what age did you 'know' something was different?

[keepingmesane]

hi all, sorry for the question but ive been feeling quite troubled of late over my younger son.

just to give an idea of our history, please bear with me...

kieran was always a different baby, never put things in his mouth and could never giggle or laugh much. he was dx high funtioning asd at about 2 � and had pretty much classic autistic traits... very introverted etc... though he has now gone pretty much the other way.

 

jasmine had a bleed in her brain at a week old and was dx mild right hemiplegia at about 1 �. she is a VERY social little girl who i felt had some odd behaviours. all the professionals felt she was fine and it wasnt until she went to an opportunity group at an inclusive nursery, that someone agreed with me. both kieran and jasmine went to the inclusinve nursery from the age of 3 and they were put on seperate floors as there was a suspician that jasmine was being affected by kierans behaviour.

it turned out that jasmine was far more complex than kieran and it has taken a lot of fight and support from the nursery to finally get the professionals to see that jasmine is extremely complex and no one really knows what is the matter with her... although they are saying that she is semantic pragmatic disorder, sensory issues and possibly asd but they wont dx as she had an ados where she scored borderline (after the ados we were contacted by the consultant who had put more of a specialist team together to review the ados video and they felt it didnt give a true account of jasmine and that she was most likely asd)

jas seemed quite normal most of the time, although a little scatty and it wasnt until structure was really introduce with nursery that problems began to show... we have always been relaxed at home and she was used to doing what she wanted when she was ready. she is having to go into a specialist unit this year when starting school unlike her twin who will be going into mainstream with support

 

now my question really is about my younger son isaac. he was a model baby for nine months, very happy. as he has grown up ive noticed that he does like to put a lot of things in his mouth... including eating the sandpit! most children take a mouthful and no more... isaac keeps on going! he is very headstrong, and very phsyical. i have had the odd concern about him but of late he has been having horrific tantrums that are so similar to the ones kieran had at this age. they are more than a standard tantrum

he has also started lining things up more of late and gets a little funny if someone else moves them.

there isnt enough going on at the moment for the professionals to really see, they have said they will see him if i want them to as they respect my worries.

 

 

did your child seem ok and then start to regress, or have they always been the way they were from birth?

 

apologies for the very garbled post, my head is a little all over the place with the prospect of no.3 following my bigger two

[justamum]

My son was ahead at the milestones but at the age of 1 he started to shut down.....I am still battling for a diagnoses!

[jayzee]

hi all, sorry for the question but ive been feeling quite troubled of late over my younger son.

just to give an idea of our history, please bear with me...

kieran was always a different baby, never put things in his mouth and could never giggle or laugh much. he was dx high funtioning asd at about 2 � and had pretty much classic autistic traits... very introverted etc... though he has now gone pretty much the other way.

 

jasmine had a bleed in her brain at a week old and was dx mild right hemiplegia at about 1 �. she is a VERY social little girl who i felt had some odd behaviours. all the professionals felt she was fine and it wasnt until she went to an opportunity group at an inclusive nursery, that someone agreed with me. both kieran and jasmine went to the inclusinve nursery from the age of 3 and they were put on seperate floors as there was a suspician that jasmine was being affected by kierans behaviour.

it turned out that jasmine was far more complex than kieran and it has taken a lot of fight and support from the nursery to finally get the professionals to see that jasmine is extremely complex and no one really knows what is the matter with her... although they are saying that she is semantic pragmatic disorder, sensory issues and possibly asd but they wont dx as she had an ados where she scored borderline (after the ados we were contacted by the consultant who had put more of a specialist team together to review the ados video and they felt it didnt give a true account of jasmine and that she was most likely asd)

jas seemed quite normal most of the time, although a little scatty and it wasnt until structure was really introduce with nursery that problems began to show... we have always been relaxed at home and she was used to doing what she wanted when she was ready. she is having to go into a specialist unit this year when starting school unlike her twin who will be going into mainstream with support

 

now my question really is about my younger son isaac. he was a model baby for nine months, very happy. as he has grown up ive noticed that he does like to put a lot of things in his mouth... including eating the sandpit! most children take a mouthful and no more... isaac keeps on going! he is very headstrong, and very phsyical. i have had the odd concern about him but of late he has been having horrific tantrums that are so similar to the ones kieran had at this age. they are more than a standard tantrum

he has also started lining things up more of late and gets a little funny if someone else moves them.

there isnt enough going on at the moment for the professionals to really see, they have said they will see him if i want them to as they respect my worries.

did your child seem ok and then start to regress, or have they always been the way they were from birth?

