Mothers of children with autism...?

Question

when did you find out and what were the signs?

did they look into your eyes and giggle as babies then just stop?

im sorry if this is too personal, im just trying to research for my son. thank you for your answers:)

Answer 1

My step-son didnt talk until he was 3. Now that he talks he repeats the same things/questions over and over. He has to think about what you said before he can give an answer.

he holds his ears ALOT to block out noises.. Anything, cars driving by, loud music, someone clapping.

He has periods that his behavior is bad. He goes through separation anxiety even now at 8 yrs old. He clings to certain items.. Likes to sleep with a faovrite shirt or MCd's toy... Is scared of sleeping alone... We have to leave the lights on and the TV. He cries easily and it takes a bit to calm him down..

His dad found out he was autistic around 4 yrs old.

Hope this helps you....There are tests a doctor can do to figure out if your son is autistic

Answer 2

What is yoru son doing?  My story is very similar to the first posters.  I've known from the time my son was very little something was just "not quite right".  Since he comes from a family history of PPDs on his father's side, I'm almost sure that is what it is.  The problem is that no one else will seem to listen.  Oh, his doctor was concerned about his language...  but after we got his hearing checked (TWICE!!!) all she did was recomend speech therapy.  Well, the state denied him, saying he wasn't far ENOUGH behind, and private speech therapy is unfortunately not an option because of where we live.  

When my son was small he used to have...  I don't know how to describe it...  Staring spells.  He would sort of fix on an object far away, or else just into space, and you could touch him, wave a hand in front of him, make a loud noise, anythign, and he wouldn't move.  He wasn't catatonic though, because if you physically picked him up and broke the eye contact, he'd come around.  After testing, the neurologist decided they weren't seizures.  There was an actual diagnosis to it, but I don't think it had a name.  It was just a little check box on his form that basically meant my son "looses touch with reality" periodically.  

We've mostly grown out of those, and he has started talking now.  The patterns were all just slightly WRONG though.  For the longest time he wouldn't respond to any question at all.  He'd talk to you, and sometimes hold conversations, but if you just asked him a question like "what color is that" or "what do you want to eat", He'd turn his head to the side and wouldn't even look at you!  It was almost the exact opposite of Autism in that way, since Autistic kids (the verbal ones at least) will often respond but do not initiate conversation.  I could never reproduce my sons actions in the doctors office though. He always loved going there, and would be babling non-stop.  If she asked a question he'd just ignore her and say something else...  which she says is pretty normal ( and likely is). For some reason he never gave the doctor the silent, head tilted to the side thing...  

Luckily, he's grown out of most of that.  I see fewer signs in him now, but I attribute that to constant monitoring and intervening.  There are things that are still not erased however.  Three months ago he started a new preschool.  He still doesn't remember the names of any of his new friends.  Actually, his preschool teacher is the first person outside my family to actually finally comment on his behavior.  She thinks he's "brilliantly funny", but has noticed that he interacts strangely with the other kids.  It was actually funny to me.  I hadn't told her any of our concenrs, because I was beginning to think that maybe I was just looking for them too hard.  After all, he speaks now (even if he's hard to understand), has a wonderfully involved imagination, and has even initiated play with other kids in the stands at a few basketball game.  

The teacher pulled me to the side about a month ago and was just talking to me about how he's doing.  She said...  "Sometimes he has trouble listening.  I don't know.  It's hard to describe.  Sometimes he's just being defiant, and that's pretty normal, but sometimes it's like he doesn't even hear us.  Are you sure they tested his ears?"  and then I go on to say, "Yes, he's been tested three times.  At his 4-year-old screening he sat there and instead of raising his hand, every time he heard the beep said 'I can't hear anything'".  She laughed, and said...  "I don't really know what else to tell you.  He's really doing fine.  There's nothing I can point to that I can say he's doing wrong.  It's just...  he doesn't quite FIT with the other kids.  He plays with them sometimes, but... Well, I just wanted you to know"  

I know it's stupid, but I felt so relieved.  I wasn't just SEEING things.  I still don't know if it's full blown autism my child has, but there is something.  The truth is, a mother always knows!  

Answer 3

Actually when my son was born I felt something wasn''t right but nobody would listen.  He was a very sensitive baby and hard for anybody to really take care of most of the time unless he really trusted the person.  He was a happy baby once he was about 4 months old but still had "weird spells" that had us all wondering what was going on.  When he turned 3 he started having a lot of behavioral problems and social anxiety issues.  He is now 6 years old and about 6 months ago he was diagnosed with PDD/Aspergers (high functioning Autism).  He will look people in the eyes and he is more social now since he is being worked with on his anxiety but he has the lining things up, the use of big words yet not understanding the little words, his speech is delayed and he didn't really talk until he was 3 years old, he is overly emotional about things and can be hard to handle.  Really the signs depend on how severe the case is.  With Aspergers many don't even appear to have Autism at all but may just seem "different".