All About Autism

[helplessmum3]

double e, wat make u thik your son is ASD?

[helplessmum3]

Double E:

There's one thing that I am puzzled about my boy's behaviour. When he wants to get out attention, he will call us or tap our hand or shoulder, which is the correct way to do it. But when he wants to go near his sister or try to communicate with her, he will use his finger to poke her face or eyes, making her cry and mad. Why can't he use the same method that he used on us when trying to communicate with his sister? Do any of your kids display such inconsistency?

Your girl look like a doll

[helplessmum3]

Signs and symptoms of autism in older children

As children get older, the red flags for autism become more diverse. There are many warning signs and symptoms, but they typically revolve around impaired social skills, speech and language difficulties, non-verbal communication difficulties, and inflexible behavior.

Signs and symptoms of social difficulties in autism
Basic social interaction can be difficult for children with autism spectrum disorders. Many kids on the autism spectrum seem to prefer to live in their own world, aloof and detached from others.

Appears disinterested or unaware of other people or what’s going on around them.
Doesn’t know how to connect with others, play, or make friends.
Prefers not to be touched, held, or cuddled.
Doesn’t play "pretend" games, engage in group games, imitate others, or use toys in creative ways.
Has trouble understanding or talking about feelings.
Doesn’t seem to hear when others talk to him or her.
Doesn’t share interests or achievements with others (drawings, toys).
Signs and symptoms of speech and language difficulties in autism
Children with autism spectrum disorders have difficulty with speech and language. Often, they start talking late.

Speaks in an abnormal tone of voice, or with an odd rhythm or pitch (e.g. ends every sentence as if asking a question).
Repeats the same words or phrases over and over.
Responds to a question by repeating it, rather than answering it.
Refers to themselves in the third person.
Uses language incorrectly (grammatical errors, wrong words).
Has difficulty communicating needs or desires.
Doesn’t understand simple directions, statements, or questions.
Takes what is said too literally (misses undertones of humor, irony, and sarcasm).
Signs and symptoms of nonverbal communication difficulties in autism
Children with autism spectrum disorders have trouble picking up on subtle nonverbal cues and using body language. This makes the "give-and-take" of social interaction very difficult.

Avoids eye contact.
Uses facial expressions that don’t match what he or she is saying.
Doesn’t pick up on other people’s facial expressions, tone of voice, and gestures.
Makes very few gestures (such as pointing). May come across as cold or “robot-like.”
Reacts unusually to sights, smells, textures, and sounds. May be especially sensitive to loud noises.
Abnormal posture, clumsiness, or eccentric ways of moving (e.g. walking exclusively on tiptoe).
Signs and symptoms of inflexibility in autism
Children with autism spectrum disorders are often restricted, inflexible, and even obsessive in their behaviors, activities, and interests.

Follows a rigid routine (e.g. insists on taking a specific route to school)
Has difficulty adapting to any changes in schedule or environment (e.g. throws a tantrum if the furniture is rearranged or bedtime is at a different time than usual).
Unusual attachments to toys or strange objects such as keys, light switches, or rubber bands.
Obsessively lines things up or arranges them in a certain order.
Preoccupation with a narrow topic of interest, often involving numbers or symbols (e.g. memorizing and reciting facts about maps, train schedules, or sports statistics).
Spends long periods of time arranging toys in specific ways, watching moving objects such as a ceiling fan, or focusing on one specific part of an object such as the wheels of a toy car.
Repeats the same actions or movements over and over again, such as flapping hands, rocking, or twirling (known as self-stimulatory behavior, or “stimming”). Some researchers and clinicians believe that these behaviors may soothe children with autism more than stimulate them.
Common self-stimulatory behaviors:
Hand flapping
Rocking back and forth
Spinning in a circle
Finger flicking
Head banging
Staring at lights
Moving fingers in front of the eyes
Snapping fingers
Tapping ears
Scratching
Lining up toys
Spinning objects
Wheel spinning
Watching moving objects
Flicking light switches on and off
Repeating words or noises

[Double E]

helplessmum3:

double e, wat make u thik your son is ASD?

U mean when did I realise he has ASD?
I realise something is wrong with him when he was 22 mths as he displayed the following symptoms:
- no speech
- no babbling
- does not point at things that he wants or interest him
- likes to spin things, any thing that he can get hold off, including toys
- likes to stare at ceiling fans
- Flaps his arms (actually, he started flapping when he was about 15mths old)
- Not interested in other children
- Visual stiming
- When he started to have speech, he kept repeating the words like reciting numbers and alphabets
- Tantrums, for a period, he will cry out loud the moment he stepped into our friends' house or if friends come to visit us.