 

apologies for the very garbled post, my head is a little all over the place with the prospect of no.3 following my bigger two

Dont know if this helps but i felt there was something different with my son from early on but put it down to my postnatal depression, when i stated this to my doc he was by then around 2 years old, he was very demanding,hyper and always seemed to be upset. He then was put in touch with several professionals ie speech therapy, behavioural therapist, occupational therapist and after 2.5 years as a last resort he was sent to an autism clinic which the proffesionals wanted to rule autism out but told me they didnt feel he was autistic. 4 weeks later at the clinic i was given the diagnosis of HFA, which was a major shock as i couldnt see it but lately with a bit of learning on the subject i am seeing the signs more and more. I feel if you have worries get your little one checked. I was totally convinced my child was not autistic and ended up wrong. If you can give me some advice on diet or supplements i would really appreciate it as you obviously know alot more about this than i do.

[JsMum]

Hi

 

In the early days J had lots of colic and german measles passed on when they immunised me against rubella just after he was born and I was breast feeding, he was otherwise a very happy baby and responded very well and achieved milestones, he was clingly when left and cried lots if in noisy enviroments but then I just put that down to been a baby, then when he turned 18 months we noticed he was very aggressive to other toddlers and didnt share or play in a group, he required 1-1 and needed supervision, I know that toddlers need supervision but you really needed to be quicker with J.

 

At Two and half there was concerns over his speech and language and his social skills where a concerns as well as his behavioural difficulties.

 

Early school it was recognised he had learning/social +communication/behavioural difficulties and later diagnosed at seven as ADHD with additionals then this year it has been confirmed ASD and SID, we are going throw our local Childrens Developmental Team for a formal diagnosis and we have a programme in place both at school and at home.

 

If you have concerns then keep a diary and communicate early with the consultants as early recognition is vital for future development.

 

Good Luck.

 

JsMum

Edited January 2, 2008 by JsMum

[pearl]

Hiya

I suppose with your older children having difficulties you will be on the alert for probs with your youngest & maybe spot things you wouldnt have done had he been your first.

 

With JP I had concerns from the age of 2, but not until he started school at 4 did anyone take me seriously. I had raised one NT child so wasnt on the lookout for problems. But looking back there were subtle signs from babyhood. I just put it down to boys being different from girls & me & him not being a good "fit" IYSWIM.

 

Stuff like: jumpy baby, fussy feeder, hated noise, content to be left, always wanted to be safe in cot in baby creche at church, then as he got older, obsessive play, limited diet etc etc. None of it enough at the time for someone ignorant of ASDs to think, theres a problem here.

 

Keep notes, & get him checked out early for your own peace of mind <'>

[mandyque]

DD was about 2.5 years, we'd had suspicions that she may have some sort of hearing problem because she didn't respond to sounds, people saying her name, loud, sudden noises which would normally make you jump etc. The only confusing part was that she would react to music playing in the living room when we were in the kitchen, even when the music was quiet. I spoke to our health visitor who immediately referred us to the paediatrician. She was diagnosed at that first appointment, severely autistic. I had heard of autism but before that I had sort of convinced myself she had hearing loss, it was something I understood, she could have a hearing aid and it would be fine, this autism thing, I didn't know a thing about it! So it was a huge shock and I was pretty much in a daze for the next few weeks, total shock, how could my child have something I knew nothing about?

 

Of course, looking back now, the signs were there, even though I didn't know. She did the lining up toys thing, gained a little speech then lost it again and was extremely settled in a routine as a baby, much more than a baby would normally be, but of course at the time I patted myself on the back for having a 'good' baby.

[Nic m]

Hi Deb,

i knew from a young age but didnt want to know. i asked the nursery staff what they thought and they said although she does not join in with others she will play in the house corner as long as she invites them in and is in charge. other than that they said she would play alongside other children and was only comfortable with her key worker.At that stage i was happy to hear this but still had niggling doubts and made every excuse for the things i noticed.

I could not deny it to myself by the time she was 5/6 but it took till she was 9.5years before diagnosis.

looking back she was different as a baby.hope this helps

nic

[Cat]

I have two sons with a diagnosis of ASD and both presented differently however when I go back now there were some similarities in their behaviour.

