Concerned Aunt of 3 year old

[Andrea1972]

Hi ,

I am writing because I think that my 3 yr old nephew may be autistic. I recently took care of my nephew for 6 months, in that time i noticed that he was "slow" in some areas. His vocabulary consists of a few words, babbles and makes different sounds and he often repeats what other people say. He will lay down for extended periods of time playing with his fingers, or whatever he happenss to be fixated on(pieces of paper, toys) and will isolate himself(will close himself in room alone for long periods of time) and prefers to play alone. He also has severe temper tantrums , he will bang his head against a wall, bite and or hit himself and is also aggressive when playing with other children(bites and hits others). I am not sure how to bring this upto my brother so that my nephew can be observed . Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you

[Advocate]

Hi Andrea,

As a father of an autistic child, your brother may have already noticed the same behaviors and not said anything. To a parent, its hard to think that your child my have a disability like autism. Everything that you mentioned are characteristics of the Autism Spectrum Disorder. I would suggest sitting down with your brother, just the two of you and tell him your feelings, then ask him has he noticed them to. You want to give him the chance to open to you, and tell you his feelings. You may also want him to sit with you and observe together. This will allow him the chance to get another persons opinion, namely yours. Make sure that your aproach is from a loving stand point. Your a great sister and a caring one. You will do fine. You may also ofter to go with him to have the child evaluated.



[QUOTE=Andrea1972]Hi ,

I am writing because I think that my 3 yr old nephew may be autistic. I recently took care of my nephew for 6 months, in that time i noticed that he was "slow" in some areas. His vocabulary consists of a few words, babbles and makes different sounds and he often repeats what other people say. He will lay down for extended periods of time playing with his fingers, or whatever he happenss to be fixated on(pieces of paper, toys) and will isolate himself(will close himself in room alone for long periods of time) and prefers to play alone. He also has severe temper tantrums , he will bang his head against a wall, bite and or hit himself and is also aggressive when playing with other children(bites and hits others). I am not sure how to bring this upto my brother so that my nephew can be observed . Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you[/QUOTE]