baby

[Freaky Niki]

I'm no doctor nor psychologist or anything , but it is pretty clear to me that there is something wrong with our 8.5 month old daughter , she needs food , she needs a fresh diaper and for the rest she doesn't seem to be interested into any attention at all , her attention is nearly impossible to catch and she very rarely makes eye contact , she sometimes laughs when she is playing on her own but I haven't seen anything that I would call a social smile , I have been reading some stuff , but to me it seems most ppl only start to notice that something is wrong when they r a lot older.

 

I ask myself did those ppl notice anything earlier?

Could this be an indication that her "autistic" condition will prove to be worse then most?

It seems some ppl go to normal schools etc , r they not per definition the milder cases? r the worse cases not a lot more limited in their abilities?

 

To me her behaviour looks autistic , there is not yet any medical diagnosis , the real check up still has to start (next wednesday) , but the pediatrist did immediatly order a very broad investigation , with other words I cant say 100% that she is autistic yet.

 

 

[Cat]

 

I personally knew that there was something going on with my youngest son from him being 8 months old but there was much more to it than him not making eye contact or rarely laughing. He was for the most part 'the no bother baby' and that was how the family referred to him. Our son was happy smiling and no bother. But there were things that I knew were not right. For example we were unable to change a bottle, dummy, feeding cup, duvet cover without him becoming hysterical. It was the only time we ever heard him cry. Nothing else upset him. All of his things always had to look as he expected them to look. A new cup or bottle would leave him sobbing his eyes out. I well remember one night he was sick and we had to change his duvert cover. The moment we tried to put him back into his cot he stiffened his body and screamed. This went of for two hours when we gave up and let him sleep in his buggy. It was his buggy that proved to me in my head that there was something really going on. The buggy snapped one day while we were out. My son was 10 a half month old by this time. We of course needed to buy a new buggy. It took us two months to get him to go into the buggy. Routine and change were massive issues for our son from a very early age. He would also watch Telly Tubbies on TV all day if we let him and not only that he would watch the same episode again and again. I always used to sit and sing to our son before he went to sleep and by the time he was a year old if I changed the order of the songs that I always sang him he would again become hysterical. These were the issues that worried me. He was however was very advanced in some ways. He was walking at the age of 8 months our HV could not believe it when she came to do a 9 months check. His speech delay was what finally triggered some action even though I had been raising concerns from his being very young.

 

So yes I did notice very early on with my youngest. He was not however diagnosed until he was 3 years old. His elder brother, who never did any of the above from an early age but started to regress when is was 2 and a half is also autistic but was not diagnosed until he was 13 6 weeks after his brother. So there was quite a bit going on with our son that did stand out and not just his lack of eye contact.

 

Cat

 

 

[mossgrove]

I am no doctor either but there are a number of explanations behind your concerns and Autism is only one if them so I think it is probably too early to say with any certainty that your daughter is Autistic.

 

Simon

[Karen A]

I am no doctor either but there are a number of explanations behind your concerns and Autism is only one if them so I think it is probably too early to say with any certainty that your daughter is Autistic.

 

Simon

 

Hi Freaky Niki.I am no doctor or psychologist either but do have some basic training in child development.

I would agree with Mossgrove.

Autism is only one of nuerous possible explanations behind your concerns.

Eight and a half months would be very early for a professional to be able to make any clear diagnosis of ASD.

However there are certainly other explanations that it would be worthwhile professionals exploring if only to reasure you or rule some things out.

If the paediatrician is listening to your concerns and has decided to explore them then that is I think very good news.

I would have suggested talking to your health visitor regarding a referal to a paediatrician if needed.

Any assessment for ASD in a child would usually involve broad general medical and developmental assessment anyway as a first step.

 

http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=21397

I posted some useful links on this thread that might be useful.

Some of the information relates more to children over two.

However Sure-start is a universal service available to all parents of pre-school children.

Portage and many of the other things I have mentioned are available for very young children with various needs if professionals consider there is a need.

In most areas provision for very young children is not ASD specific anyway.Karen.

Edited May 27, 2009 by Karen A

[sadie]

I realised from Day 1 that there was something different about my DD.... didn't want to picked up or held, wouldn't feed, turned head away on contact.... all very odd for a new born.

 

On the other hand my NT son had some very strange behaviours, was known in the local creche as "Mr More Push" , would refuse to get out of his buggy, wouldn't have his winter hat off in the height of summer, and would direct the workers with insistent demands for "More Push". If he had turned out ASD I could have pointed to these incidents and said "I told you so".

 

Well worth having your fears investigated but it may take some time before any diagnosis is forthcoming and, with a bit of luck, maybe your concerns may have been totally unfounded. ( Hope I'm not sounding too dismissive...)

 

Best wishes and good luck,

 

Sadie.

[Freaky Niki]

we did notice she had some problems with changes , but I can't say they seemed exeptional so far , other kids can have a problem with certain changes too , other factor that makes me think of autism is that I think (not tested yet) since a very short while that I have a mild form of Asperger , I always had my problems but even if I still make mistakes I dont consider it such a big issue , situations that r really a problem r rare for me (35 now , has been different).

 

In fact I found out about that Asperger thingy when I was searching for info about my daughter.

 

she prefers sitting in her relax chair , took a while (several weeks) to get her to accept being put elsewhere : a few minutes first (crying of course), then bit by bit longer.

Edited May 27, 2009 by Freaky Niki

[Cat]

we did notice she had some problems with changes , but I can't say they seemed exeptional so far , other kids can have a problem with certain changes too , other factor that makes me think of autism is that I think (not tested yet) since a very short while that I have a mild form of Asperger , I always had my problems but even if I still make mistakes I dont consider it such a big issue , situations that r really a problem r rare for me (35 now , has been different).

