Earliest signs of autism spectrum condition, in a child?

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Agreed. But it definitely muddies the cause and effect discussion, doesn't it?

My son is HFA, undiagnosed until age seven. I worked with babies and little kids for over a decade and always knew he was different. Had those differences dismissed a few times. He developed "normally" with milestones except had profound echolalia (also dismissed) for over two years. He now continues to have delayed echolalia at age eight. In hindsight, from my own experience, some of the marked differences were as follows:

In infancy:
1. Dead weight. My son didn't cling like most babies do or "help" when carried (like little monkeys). I eventually had to take him out of a sling and put him in a stroller because he would lean away from my body and it did my back in trying to keep him from falling out of a sling.
2. Lots and lots and lots of crying during waking hours. This was blamed on 'colic'. He was fine in a motorised swing or being bounced in a small bouncer.
3. He needed to be put to sleep on his stomach and would startle awake on his back.
4. He needed to be "bounced" to sleep and would make a motorised sound during this bouncing until he fell to sleep.
5. Seemed deaf at times.

In toddlerhood:
1. Lined up magnetic numbers that were the same colour, number or letter on the fridge.
2. Sorted blocks according to colour and shape but did not play with them.
3. Echolalia. This was called "normal language development" by our GP and a Paediatrician in a regional community.
4. Fear of deep water, even when held in trusting arms with no exposure to a frightening swimming/water event.
5. Hated having hair washed.
6. Perseverated on visiting a local civic centre rather than playgrounds. Would become markedly upset if we passed this area and didn't stop. When asked where he wanted to go, it was this place and not a traditional kids area.
7. Still needed help to sleep with "bouncing".
8. Seemed deaf at times.
9. Collected odd items. Wanted containers instead of toys. Enjoyed toy cars but only if he could remove the little rubber tyre from the cars and then would stack the tyres. Still collects rather than plays with toys, only now the collections are more expensive.

These are just a few things off the top of my head.

The mirror neuron theory has a lot of holes in it and the tongue thing probably doesn't apply to children with AS.

I think you might be able to determine that your child is different at a very young age, but I don't think one can make definitively say that a child has HFA or AS at a very young age.

I think LFA is going to be apparent under age 1 when the child starts to fail to meet a lot of developmental milestones.

HFA might become apparent when the child fails to meet language milestones.

AS will usually become apparent by age 6 when social interaction becomes more demanding and the child is expected to actively engage in complex social interactions.

That being said, my parents knew I was on the spectrum from about the age of 2 as my peculiarities were enough to cause concern amongst knowledgeable family members and formally trained child care workers.

As an infant, I was very alert and became visible distressed when things were out of place. I became overstimulated easily and preferred to be alone. I kept to myself at pre-school and did not seek to interact with the other children...there was however one teacher's aid I took a liking to because she looked like me. I recall she got married when I was 4 and changed her name and I refused to accept her new last name. I didn't like change in general, especially when it applied to people. I did not make eye contact and with the exception of my mother, I hated to be touched. I had very bad hypersensitivity and my mother went through "every brand of toothpaste on the market" to find one that didn't require I be restrained to have my teeth brushed.

That being said though, I was actually a fairly easy baby because I didn't require constant attention and could keep myself happy for rather long periods of time.

The sad bit about this is how many professionals (at least in this country) miss even that. My son's echolalia for two years was determined to be "normal language development" and I was told "that's how kids learn to speak, by repeating everything you say". We didn't get a dx until he was seven.

Hi
Im brand new to all this in regards to autsim. Im a single mom raising a 3 yr old little girl. My daughter has had terrible anger issues since she was 6 months of age. her way of displaying this was through head banging. It would get worse before it would get better. At one year of age she started having night terrors and throughout her 2nd year it would be coupled with almost nightly fits of anger. Always unexplainable. Along the way she would also have terrible meltdowns and tantrums. She will inflict pain upon herself such as scratching her face, biting her arms, fingers as well as hitting herself with her hands. She has trouble with change in routines and this would apply when for instance i didn't poor the milk in her cereal in the right direction. This can also be selective however. If I decide to change our route to school some days she would have a huge fit and other days she'll be perfectly alright. She panics when its bath time as if im cutting her head off when I try to wash her hair. VERY picky eater and seems to want only fruit and will somtimes eat corn. She'll eat some others things but never whole meals. Now that she's older she's become more rude especially to strangers. She was never behind on her development. She likes that I hold her and cuddle and play with her and she's social. She tries to engage and interract with others. She's been in a dayschool for two years and had in the beginning been the class bully and biter. She never bites anymore and seems to enjoy school. She has a habit of being very friendly to strangers and would go up to hug them. The only repetitive things I've seen her do would be watching a particular movie over and over sometimes back to back. She will repeat herself several times such as "the boy fell down?" "mommy cause the boy fell down?" "The boy fell down?" I would respond but she'll repeat these phrases several more times. Again, only selectively. We've seen a neurologist and speech therapist who never said anything in regards to the autism spectrum. Only recently after seeing a behavioral therapist that Im being told we are looking at asberger syndrome. My only issue is that after extensive study and research , my daughter has failed the assessment tests that are made available online. She's only 3. Isn't it possible that her dr. is only speculating? What suggestions would anyone have concerning my dilema. I would appreciate all advice.