seriously thinking my son has autism ... any help, ideas please

[kellyj337]

Hello

Im new to this board and some ideas, help and opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Me and my partner have speculated for a few months now that our DS may have autism or show traits within the spectrum.
These are his typical traits that he does on a daily basis, regulary or has done. DS will be 3 end of May.

- Walking on his tip toes
- lines cars, trains or dinosaurs (only things he loves) will go mental if moved or will not go to where he wants it to go
- very fussy and picky eater, goes through stages of eliminating food out of his diet and then add it again.
- has a strong attactment to a pillow case something he has had from a baby
- very limited speech and nursery have an IEP in place for him,
-Language social and communicating is 1 year + behind.
- has no sense of danger.
- has a short attention span and will not sit still
-becomes obsessive over certain things, like going outside, socks, shoes and going in the food cupboard.
-only likes to do the things that he likes to do and will not tolerate anything different
- will repeat sayings, songs, tv programmes off the tv and the actions, if i ask him if hes ok ? he will reply are you ok ? which i am aware there is something called echolailia.
-runs around in circles, uses a high pitch scream.
- started banging his head off the floor or hitting himself across the head with a toy if hes having a tantrum and not getting his own way.
needs to be rocked in our arms for comfort to calm him down when hes having a melt down and we have to be standing or it makes him worse
there are other things he does but these are the main ones that i can think about right now.
i have been at the doctors repeativly and finally been referred to a pediatrician which after a very heated discussion finally said he might do.
i am now waiting for a referal for him to have a child developmental test, where i live in cumbria everything is so slow and backwards.
My DS is such a caring little boy he shows eye contact, hugs and kisses i just want to know if there is something there so hes supported through school etc.
thank you for reading this long post i hope to hear from you soon xxx

 

[Eternal]

possibly yes, asd is a huge spectrum and no two children are the same, your child had simular traits to mine, although mien has no attachement to any items etc, however a lot of the things you mentioned also fit my non asd child too, so its hard to say from a list, some children line up toys and like routine without having autism. But yes, he it does sound like he has signs and being on a IEP obviously shows others have concerns too, which makes its more likely.

Diagnosis depends on place and can vary greatly, my son is on the asd pathway and monitored by the ASD team, but isnt offically diagnosised, he is 4.5 and we have been at this for 1.5 years, still waiting for SALT which is the next step where he will get assessed and they may diagnose him at that point.

Hope things go quicker for you and that your child gets the support he needs.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

hi. My first port of call was the Hv who referred us to a paediatric nurse. I woyld advise speak to HV or GP xx

 

[alibaba24]

Im also in this minefield at the moment, I believe my 4 year old daughter has it. however getting proffesionals to take me seriously so far has been challenging. at least you have taken steps. all i can suggest is keep fighting to get him seen.

from what iv learnt so far with asd is no two kids are the same

 

[Yellow500]

My son was diagnosed a bit over a year ago now and it was hard to get people to take us seriously.

I tried hinting to health visitors and various other professionals for ages as my son had developmental delays and was already in the system but was dismissed every time.

In the end I went to my GP and told him directly that I believed it was autism, giving him a short list of reasons why. He referred me to CAHMS who basically said I needed to attend some parenting course (I told the doctor he was having massive tantrums) and they would see 6 months after that what he was like.

Getting angry I went back to the doctors, saw a different GP and was referred to a pediatrician. Finally the diagnosis was made.

You do have to fight. If at first you don't succeed - keep bothering them.

 

[Cazza7]

I have a 3 year old little boy (was 3 on easter sunday) alarm bells have been ringing lately.

He is very similar, getting worse as days go on, but I dont know where to start because people dont take me seriously and just tell me hes a typical boy.

we was on holiday at the weekend, we was sitting in a dining area, there was around 20 chairs, he lined every single one up and looked extremely proud of himself, I have NEVER seen him concentrate for SO long, when I asked him why he did it, he said because I like it mummy.

He hates loud noises, cant stand hair dryers, hand dryers, showers, anything like that, he screams hysterically and i have to blow in his face to get him to breathe properly.

He thinks everything is too hot, he wont eat hot food, has to wait for it to cool right down.

He doesnt listen to me, cant do eye contact at all, looks at me for a split second then moves his eyes away.

He has no sense of fear, runs off, I cannot trust him at all...

But having said all that, he is extremely clever, and he talks for england, he can say every single word possible.

he very much does his own thing though, only plays with his sister, doesnt really bother with any other children...

I keep trying to stop myself thinking too much, I dont think for a second he has autism severe, but maybe a tiny bit, theres something not quite right.

its going to be interesting seeing how he is this september when he starts pre school. I am leaving it till then, I know they will pick up on it xxx

 

[smileyfaces]

He sounds very very very much like my Oscar (diagnosed ASD).

I agree with Midnight Fairy... health visitor was our first port of call who then got us in touch with paediatrician, speech and language etc.

Remember, ASD is a social communication disorder so professionals will *mainly* be looking at how your child communicates with you and how he interprets and deals with communication from other people. His other issues (running in circles etc) would be sensory issues which run alongside ASD but are not the main cause for concern.

Good luck

 

[JASMAK]

Your child has some traits my daughter has. She is 9 now, but it was very clear by 12 months old, that something was going on. By 18 months she was assessed as a 9 month old. She also has had serious health issues. Anyways, she was very obviously asd, and was diagnosed at 2 yrs, 10mths. She also has low muscle tone. One tool all health professionals use here is the MCHAT checklist. Google it, and take the quiz. Then give it to your doctor. Ask to see a speech pathologist.