Does this sound like Asperger's?

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-09-2003
Does this sound like Asperger's?
2
Mon, 03-20-2006 - 12:24pm

My son is 2.7 years old. He's been diagnosed as apraxic, expressive language delay (he was nonverbal at 18 months), and sensory integration dysfunction. He's made great strides in his speech, and has recently tested over a four year old level with his language (he still has clarity and articulation issues due to the apraxia). He's also had some recent motor delays emerge. He's clumsy and often awkward. He often ignores other children his age, and if he does notice them, he'll just watch whatever they're doing rather than joining in. He rarely even speaks to children his age. He's had a love for all things construction since before he was even a year old, and it's never faltered. He spends most of his day either riding his tractor or 'building and fixing' with his tools. He often asks to watch his tractor video and if he's allowed, he watches over and over again. We limit this to watching it every few days, as it get's really old for us! He's definately different than any other children his age. He's very serious, and seems to be very smart. Several people have described him as seeming 'like he has a lot going on upstairs'. We've had to teach him many things that other children seem to just pick up (pointing, waving - and then he initially began waving backwards to himself rather than others, saying hello and goodbye to people (we're still working on the former). He seems to have to work harder to do some regular things. He has difficulty with imitation, and does not dance or sing. Do you think he would fit Asperger's syndrome? I'm wondering if I'm heading in the right direction, or if I'm totally off base. What do you think?

Thanks

Jen

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-15-2006
Mon, 03-20-2006 - 4:54pm

Jen,

To me it sounds very similar to my son Matthew at that age. I would definitely bring it to the pediatricians attention. Matt wasn't officially diagnosed with Asperger's until he was 4. I have heard that it is difficult to actually diagnose in younger children, but it never hurts to start looking into it. We first had him evaluated at 3 1/2 and they just told us he was developmentally delayed because he didn't complete enough of the evaluation to give any clear results. They had us set-up an appointment in 6 months, when he was 4 and had some preschool experience. Sure enough, when we returned he completed the eval and passed with flying colors. They told us he had Asperger's, which we suspected all along but now we had concrete evidence. Start keeping a journal of "odd" behaviors, favorite things, little quirky things..it will be helpful when talking to the people who are going to help you. Check with your local school department and see if they offer any kind of education for your son. In our area, if a child has come from Early Intervention Services or has special needs they can start the preschool program at the age of 3. The preschool program has done wonders for Matt.
There are so many different characteristics of Asperger's. Your son does seem to have alot of the typical behaviors of AS. Talk to your pediatrician and see what can be done for your son.
Good Luck..keep us posted

Carol

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 03-20-2006 - 6:37pm

Yeah, it would be worth looking into anyway. There is no way other moms can diagnose, particularly via the internet but what you mentioned would cause enough concern to get it looked into. In fact, I have read that some wiht AS may not speak until about 18 months or so. Our cait started talking about that time. I think she said only "doggie" before that (she is STILL animal obsessed) but seems to have known her numbers and letters then even if she didn't tell us until she was just about 2.

I would keep an eye on the language too. Often AS type kids will have a strong vocabulary which will put them high on some tests but will have problems with pragmatic and social langauge. Often they can't test for pragmatics really until they are school age.

Renee

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