Are these signs of autism?

Question

My son will be 3 in March. He can say about 75 and he uses them correctly. He can say one sentence "where did you go". He understands everything we say. He does 2 step directions. he is very loving and affectionate. Loves to play with his cousins.. though i am noticing recently that he flaps his arms. usually this happens when he is excited or mad or tired. I am very concerned about autism. I have read about autism but would it be more than 2 characteristics to diagnose as autistic?

Answer 1

I wouldn't worry your child sounds normal. Autistic children have little imagination and prefer their own company.

Answer 2

There is a test for autism called the ADOS.   You should be able to get this test free of charge.    It would tell you for certain and then you could either proceed to treatment or feel reassured.   Your son sounds like my son at that age and my son has asperger's syndrome, a very mild form of autism.   If there is any chance of autism I would hate to see your son miss opportunities for treatment.

Answer 3

Of course discuss your concerns with your pediatrician, but my son does the hand waving too he is not autistic but has been diagnosed with a mild form of cerebral palsy. He is about 7 months behind physically but with therapy is doing great. The hand waving does not necessarily mean autism. It's so scary but getting therapy and advice from professionals will help your son alot. Good luck to you and your baby boy=:>)

Answer 4

I wouldn't be overly worried.  He should have more words of speech at his age and be putting together more short phrases and sentences.  This sounds possibly like SLI (Specific Language Impairment), especially as you say his understanding of language is good. He could however just be a late developer.  

Autism is best thought of as a failure of socialisation, imagination and communication and has many obvious signs.  

Does he make eye contact?

Does he cuddle you?

Does he appear to be oversensitive to any sensory stimulation in the environment?

Does he prefer to be alone and become agitated if approached?

Does he like vestibular stimulation?

Is he obsessive about a particular toy or object?

There are many more questions to answer and boxes to tick before you need to worry about autism.

The fact that he plays with his cousins is a sign he does not have autism.  Does he pretend whilst he is playing? - Autistic children have a great deal of difficulty pretending!

To improve his language and later literacy development, you can ensure that you talk to him a great deal, encourage him to talk, read nursery rhymes, - sensitivity to rhyme and alliteration is vital in language development.

He will probably catch up in time, but you are correct to keep an eye on things.

There is a book, which might reassure you that he does not have autism, it is called, 'Autism: A guide to understanding and helping your child.'  It is written by an organisation called 'Snowdrop.' who are child development consultants.

You will find the book on their website at http://www.snowdrop.cc

Answer 5

My son was diagnosed with autism 1 month after he turned 3, by what you are stating I would say no he's not autistic.; but you may want to look into the possiblities of Asperger's (sometimes known as high-functioning autism) which is a form of autism, but to most people they seem like a normal child, or look into PDD-NOS, also known as 'atypical autsim', where they may have some slight characteristics of autism but not enough to meet critieria in the other PDD's.

You know your child better than anyone, to put your mind at ease, I would visit the link below, they'll give info about charcteristics of autism, asperger's, PDD-NOS, etc along with the criteria for diagnosis. They also include other disorders that have similiar charteristics to autism or if they have autism could be more prevalent.

Answer 6

He should be saying more than  one sentence by age 3, but he seems normal.  If he doesn't give u eye contact and starts going in circles for minutes at a time, then be worried.  He sounds ok to me, but do visit www.autism.com for more info. good luck!

Answer 7

i dont really think so. my son is autistic .

Answer 8

Hand-flapping could be sensory-based as well, even neurotypical kids do it.  Everything else about your son sounds developmentally sound and I don't see that he would be on the spectrum.  I posted a link in the source section to some red flags for autism.

Answer 9

not at all dont worry if he had it he wouldnt be able to talk and he probably be head butting u by now

Answer 10

There is nothing in your post that leads me to believe that your son has Autistic traits.

Flapping his arms when excited, mad or tired is probably just your sons way of expressing his emotion.

Sounds pretty normal to me.