What was your developmental history like?

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My developmental history was more like a story or a map than it was like a comet, IMHO.

I was not like "little professor". I don't know enough about my development history. I started talking about two years old. Various peculiarities were explained by visual impairment. A special school was being considered for me. I was probably considered stupid. I've been bullied since first grade. There were doubts as to whether I could handle high school. I also graduated from university. Over the years, I accidentally learn different things about my developmental history. But when I ask for details, I get an answer from my mom that she doesn't remember.

Actually too painful to recite most days. Probably a very good idea to get your son checked out.

Very late talker. But when I finally started talking—spoke in full sentences. Had no speech until age 5.

Very slow socially, though somewhat intelligent academically.

I would get your son assessed as soon as possible. How does he play?

I’ve already had a speech evaluation and he’s in therapy now. I haven’t had him evaluated for ASD yet but will probably ask about it at his next evaluation.

This is good to hear at least.
His play doesn’t strike me as too unusual. He plays with trucks in a fairly typical way and makes “vroom vroom” noises, not the stereotypical lining them up. He loves construction toys, musical instruments and puzzles. Lately he’s also been showing affection towards some stuffed animals and dolls, like hugging and cuddling. I was pleasantly surprised by this.

It’s true that many children, especially boys, don’t talk that well until age 3.

I’ve actually heard this before as well so it’s just not the late talking that’s bothering me. It’s the other stuff, stimming, staring at fans for hours, losing words he previously said, etc.

I did have some 'oddities' when I was little, but my parents never thought autism (keep in mind this is the 90's, and even then the idea that girls could get "high functioning autism" was barely an idea).
Though I did go selectively mute when I was learning to speak. I could say words, but then I just stopped talking all together for a few months. My therapist, who specializes in helping people with developmental disorders, said that it was likely that I was getting frustrated at being unable to articulate what I wanted to. So instead I became quiet and just listened/observed. When I started speaking again it was in complete sentences.
So it is possible that your son might regain his language. My best guess would be to try and observe him when he does speak, to see if it looks like he's becoming frustrated or upset.
There's also the chance that he just might be non-verbal. I don't know if you've heard of the book "The Reason I Jump". It was written by and autistic Japanese boy who is non-verbal, but other than that perfectly intelligent and capable. It's been translated into English and was pretty big when it first came out a few years back.

I don't see how the stimming is a worrying issue, unless it harmful to himself or others, or destructive. As for staring at fans, I'm not sure if that's something to be worried about at this point, although I'm not a professional and have only my own experiences and other anecdotes to offer. I did go through a phase when I was really little where I liked to rub my forehead on the carpet. I'd crawl along the floor with my head on the carpet, and I'd end up with rugburn on my forehead. Still dunno why I did it, but I did eventually out-grow it. I'm also assuming you're talking about electric fans, and not like hand fans or anything. Maybe you could show him something else that isn't a fan but spins, like the wheel on a toy car, and see if it's fans that fascinate him, or circular motion? That might tell you something a bit more.

S-word = “Spastic”

i hope the OP has good social service/good insurance to assist her child in his development. there wasn't any of that stuff in my young years so i was stunted. didn't speak 'til 4. didn't read 'til 6 or so. in sped for my elementary school years. lousy proprioception/reflexes so my time in PE stank to heaven, they usually sent me to the office to do their paper work.

This might not have as much to do with your autism as just a crummy school system. I couldn't read at six either, so I needed special 'remedial' reading lessons. I was reading above my grade level my the time I was 8. My pre-k teacher had taught phonics, my kindergarten teacher continued this because that was how I learned best, my first grade teacher (the one who sent me to remedial lessons) though phonics was a bunch of BS and refused to teach me that way, so I didn't learn well. This was a theme throughout school for me, I had a lot of teachers who insisted that they knew the best way to learn to do something, even if it made no sense to me, and having someone else explain it differently worked for me, but would then make the teacher angry because I wasn't learning the way they taught.
Granted I wasn't diagnosed at the time, so there is that. Dunno if that would've been more helpful or not. I do hope she lives in an area with good resources, but I wouldn't hold my breath on the insurance thing. The only kind of autism treatment covered by insurance is ABA therapy... and I don't think I need to explain anything further than that. So, my insurance doesn't cover CBT therapy for my autism and I have to pay out of pocket, although I'm sure if it was CBT therapy for depression or anxiety or something, then it'd be covered!

a pity about the lousy dick-and-jane teacher. i doubt my veterans' insurance covers a shrink for most things 'cept for war [PTSD] related.

The evaluation and speech therapy is covered by the town and school district where I live.

Not sure when I started talking, but my parents used to complain that I was talking all. the. time. when I was around 3. Then they were surprised when I turned 5 and suddenly everything went quiet. By then I had learnt to read and had swapped communication with others for books.

It should be noted that just because I talked a lot it doesn't mean I was sociable. I wasn't really listening to what other people told me. I think I was around 11 when I had progressed far enough in theory of mind to understand that others could be thinking something other than I was thinking. The revelation shocked me because I suddenly understood to what degree my peers around me disliked me.

When I was assessed as an adult my report had "disinterest in forming social bonds, especially with people the same age" written in it. Truthfully, it wasn't so much disinterest as a kind of defaitism, turning my attention to inanimate things instead because I couldn't find any comfort in the company of people.

I wish good luck to your child and if needed, that the assistance available will have a positive impact on his course of development.

My nephew is like that. Wasn't really talking much by age 2 and a half, but now talking a lot and showing more affection to people and cuddly things. I guess that's a sign of being on the right path.