 

In fact I found out about that Asperger thingy when I was searching for info about my daughter.

 

she prefers sitting in her relax chair , took a while (several weeks) to get her to accept being put elsewhere : a few minutes first (crying of course), then bit by bit longer.

 

The thing is that many babies like routine and cry when you change things. Although I had a gut feeling about my youngest I was not looking to label him at 10 months because all babies are different and do different things at different times. I have two on the spectrum who could not be more different and presented totally differently. It was not until my youngest went for an assessment that many of the things that he had done or cried about when he was a baby fell into place. I would try to enjoy your daughter (I enjoyed every second of my son) and try not to dwell on all of the things that she is not doing. She is a unique little person all in her own rights.

 

Cat

[bid]

As you have concerns, I think you are doing the right thing by seeing a paediatrician.

 

However, I also think you need to keep a very open mind, as it could be any number of things, or nothing at all, as she is still very, very young.

 

Cat has made a very good point: enjoy your little girl rather than worrying too much.

 

Hope you get good news from any investigations to set your minds at rest.

 

Bid

[call me jaded]

Well we were at the paediatrician's at 10 days old, referred by a HV who knew her stuff after we asked her if she was sure everything was alright. It was a long, slow process of wait-and-see and everything everyone in this thread is encouraging you to do, and a whole battery of tests where he came out 'normal' but I do think it's worth having some self-belief if you think things aren't right and just keep going to all the appointments (I lost count at 32 in one year, and that was only half-way through). Just do what feels right to you and don't worry too much about all the well-meaning comments about your parenting (can't tell you how many people told me my son's head was on one side). It is hard to wait, but development delay means there has to be a period of development first. Those months just dragged. Had he not been a first child I'd have had much stronger self-belief. The other thing is we put our lives on hold, thinking the next appointment was going to be definitive in some way, so if you can carry on as normal then so much the better.

 

You could read around the CHAT screening test done at 18 months.

[smiley1590]

i would keep in touch with health visitor and keep updated on any other changes in her delayed development and just keep an eye on things keep a record if worried on signs you think she may have then if keep happening i would show professionals involved!

 

lack of eye contact and no social smile is just a two of autistic type signs there are many more to that list.... so is there anything else there that you know of that is bothering you alot?!i would reserach information on autistic spectrum disorders and related condtions on net and in books! and see if any more signs are your daughter!?

 

 

good luck with everything

[smiley1590]

i would ring or email NAS and ask about your concerns etc about your daughter and you! i would do to docs ask for referal to be assessed yourself as if your on the autistic spectrum it MIGHT be possiblity your daughter has slighty higher chance of having an kind of ASD too! what signs are you showing do you think? growing up have u always felt 'different' and can't explain it?! was you bullied? the sooner you spot early signs and get asessed and diagnosed IF she HAS it then she has better chances to her when she older sne probably be bale to cope and deal with it alot positively and accept it more openly! did u struggle at school? have you ever been tested for anything before? would you get tested for AS!? as more adults are being diagnosed as missed before!

[Freaky Niki]

had a chat with a psychologist (and friend) yesterday , he thinks it is quite possible that I have Asperger , but he considers it much more important to adapt to my actual weaknesses then to put a label on me , about my daughter , I'm probably much too impatient and too eager to get info asap , patience was never one of my strengths , but I guess I will have to accept that a decent investigation will take a while and let those specialists do their job instead of trying to do it for them.

 

Thx for the replies , they make me accept that I should have patience and at least give me some hope that my fears might not come true.

[Sally44]

had a chat with a psychologist (and friend) yesterday , he thinks it is quite possible that I have Asperger , but he considers it much more important to adapt to my actual weaknesses then to put a label on me , about my daughter , I'm probably much too impatient and too eager to get info asap , patience was never one of my strengths , but I guess I will have to accept that a decent investigation will take a while and let those specialists do their job instead of trying to do it for them.

 

Thx for the replies , they make me accept that I should have patience and at least give me some hope that my fears might not come true.

 

Even if your fears do come true, they may not be a big as you imagined. Fear of anything is usually the biggest hurdle. Underneath any diagnosis is the same child we have known since day one. I found it hardest to deal with the death of my 'expectations' of my sons 'normal progress'. But he has remained as he always was, a lovely boy.

(As I am typing in this forum he is sat watching a DVD, dressed as a combat soldier with his guns ready to fire at the screen).

I didn't really notice much difference until my son was around 2 years old. He would scream if my husband picked him up and only wanted me. His speech was delayed, and then at around 3 he become echolalic repeating what was said to him back at you, and watching TV all day long if allowed and using the TV dialogue to form his 'conversation'.

He also has alot of sensory issues. But that too was not recognised by me as being 'autistic' because most of my family (especially me) have sensory issues and auditory processing disorders.

He is quite good with change as long as he has an understanding of 'when' it is going to happen and if his expectations are met.

Tantrums were spectatular, and mostly I couldn't even tell you what caused them. Sometimes I would ask him something eg. do you want a drink and he would say no, so I would put the cup away and he would become hysterical. It was as if he didn't understand language although he responded to it.

But he has made a huge amount of progress.

Just raise any concerns you have. Every child on the spectrum has a different combination of 'traits' and at different severities. So there is no black and white test. Sometimes a diagnosis comes quickly, sometimes it takes much longer.

Just remember to post again if you have any other queries as there are many on this forum with lots of experience and are happy to share it.