 

My middle son was a very calm, shy and solitary child who hit every milestone. My concerns about him were his social abilities. From a very early age it was clear that he did not like being with people he did not know especially men. Things did not start to jump out at me until he started Nursery and within three weeks was on the verge of a nervous breakdown literally. He could not stand anyone touching him or having to play alongside the other children. All he wanted to do was to play with the tools on the saw bench and if they tried to move him he screamed until he vomited. He had never had tantrums and so this behaviour was not what I was used to from him. It took us ten years to get his diagnosis for AS which we finally got when he was 13 years old and after a full scale nervous breakdown.

 

With my youngest son I have known that there was something not quite right from him being 10 months old when his buggy broke and we tried to make him sit in a new buggy. We carried him for about 3 months before we finally made the transition into the new buggy. It was the same with his bottles and feeding cups. If I tried to change them he went ballistic. We called him the no bother baby most of the time because so long as we stuck to his routine he was no bother at all. He waked at 7 months (yes really) but was not talking at 3 years old. He was far too social unlike his older brother but his social interaction was inappropriate. He used to like to lick ears. His idea of play was to line everything up and spin wheels on cars and trains.The tantrums began at around 3 and six weeks after his third birthday we got a dx of High Functioning Autism.

 

Of the two I was told that DS3 had the most severe autism and at the time of diagnosis that was certainly true. However some 6 almost 7 years after my sons received their diagnosis (within six weeks of each other) it is the eldest who presents as the more autistic of the two. I am no illusion that this may well change when the youngest hits puberty.

 

I have found that both of my sons have periods of progress and periods of regression. The regression usually coincides with periods of stress or within a short time span after a stressful time.

 

Cat

Edited January 3, 2008 by Cat

[krystaltps]

I had supressed suspicions about C from about 4-5 months. Being a psych graduate, I worried that he didn't seem "attached" in the supposed normal way that babies demonstrate towards their mothers. I simply blamed myself, but it wasn't until the twinkles came along a year later that my suspicions heightened... because then I had a comparison.

He was stubborn and fiercely independent from birth - at 4 months, he would scream to get the spoon so he could feed himself then scream at me because he had fed his eye. At 7 months, he would scream at me because he would let go of my hand and fall. He screamed at me a lot, and seemed to have two emotions - anger and frustration.

C reached all of the developmental milestones early, with the exception of smiling, laughing and talking. He never really got the knack of sleeping, and once he started playing, his games involved spinning wheels and lining up tins or cars (rather obsessively). He was also extremely difficult to wean and would not tolerate "bits" in his food until he was 15 months... also ALL meals had to start with pureed carrot or he wouldn't eat anything.

He would also start a new thing, then stop. He started talking at 14 months and for a whole day said "cup" "daddy" and "teddy" in the correct context. The next day he shut up and didn't talk again until he could produce sentences. He did this with toilet training: the day before his second birthday he went to the toilet and did so time and time again until bedtime. The next day, he was back in nappies and stayed in them until he was 3 and a half.

It was almost like he would try something just to see if he could do it, then decided he couldn't cope with the new thing and reverted back to his old, comfortable ways.

Looking back with hindsight, it was clear that C was very different from the twinkles... but I suppose at the time I just accepted it as C's norm, which of course, it is. I am certain that C had AS from birth.

Edited January 3, 2008 by krystaltps

[Rhianydd]

with DS we noticed when he was about 15 months old as he started headbanging and his speech was delayed and also didnt interact with people or have age appropriate play and would eat everything and anything and didnt like his routine to change

I knew it was autism straight away as did a college course years ago on special needs and went into detail about autism

was seen by speech therapist when he was 16 months old who referred us to the children's center for assinments we then had a dignoiss by the time DS was 2.5 which was early

[Flora]

with Bill I always worried about him from the day he was born. I became very concerned at around the age of 2 ish, then spent the next 6 years hoping he'd 'grow out' of whatever was going on. He didn't, in fact he 'grew into' it, and was dx nearly 9.

 

Ben I thought was fine, and looking back I must have been blind. It wasn't until his 3 years development check that I eventually faced up to things, but was again lulled into a false security when we discovered he was stone deaf due to severe glue ear and scar tissue.

 

With the knowledge I have now I think I would have spent my boy's early years in a state of constant trauma and anxiety. Ignorance is bliss, I knew absolutely nothing at all about autism, and didn't learn about it until after they were dx.

 

flora

[hobbityhole]

hi all, sorry for the question but ive been feeling quite troubled of late over my younger son.

just to give an idea of our history, please bear with me...

kieran was always a different baby, never put things in his mouth and could never giggle or laugh much. he was dx high funtioning asd at about 2 � and had pretty much classic autistic traits... very introverted etc... though he has now gone pretty much the other way.

