First steps to help my 2 year old?

[cajunjay1]

Hi

 

My son has never really met any milestones upto his 2nd birthday, he was a late crawler and walker but now he has great motor skills but does not say any words and lives in a dream like state. He rarely makes any eye contact with me or my wife and is very hyperactive and cannot sit still for 1 second the only way to calm him is to put on the TV.

 

We just got back from seeing a specialist doctor who has sent us (tomorrow) to have blood tests done to see if anything can be found out that way and he also did mention the possibility of autism, which me and my wife have expected for a very long time.

 

Our health visitor came yesterday with a lady who does a 2 year check up and they just dont seem to understand that he isnt normal and keep saying he is just delayed and will catch up soon but they do not see him for very long and he was tired so not as hyperactive as normal when they saw him. They did try some toys with him but as usual showed no interest but to throw the toys or put them in his mouth.

 

I decided a few weeks ago to do as much research as possible into early interventions and any ways to help lesson his autistic behavior and hopefully get him more focused and learning.

 

 

He just loves cows milk and yogurt and it is pretty hard getting him to eat different foods and i have now realised he mostly wants to eat any foods that have alot of gluten and or casein. So yday we stopped his large intake of cows milk and tried him with coconut milk which he didnt like that much but did drink it.

 

Today which is his first day without gluten or caseine products he is acting a little more disconnected than usual even more in his own world, right now he is lying down on his back doing nothing almost just staring into space. Is it usual that he will have strange behavior during the first few days of his diet change? Also he got very upset a few times today when i said we must turn the tv off he actually went into tears which doesnt normally happen.

 

Any other tips or information to help us out would be much appreciated I just weant whats best for my son and want to get the help early as the NHS help is fair but very slow and for some reason they are trying to brush it all off as a delay.

 

(We live with our kids 24/7 so we know better and can tell when something isnt right with them)

 

 

 

Thanks

Edited September 5, 2012 by cajunjay1

[Wordsmith]

Hello there,

 

this must be really hard for you.

 

Having Asperger's, I remember quite a lot from my own childhood - I often felt as though I was in my own world.

 

Eye contact, whilst being a social norm, isn't really important for every day life. Naturally, it may be unnerving to have no eye-to-eye with your son, but if eye contact isnt needed - don't use it.

If your son is verbal, you could always make him repeat any requests you make, just to ensure that he's fully taken your words in. Many autistic kids reply with answers, sometimes without fully comprehending the situation - ensuring he understands can really help.

As I was advanced and had precocious speech from babyhood, I can't help if he's nonverbal.

 

Have you checked with a doctor regarding his diet change? I know that rapid changes in food intake can be somewhat upsetting for the system. If you've got the go-ahead from the doc, then great - but if not, perhaps make sure a medic knows and approves of what you're doing.

 

As for quashing autistic behaviour, the only advice I can give is to research autistic disorders - better the devil you know, than the devil you don't know, so they say.

Books, reliable internet sites and telephone helplines are all fantastic resources - try out the National Autistic Society (NAS) or the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) website. Great Ormond Street Hospital have a briliant website, too.

Bear in mind that autism and Asperger's are actually neurological changes, so unfortunately no cure is available, but many of us with ASDs argue that if you take away the disabilities, you take away the gifts that so commonly come with them. For example, I'm a very talented writer, dedicated and learned - but apart from linguistic skills, I'm not anything above average. Your son could be a savant learner too, in the future.

 

I wish you the best of luck to both you and your wife - and of course your son, too.

 

Best wishes,

 

Wordsmith xxx

[Shnoing]

Read Charlotte Moore, George ans Sam; both are on the autistic spectrum, but totally different.