What do you think about early signs?

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-29-2006
What do you think about early signs?
5
Wed, 01-30-2008 - 3:49pm

I posted this over at the Autism board and thought I'd post here too in case anyone had any thoughts they wanted to share!

My dd is three and being evaluated for autism right now. We'd be absolutely shocked if they said she doesn't have it. Her first three years were spent in constant tears, major sensory problems, social problems, communication was delayed, no play skills, self soothing skills, lots of stims, no schedule would help her feel settled, etc.

My son is one and is such a big contrast to my dd. He plays, has great energy, is rarely seen without a smile and up until recently, he could go days, just staring at me, looking me in the eyes, smiling. He is very social and sleeps well, eats well, etc. He cries when he needs to communicate something, but it's rare and on schedule. He's been on the same schedule for nine months.

However, he's not talking at all at 14 months, not gesturing, pointing, etc. The 14 month Ages and Stages Questionaire scoored him a 5 out of 60 on communication and a 5 out of 60 on personal/social skills and when I looked up early signs of autism, I came up with a list of five that would be big red flags for him.

The pediatrician has suggested twice now that I have him evaluated with the Early Intervention program. I've felt he was just working on his gross motor skills (he walks well and can build a five block tower!)

These were the five early warning signs:

Does your SF:

1. respond to his or her name when called by you?
Within the first few months of life, babies respond to their own name by orienting toward the person who called them. Typical babies are very responsive to the voices of familiar people, and often respond with smiles and looks.

2. engage in "joint attention"?
Near the end of the first year of life, most infants begin to join with their caregivers in looking at the same object or event. To aid in this process of "joint attention", typical infants begin to shift their gaze from toys to people, follow other's points, monitor the gaze of others, point to objects or events to share interest, and show toys to others. These behaviors have a distinct sharing quality to them. For example, the young infant may point to an airplane flying over head, and look to the parent, as if to say, "do you see that!"

3. imitate others?
Typical infants are mimics. Very young infants can imitate facial movements (e.g., sticking out their tongue). As early as 8-10 months, mothers and infants say the same sounds one after another, or clap or make other movements. Indeed, imitation is a major part of such common infant games as pat-a-cake and So Big ("How big is baby? Soooo big!" as infant raises hands to sky).

4. respond emotionally to others?
Typical infants are socially responsive to others. They smile when others smile at them, and they initiate smiles and laughs when playing with toys and others. When typical infants observe another child crying, they may cry themselves, or looked concerned. Somewhat older infants may crawl near the person, pat, or in other ways offer comfort. These latter behaviors are suggestive of empathy and are commonly observed among children in the second year of life.

5. engage in pretend play?
Someone once noted that "play is the work of children." Young children love to pretend-to be a mother, father, or baby, to be a firefighter or police officer. Although children start to play with toys around six months or so, play does not take on a pretend quality until the end of the first year. Their first actions may involve pretending to feed themselves, their mother or a doll, brush the doll's hair, or wipe the doll's nose. Nearer their second birthday, children engage in truly imaginative play as dolls may take on human qualities of talking or engaging in household routines. Children may pretend that a sponge is a piece of food, a block is a hat, or a plastic bowl is a swimming pool that contains water.

He doesn't do any of these five things. I've been calling his name for the past 30 minutes off and on and he won't look at me. In the past, I've assumed he was just too busy playing to pay any attention to me. The older he gets, the more he's seeming to have some of the same things my dd did, but he's happier and more content so it's taking me longer to notice.

I guess my question (if you hung in there for all that detail) is how much stock do you put into "early warning signs". My nephew didn't talk until he was two and he's fine. My grandparents and step mom think it's ridiculous to worry about the fact that he's not talking since he's only 14 months old. Or is it the combination of not talking mixed with no gestures, and other stuff that cause concern of autism?

Thanks,
Laura
Isabella 1-4-05
Bryan 12-9-06

Laura Isabella 1-4-05 Bryan 12-9-06
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 01-30-2008 - 4:02pm

My DD who is 2 years younger than my ASD DS was not talking much (2-3 words at 18 months) and you better believe that we got her evaluated and quick.

                                

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-10-2004
Wed, 01-30-2008 - 7:59pm

Laura, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE have your DS evaluated.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Wed, 01-30-2008 - 9:22pm

Laura,


There are enough red flags to warrant a call to EI for an evaluation. It may be that there is nothing wrong and he is progressing on track, and EI will tell you if that is the case, so yyou can quit worrying.


However if there are some delays, he can start therapies very early, which will be great for him. The earlier therapy starts, the more effective it will be.


I see a call to EI as a no-lose prospect.

-Paula

visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-29-2006
Wed, 01-30-2008 - 10:06pm

Thanks everyone for your input.

I guess it just seems that since he's so happy and playful that there's no reason to be concerned. The EI eval has already been scheduled so we're on track with that. It's been bugging me this past week as I've noticed he isn't looking at me anymore - he used to just stare at me and smile and now I can hardly get his attention. I keep thinking that maybe he's just terribly interested in exploring his environment and checking out everything he sees. I do know that I've been grateful for the first year of relatively normal development after such major challenges with my first dd. My son has been affectionate, total mama's boy, with a constant smile. I hate to see that changing, but as I've always said with my dd, it is what it is, labeled or not, and if there is some challenges he needs assistance with, then of course I'll fight to get him what he needs to learn and grow at the pace and style he was created with.

Thank you again for your encouragement. I think because I've been so "pitbull-like" about getting services for my dd and worrying about her development, I didn't want to over-react when my son seems so content and happy. Your advice (and the fact that the moms on his board all say their kids are doing all the things my son isn't) helped me realize that I should be paying closer and real attention to his development, not just my dd's.

Laura
Isabella 1-4-05
Bryan 12-9-06

Laura Isabella 1-4-05 Bryan 12-9-06
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-07-2008
Thu, 01-31-2008 - 8:51am

Always go with your gut instinct, no matter what it says. With DS1 everyone was telling me he was fine even though I knew something was 'off', and we struggled for ages to get a diagnosis that made sense, and when it did, everything fell into place and our lives sinces have been immeasurably better. With DS2 it was the exact opposite, he failed to hit all his major milestones, paediatrician was concerned, he had loads of tests (at one point was even scheduled for surgery for something that turned out to rectify itself), but I *knew* all along that he was fine and this was a lot of fuss about nothing, and I was completely right - if you were to look up in a textbook what does a 'NT' 4 year old boy look like/do/act like, you'd see a film of my very cheeky, very active boy grinning at you.


Mummy *always* knows best about these things!! If your gut instinct is to get him evaluated, *do it*. It may turn out to be wrong, but I've never been wrong yet, and I've yet to meet many mums who are! Plus this is a classic age where the red flags would start to go up.


Kirsty, mum to Euan (9, Aspergers) Roghan (4, NT) and Maeve (2, NT)

"My definition of housework is to sweep the room with a glance"


Follow my blog on http://mumsnet.com/blogs/kirsteinr/