 

jasmine had a bleed in her brain at a week old and was dx mild right hemiplegia at about 1 �. she is a VERY social little girl who i felt had some odd behaviours. all the professionals felt she was fine and it wasnt until she went to an opportunity group at an inclusive nursery, that someone agreed with me. both kieran and jasmine went to the inclusinve nursery from the age of 3 and they were put on seperate floors as there was a suspician that jasmine was being affected by kierans behaviour.

it turned out that jasmine was far more complex than kieran and it has taken a lot of fight and support from the nursery to finally get the professionals to see that jasmine is extremely complex and no one really knows what is the matter with her... although they are saying that she is semantic pragmatic disorder, sensory issues and possibly asd but they wont dx as she had an ados where she scored borderline (after the ados we were contacted by the consultant who had put more of a specialist team together to review the ados video and they felt it didnt give a true account of jasmine and that she was most likely asd)

jas seemed quite normal most of the time, although a little scatty and it wasnt until structure was really introduce with nursery that problems began to show... we have always been relaxed at home and she was used to doing what she wanted when she was ready. she is having to go into a specialist unit this year when starting school unlike her twin who will be going into mainstream with support

 

now my question really is about my younger son isaac. he was a model baby for nine months, very happy. as he has grown up ive noticed that he does like to put a lot of things in his mouth... including eating the sandpit! most children take a mouthful and no more... isaac keeps on going! he is very headstrong, and very phsyical. i have had the odd concern about him but of late he has been having horrific tantrums that are so similar to the ones kieran had at this age. they are more than a standard tantrum

he has also started lining things up more of late and gets a little funny if someone else moves them.

there isnt enough going on at the moment for the professionals to really see, they have said they will see him if i want them to as they respect my worries.

did your child seem ok and then start to regress, or have they always been the way they were from birth?

 

apologies for the very garbled post, my head is a little all over the place with the prospect of no.3 following my bigger two

[hobbityhole]

Hi my ds is very much like your youngest - he was streets ahead of the other kids until he was 9 months and then it was just like he really couldn't be bothered. Carrying around armfuls of toys, taking them to bed, freaking over certain noises, lining the cars/trains up, wouldn't talk, ignored everyone or was in their faces. Lashed out for no reason, no sense of danger - I kept believing that as everyone told me - he was a boy and he'd grow out of it etc. Felt it was my fault in some way. It was normal for him to blunder around at warp speed and not care what was or who was in the way. He was excitable to the extreme and took everything literally. Everything was in the mouth, food wasn't tasted it just went in & down like a mechanical chute! He didn't seem to know when he was full either! The tantrums were dreadful, I had bruises the lot, he wouldn't go to bed in the summer, one night I put him to bed 45 times in the space of 60 mins. In the end, I broke down in front of my son's pre-school, luckily one of the teacher's had a daughter with a disorder off the ASD spectrum and apparently they had known from day one something about my son was not quite right but couldn't tell me due to guidelines. So with their help, I kept a behaviour diary of my son - noting any oddities or patterns and I took it to the GP and I was also seeing a paediatric specialist because my son seemed unable to toilet train & had constant smelly nappies and I presented him with the diary and a set of behavioural notes from my sons pre school and he then referred me onto the community paediatrician who diagnosed HFA. The rest is history, but if you are concerned about your youngest, try taking notes and then see your GP or health visitor. <'>

[elun1]

<'> Hi Sounds like you really have your hands full.

I have 2 boys and the youngest is severely autistic, My eldest is only 18 mths older than him and although he's being assessed at the mo he is much more Aspergers whereas little one is classic Kanner's autism.

I just knew O was different from birth - he was always passive, pleasant, in many ways a dream baby - he smiled at everything and nothing and never made a real 'connection' with anyone, yet he could not have been more loved. I tried to shut out the thoughts but it came as no real surprise when he was diagnosed aged 2 and 5 mths. Looking back he didn't really respond to anything much, appeared deaf and always wanted to carry something in each hand. He always tiptoe walked and whenever he's still he rocks from side to side. He has SLD and epilepsy also but in many ways has made huge progress. I won't say try not to worry because you will but follow your instincts if your concerns continue to grow. I wish I had done so earlier with my eldest but many professionals dismissed my concerns and I wanted to believe them. now he is 8 and really standing out from the crowd they are becoming a little more reserved in their judgements!

Take care, Elun <'> <'>