These red flags are good enough to have the doctor suspecting him to be ASD or PDD-NOS. The private psychologist once suspected him to be PDD-NOS because he still has joint attention and has social smile.

But now at 3.5 years, most of the above red flags have disappeared except for the last 4. He still likes to repeat things and for a period, he will say the same thing when he pass by a certain place. He still does his visual stim every now and then, still not interested in other children except when playing catching. I think he likes catching because it allows him to run, he likes to run to get his sensory input. And for tantrums, it can get very bad sometimes, he will sit or lie on the floor and wail and kick. But thankfully, so far, this tantrums are only targeted at his family members not at his teachers or therapists, I hope it doesn't escalate further.

He still have limited interest, only likes to play with trains and cars.

Though he has improved alot, his 'good' points are not enough to compensate the areas that he is poor at, that's why he is clinically diagnosed as mild ASD.

[helplessmum3]

double e, u real best mom to your son..

very good in analysising..

i find that you son progress very very good..

from no speech to asking question and negoitating..

i jus check w insurance, i thnk my son is consider pre exist symtpoms lioa since he got diagnoised at kkh . :(..

hiaz.. i jus follow blindly by his school.

go poly clinic get refer to CDU and get him diagnosed... shld have wait awhile. since he was so young back then..

[helplessmum3]

double e, is this visual stimminghttp://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIZCW2u_JxM&feature=related?

[Double E]

I can’t watch the youtube video. His visual stiming involved him walking along and staring at straight lines. Sometimes, he will use his eyes to trace lines. For normal people like us, we will wonder what’s this boy looking at and only he finds the lines interesting. This habit of him comes one and off, there was a period for almost 2 mths, that he did not do it at all and we thought he has grown out of it, but it came back again.


As for his improvement, I am most thankful that he has found his voice, he can finally use his voice to tell us things that he wants. I read that a high percentage of ASD persons do not speak and will never speak.

For a long time, I thought he will will be one of them because he really had a hard time trying to say his first word, u can see his mouth trying to make a sound but it seems that there is an invisible devil using his demonic hand to cover his mouth, refusing to let him speak. That was very painful to watch. For eg, we tried to get him to say ‘milk’ before we give it to him, he can’t say it, all he can do is to make a "m" sound. At that moment, I feel so sorry for him, so poor thing, he is not mute but yet the Autism devil refuses to let him speak.

[Double E]

Helplessmum

For your boy’s insurance, maybe you don’t do any thing now, don’t say anything to your agent. When your boy is 5, you can send him for re-assessment. Judging by what you have described of your son, you may get a pleasant surprise. If he continues to display social skills and play appropriately with his friends, there is a good chance that he is just a slightly delayed case and not ASD.

[Blokus]

From the list, my son has

1) doesn't know how to make friends (but fully aware of his surroundings)
2) Don't share interest/achievements with others
3) Spoken language difficulty
4) Lots of grammar errors when speaking but can write proper English on paper :?
5) Avoids eye contact
6) doesn't pick up people's emotions ( though if you ask him he can tell you the emotions of a person)


He has no issues with the rest, didn't spin things or have tantrums or have obsessive behaviors when he's younger or even now. He's symptoms are very subtle, perhaps that's why my hub thinks nothing of his condition? That's why I never thought he had. That's why I am still wondering maybe he has other disorder but not autisim? Yet, at his social class, I saw a group of kids who seem perfectly normal to me. That's why I'm half telling myself he has autism. :sad: I will not know till the proper diagnosis.

[Blokus]

Double E:

There's one thing that I am puzzled about my boy's behaviour. When he wants to get out attention, he will call us or tap our hand or shoulder, which is the correct way to do it. But when he wants to go near his sister or try to communicate with her, he will use his finger to poke her face or eyes, making her cry and mad. Why can't he use the same method that he used on us when trying to communicate with his sister? Do any of your kids display such inconsistency?

I find my son is inconsistent at home, at school and at his social class. But I also don't know why. At home hes chatty, eye contact, joint attention and all but don't display all these at social class & at school. At school he is very well behaved, no jumping, pays attention in class and retains whatever was taught. But in social class, he's more fidgety, jumps awkwardly when excited and can't remember the story told in class. :? I also don't know why.