questions...

[Jessica]

I believe that my almost 4 year old son may be autistic. He can repeat tons and tons of things, the alphabet (he knows and recognizes the letters) numbers up to 100, colors and even more difficult shapes (parallelogram, octagon, etc) He also memorizes just about everything, including whole childrens books,(his current favorites are Green eggs and ham, and NO, david.) he is lovable, but doesnt make much eye contact. Unless I look directly into his face and say his name, he rarely answers me when I call him or even turns his head. He is just starting to speak more than one word at a time, and has only said 1-2 full sentences (I dont want to go to bed & wanna go ride the bike?) he also repeats things from hearing them from his older sister (shes almost 6) or videos. My husband thinks I'm insane for even considering that there could be a problem, and refuses to talk about it when I bring it up. (He has had his hearing evaluated and its was perfect) My husband admits that he seems a little behind in speech, but to me it is more than that, because although he knows a lot of words, he cant communicate a real conversation with you.

I know its hard to get a grasp of what I mean by only reading a summary of what he is like, but if you can offer any suggestions, or opinions, it would be greatly appreciated.

Btw, my name is Jessica ;) and my son is Brian. :)

Thanks!

[crussell]

Hi Jessica,
My son is 4, his name is Cameron, he was just diagnosed in February as Autistic. We had many of the same concerns with his speach development. Cameron can count to 100, he recognizes all the letters in the alphabet, he has an amazing memory for melodies/songs. He also has unusual attachmants to non-toy objects (fans, magnets). Does Brian mimic/repeat things back to you? example, if you ask him " How are you? does he repeat "How are you" or does he answer? Cameron mimics/repeats almost everything, it is very hard to converse with him, he just doesn't seem to understand what you are saying or asking. It sounds possible that Brian may be autistic, the best thing you can do is raise your concerns with your family Dr./pediatrician. I hope this helps.

crussell.

[Momof3]

Your son sounds a lot like my Clayton, 3 yrs old. He knows his colors,#'s, ABC's. But he never did little things like play pat-a-cake or peek a boo.
I had a lot of questions and everyone kept telling me he didn't show the classic signs, he was a boy and they develop slower, I heard it all. I went by my own gut feelings. We started by having his hearing checked and then had him evaluated by our counties Early Intervention. From there he was started on Speech therapy and Occupational therapy. Just this past feb we saw a Neurologist and they told us he was on the Autisc Spectrum. This brought so many different feelings. We had lots of questions.
I would have him evaluated by a neurologist. If he is not Autisc then great, you know. But if he is the sooner you know the better for him and you can get the extra help your family needs. The earlier it is discovered the better and the sooner you get him the help he needs, the sooner he will start being able to communicate! Wouldn't you love for him to tell you what he wants and not get so frustrated?

[AutMom]

Jessica, What you describe sure reminds me of my son at that age.

[clgonzal]

Hi

My son was diagnosed with autism 8 month ago and he shows most of the behavior you’re describing, he has been in OT, ST, and BT since then and he has response wonderful to his therapy

Echolalia the repetition or echoing of verbal utterances made, it could immediate, and not immediate, what they mean is if the child repeat after he hear it is immediate other wise is Echolalia not immediate

Echolalia is one of the behaviors on the Autism spectrum, usually they just repeat the phrase but they don't now what it means or how to use it for communication.

The non response behavior when you call his name, we have passed trough it using a regard technique, we started giving him a reward every time he pays attention to you or your husband, like when you call him for his name and he comes you giving one of his favorites candies, after a while the candy is not needed anymore. When we first started with this techniques we had to go and gave him one, just to get his attention and then move from him three feet and call him, when he comes you give him one, and then move around a room and between room call him, I'm explaining how it works fast but it will takes days. The whole idea is later add other commands like sit, etc when he gets to you.

My son is now doing so great that he sit when we asking to, give five, kisses, hug, sit, stand up, and so many things that we're amaze how wonderful this technique works.

Regards
Claudio

[Jessica]

thankyou all...

I made an appt with our pediatrician, they seemed to think it wasnt a big deal... :rolleyes: and I had to insist on him being seen soon (and not waiting for his physical in August)

Brian does play peek-a-boo, and he interacts, but it seems limited. A friend of mine has an autistic son, and he is on the severe end of the spectrum, I dont think if brian is autistic that it is severe, more probably mild.

He does not echo me, he fell and hurt his foot the other day and said "I got boo-boo" and after I kissed it and put a bandaid on it, he said "all better" and walked away.

He is HIGHLY into sports, almost to an EXTREME, he will play baseball for hours, totally by himself, and not stop to eat unless we remind him. He also repeats his behaviors quite a bit, he says the same phrase over and over... and completely out of context...

argghhh... well, we'll see what the dr thinks! THANKS!

[mummy]

Just to say hi,
Read through all above and its brill to think im not alone, and Morgan my three year old boy isnt silly. It sound like all of them have the same anticts, im just getting used to his. Morgan has only just been diagnosed and i am very shocked, i thought he was normal.