine
We tried Risperdal, Prozac, Zoloft, Luvox, Seroquel....i think that's it none of these worked for him though.
Good luck it is a hard thing to go through
My sons regression was very noticable at around the age of 3.5. In fact, there was a possibility of CDD that was written into his psychological evaluation, which was terrifying for me). However, there were signs that I pushed out of my head or attributed to his birth defect, so I probably missed a lot. He is definitely "more autistic" now then he was even 6 months ago, and he is almost 5.
My Dad's Aspergers dx came in his late 50's. But boy has it helped his
relationships within our family. He's much better at taking a coded hint that
he should 'drop it' when he's read a situation all wrong, which has reduced
everyones anxiety, and Mum's stopped trying to get him to understand stuff
he actually can't understand, which has taken heaps of pressure of both of
them. Kind of makes me sad sometimes, thinking of all the years when they
were like an am radio, and a fm radio, both trying to send and recieve
signals that the other couldn't pick up no matter how carefully they tried to
tune in to each other
But hey they must have been doing something
right, 37 year anniversary this year, and all 8 kids regularly talk to both of
them! We've all gotten much better at translating between the NT and ASD
family members ways of being... so a late dx is still better than no dx, and
the 7years we waited to get one was not soo long really!
NYMommyof3:
Yes, there is something even worse than autism ... CDD. Please tell me that this disease does not exist. I need to hear it.
[/QUOTE]
It's very, very rare and I think some say it really doesn't exist. The people right here on this fabulous board drummed that into me several months ago (thank you!) But to have someone tell you that, and have it written into a report, is just devastating.
My ds is seven and only got a diagnosis recently. He clearly seems moreautistic now than even a year ago but looking back I noticed differences
from 2 years old. But he was an outgoing and easygoing kid and I
remember when he was 4 a pregnant friend of mine said "I hope my baby
will be just like him" Now at seven he can barely function in a regular
classroom and will likely be moved to a special ed class. In some areas he
is 7, in some 8 and in some like 3 or 4.
I think your ds had what he has (and I think Aspergers or PDD-NOS is not
a bad guess) for a long time but as kids go older the environment goes
more and more demandingand it is harder and harder for our kids to
cope.
I have been worried about one of my 3 year old dd's lately. She did not
have the slight speech-delay my ds had but she has also always been very
sensory-seeking. She was the easiest baby ever and picked up milestones
at regular times. She has not regressed the last 8 month but I haven't
seen progress either. She has become very hyper, rifels a lot and I have
noticed a little echoing, though is still has regular speech too. So we will
see, she might very well be in your ds's spot later. My son is 9 and you sound like you are discribing him. He was just dx'd with classic autism, I thought there had to be delays before 3 as well but I was wrong. The way they discrbed it was that even though he can talk and talked on time he still has language and communication delays, they also said the reason it was confusing was that 50% of kids with autism have some kind of mental redardation going on as well. I would definitly get him an eval through a doctor.[QUOTE=ShelleyR]
gtto
That was so informative!
[/QUOTE]
Very.
The article proves a beautiful logical mind, perfectly applying the concepts of axiom and theorem and set up a theory. The “how” and “where” of the replies shows a looot of empathy in a very delicate subtle way. Thank you.
L
My son goes through what might be called seasonal regression. It is strange but there are times during the year that he regresses. Other times of the year things seem to move forward. And when my son regresses it gets bad. IT is like the hyperactivity takes control and a Texas Tornado forms.
My son was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome at 7. I was always suspicious that he was fundamentally different in some way, and even raised concerns with doctors, but it fell on deaf ears and I often thought he *must* be normal because several doctors had basically told me so.
His symptoms did not become socially debilitating until he was in grade one, and only after a series of "incidents" did my doctor finally give me a referral to a specialist. After the specialist raised his concerns about AS, I went and did some research. Alarm bells and red lights went off with everything I read - things from when he was one, two, three, four, five years old: Quirks, stims, perseverations, the skills he could pick up easily and others not after months or years of trying. It all sort of meshed into this understanding that he'd been showing symptoms of ASD all along, but I'd never really known what to look for, despite the fact that I had years ago searched some of his odder behaviours online and gotten repeated AS hits. The missing link there had been assuming he was doing well socially, which he was, until there was not a 3:1 child to daycare teacher ratio to mask the problem.
So in that respect, it can show up later, IMO. It was always there, but just not as noticeable because the situation didn't reveal it. As for regression, the accepted school of thought is that the brain becomes pretty hardwired for fundamental skills by the age of five, BUT learning always works both ways to some extent and who knows what physiological differences really exist in an autistic person's brain. There's no real evidence to refute the possibility of late regression, as almost all of the evidence for age-related learning is based on the NT mind.
Technically, for classic autism at least, the symptoms should appear within the first three years of life.
Not sure about AS, but even if someone isn't dx till later, the symptoms would still have been there at a young age if someone was looking for them.
Hi.
Mommy_mimi:
Your son was advanced in language. What about the pointing before 18 mo ? Bringing you toys ? Pretent play by 2 y ? It's easy when you start with the begining. My son might be considered mild but I know he did not do certain things at the right age. And that is a sign for me.
NYMommyof3:
Yes, there is something even worse than autism ... CDD. Please tell me that this disease does not exist. I need to hear it.
The average age for dx of Aspergers is about 10-12y---I think.
My husband just got dx about 2 months ago---at 37 yo.
I was diagnosably autistic when very young (although I went undiagnosed), and I gained some skills I'd lost, but then I started losing them again as I got older as well.I wrote the following article "Help! I seem to be getting more autistic!" aimed at autistic people who found themselves losing or appearing to lose skills they'd had (or appeared to have) before. It might also be helpful to parents, because it lists a whole large number of reasons this can happen. I don't think a person gets "more autistic", but that's how most people think of it so that's the way I wrote it, so that people who thought that would read it.
gtto
That was so informative!
Copyright Autism-PDD.net