Autism - Fall River,MA

Hi K.,
I have a 7 year old with Asperger's Syndrome (which is a high functioning form of Autism)..He is incredibly brilliant (reads at a 4th grade level...and loves math and such)... but has little to no social skills. I noticed issues with him when he was about 2 and had only 4 words... he was evaluated with Early Intervention and did that for about a year.. He was not diagnosed with AS until he was in Kindergarten when he was throwing tantrums a lot.... 4 months is a little young to have a worry...some kids "Bloom" late....

--M.

If you are worried that your 4 month old is not reaching milestone, I would have him evaulted by early intervention. I had 4 out of 5 of my kids in Early intervention. One of my kids is has autism. It was the classic signs, no talking, very anti soical and she does alot of humming as well. She is a triplet as well. She reached all her milestones until she turned 2yrs and she stop talking and then the humming started. Talk to you pedi as well.
Niki mom to 5 beatiful kids ages 8, 4.5, 3, 3,& 3yrs.

My grandson has autism, he is 5 now. He progressed normally till he ws almost two, and then everything just stopped. The words he had learned stopped, all talking stopped. He is still barely speaking even after all kinds of therapy. You would not know about your son until he is older.

I have a four year old mildly autistic daughter. She was fine at 8 months and after her 9 month visit and four vaccinations in one visit, suddenly began regressing, not speaking, no eye contact etc....
My advice...make ABSOLUTELY SURE your child is being given a vaccine that DOES NOT CONTAIN mercury or the additives that have been linked to autism. Just get educated!! We as children used to get three or four vaccines...children now get 21...21! before their second bday! I would not trade our lot in life for anything, I have a gorgeous, smart little girl but my heart breaks when I realize...could have been prevented if our own govt actually protected our children!!

hi K., my sugestion to you is to take baby to the doctor he or she would know if baby has autism. i know kids who have it seem to space out alot you know like in their own world. they also dont smile or have much of a reaction when you talk to them or play with them. i think baby is fine but to put your mind at rest go to the doctor and tell him or her your concerns. it might be that your just a first time nervous mommy and we have all benn there trust me hon. babies are all different and do things when they are ready. just because a friend or family members baby is doing something already that you think your baby should be doing isnt true. your baby will do his or her own things in good time trust me. hope my advice has helped. please let me know how baby is doing. just relax mom you will both be ok.
N. s

Why do you suspect autism? 4 months is NOT too young to diagnosis a child with autism. There are two forms: infantile autism, less than 20% of all cases of autism, and regressive autism. Infantile autism presents at birth while in regressive autism the child develops normally until the age of two and then loses skills that were learned or stops developing relative to peers. If you have a suspicion, see a developmental specialist. I had a suspicion & asked my pediatrician who said that my child was colicky. Two years later we received the official autism diagnosis. My son is high-functioning and will likely test off the spectrum one day. He has received great early intervention services. Because of his cognitive abilities, however, I think doctors were even less likely to see any "problems." Furthermore, because one of the key components to autism is social interaction, it is difficult to gauge at an early age. Great infant studies currently are coming out of Yale & UCLA. From my own experience, in hindsight, my son presented symtoms from birth. He did not want to be held; he was ultra sensitive to changes in temperature, light, touch, and sound; and he would only pacify when starring at a ceiling fan or the reflection of the spinning stroller wheels in the oven glass. If you would like any references or discuss the symptoms that worry you, I would be happy to talk more with you. Take care.

Autism diagnosis usually is not determined until almost 3 years of age. The most obvious signals are delayed speech, echolalia(they just repeat what is said), perseverance of certain objects-will line them up same way every time or spin the object, lack of eye contact with people, walk on tip toes. Hope this helps.
D.

C. sacco wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have autistic children, and I wanted to let you know that at
four
> months old there really would be no way to see it. Enjoy your baby.
> Most likely he/she is fine. Dont stress yourself out. You will long
> for the wasted time if you dont.
> With that being said, children with autism, if I were to put it
in
> one way that I could make you understand because autism is such a
wide
> spectrum that it runs from very severe, to almost normal. They
> generally just dont connect. I remember when my youngest son was
> small, the one thing that stuck out to me was that when most children
> glow, or go running or just generally get excited when a favorite
> aunt.uncle or grandparent came over my son would scream, or just not
> notice at all, he never asked for them but instead acted frightened,
> even as a small baby if I left him with someone other than myself
(dad
> included) he would scream and scream until the moment I came into
eyes
> view and then he would immediately calm down.

I work with children with autism. Autism isn�t diagnosed until the ages of 2 to 6. Some have claimed to be able to diagnose as early as 18 months, but it�s not concrete. As my Mom would tell me, "Don't borrow trouble." If you stress about everything that could be out there you will have no peace. Just enjoy the time you have and take what happens as it happens. Hope this has helped.

Try this site (Autism Society of America) for further research and possible peace of mind.

http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=au...

R

Hi K.,
I work with austic children. I don't have all the answers but I may have some suggestions. Although Autism isn't diagnosed until after age 2 or 3 there are so signs of developmental delay. By 4 months your little boy should be looking at you and trying to "figure you out." He should also be tracking objects. Try holding a toy in front of him and watching to see if he is following it as you move it side to side. If you do have ANY questions I would ask your doctor he/she should be able to give you some other milestones to be looking for. If your little boy seems to be interacting with the world around him. Autistic children dont have social skills so if the baby seems to be in his own little world I would talk to your doctor. The number one thing I want to tell you personally though is that you are ahead of the game by just questioning it though. I pat you on the back for being aware of autism and asking about the signs. Autistic children thrive when it is diagnosed and intervention starts early. Keep your head up and ASK QUESTIONS if you are unsure. ~S.

I have a 10 y.o. with downs and if your that worried ask the dr at his next well child visit

Hi K.-
I work as and Early Intervention Specialist providing therapy for delayed children and have worked with many children on the Autism Spectrum over time. At such an early age, you're just going to want to watch for things like eye contact and interest in other people. Typically around 18 months (plus or minus) a child may lose some abilities, such as not using the couple words that they once had. They don't make good eye contact at all, have delayed language, lack social abilities, etc. I can completely understand how all the new research and the increased awareness is making parents more nervous about Autism in their own children. But rest assured that your son will probably be just fine. If, at any time, you are concerned about him not reaching any sort of milestone, I'd contact his pediatrician to see that they have to say. If they are not concerned but you still seem to be, then contact your local Early Intervention Program and request an evaluation to be done. I haven't looked at your profile to see where you are from, but here in MA it's completely free of charge. Every state has their own version of Early Intervention. Sometimes it's called Birth to Three. If your son is over three years old and you are concerned for his development, you an always contact your local elementary school to do their own evaluation. Good luck! And enjoy your son!

Like Kristal said, there is no way right now to tell, so enjoy every moments.
My son has asperger syndrome (it's on the autism spectrum). It's pretty light compare to a classic autism. We did not notice anything wrong until he was 2 years old. I also got to tell you that his dad is also asperger (and he has a very productive life). What is usually the most stiking with autistic kids, it's the lack of eye contact. It's more the social skills that my son has problem with. He is a very intelligent boy. He knew his alphabet , his colors and shapes (in french and english)at 20 months old. The spectrum is very large and some kids are more affected than others.

Really, right now try not to worry too much about that. Trust me, if something is wrong, you will know. Trust your mommy instinct ...