Should I be worried?

[andielk72]

M son is just over 12 months. My husband and I have a lot of trouble with him with food - he hates to eat and when he does is very picky about texture. I started doing some web research and came to developmental disorders/autism and realized he has several behaviors that are concerning. First he rarely responds to his name. He knows it and responds on occasion but overall he ignores us when we call him. He also does not point or have any real words. He does babble, he likes to be held and he laughs a lot and likes watching other kids, he does bring us toys to show us, makes plenty of eye contact and he plays peek-a-boo and gives high fives. I have looked at check lists but they only have yes/no questions (eg: does he respond to his name? .... well,sometimes he does) or lump things together (eg: not pointing or gesturing?...well, does bringing us things count or must he point and engage in other gestures?). I am not especially happy with the responsiveness of his pediatrician to other matters - I have not yet asked him about this - and I'm sure it'll takes months to get an eval with a developmental ped. How worried should I be? Is there anything I can do or should do in the meantime? I very much appreciate any advice or info you could give me.

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by andielk72

M son is just over 12 months. My husband and I have a lot of trouble with him with food - he hates to eat and when he does is very picky about texture.

Sensory issues can be a flag for something serious, or they can *just* be sensory issues.

First he rarely responds to his name. He knows it and responds on occasion but overall he ignores us when we call him. He also does not point or have any real words. He does babble,

Get his hearing checked! Hearing isn't an all or nothing thing, and a minor problem, such as chronic fluid in the ears, could cause everything you listed and could easily be fixed.

he likes to be held and he laughs a lot and likes watching other kids, he does bring us toys to show us, makes plenty of eye contact and he plays peek-a-boo and gives high fives.

This is all good stuff.

I am not especially happy with the responsiveness of his pediatrician to other matters - I have not yet asked him about this - and I'm sure it'll takes months to get an eval with a developmental ped.

It's time to find a new doctor you like. While you are at it, go ahead and get something set up with a developmental ped. If you change your mind you can always cancel the appointment!! Getting on a wait list isn't a commitment.

How worried should I be?

Worry is a pointless emotion, and I try to avoid it. Sometimes I just worry, though, even though I know it is pointless!! To me what you describe sounds more like hearing issues than autism, but I'm not an expert and I've never met your child.

Is there anything I can do or should do in the meantime? I very much appreciate any advice or info you could give me.

Just keep being a great mom. I really like the book "you are your child's first teacher" for a list of developmentally apropriate toys and activities.

[sbgrace]

The main flags at a year are lack of pointing (particularly to draw your attention to things), lack of response to name, and I think lack of imitation (or maybe it's back and forth stuff...I can't remember as my son only had the first two markers).


So I think autism stuff should be on your radar. The thing that's important about pointing is it indicates nonverbal language (which is nearly always affected in autism but not affected in speech delayed kids for example or those with hearing issues though you should certainly start with a hearing test). It wouldn't hurt to look into floortime or something similar that you could do at home with him until he's old enough to be formally evaluated. People here can be a great support and source of ideas too. It sounds like your son is doing lots of great things and if he's spectrum the things you mentioned he does are encouraging indicators in terms of his functioning. He sounds really similar to my son at that age.

[andielk72]

I havent figured out how to multi-quote But, in terms of hearing I believe his hearing is fine... little noises wake him in the AM, he turns when the cats meow etc. And I know worry is pointless but I'm a worrier.... I am also pregnant again so I cant even take the edge off with a glass of wine

Originally Posted by sbgrace

He sounds really similar to my son at that age.

Could you tell me a little more about your son? When was he diagnosed? Was he a social, happy baby and did he lose that? What is he like now? What therapy is he in and what is floor time? Thanks

[sbgrace]

Originally Posted by andielk72

I havent figured out how to multi-quote But, in terms of hearing I believe his hearing is fine... little noises wake him in the AM, he turns when the cats meow etc. And I know worry is pointless but I'm a worrier.... I am also pregnant again so I cant even take the edge off with a glass of wine



Could you tell me a little more about your son? When was he diagnosed? Was he a social, happy baby and did he lose that? What is he like now? What therapy is he in and what is floor time? Thanks

I know that it's really hard to face this kind of worry/fear. When my son was your son's age I would have never had the courage to ask what you did because I would have been afraid people would say, well, what I did-which is only that given those delays autism has to be something you have on your radar. I was just terrified of autism (before we got there...after I wasn't anymore).

I'm happy to tell you about Andrew. Ask anything you want either here or via private message or whatever. He was always happy and social and he still is happy and social. He's always been one to seek out people and enjoy your response to him especially. People would say things like "he smiles more than any baby I know" or "he's the laughingest baby ever". His joy in life and smile is still, I think, the most contagious thing. He was diagnosed at 2.5 with pdd-nos, which means he fits on the autism spectrum but doesn't fit exactly basically. Lots of people prior to that point insisted he couldn't be autistic (I was worried because of the delay in pointing and consistent inconsistent response to name) because of his great eye contact (I have sense decided he didn't really have typical eye contact but it sure seemed it at the time) and that he was "too social". It made it all isolating for me as I seemed to be the only one who was concerned.

I started something called floortime (self taught w/a book I bought) on my own around year old when Andrew wasn't pointing or consistently responding to his name (he was responding, but not at the level typical kids do and he didn't point until around 14 months and other non-verbal things were delayed even more). When we were diagnosed officially we started something called RDI.
http://www.autismweb.com/floortime.htm This is something about floortime. There are lots of yahoo groups and materials to help if you want to try something like that. The way I thought of it at the time was if Andrew turned out not to be autistic there was nothing lost except the money for the how to book I bought (it's a good way to interact with any kid) and if we later found out he was on the spectrum I had started helping him.

[andielk72]

Originally Posted by sbgrace

:
I'm happy to tell you about Andrew. Ask anything you want either here or via private message or whatever. He was always happy and social and he still is happy and social. He's always been one to seek out people and enjoy your response to him especially. People would say things like "he smiles more than any baby I know" or "he's the laughingest baby ever".

Thanks so much for the info. What is your son like today? What therapies is he is in? Does he go to school? I think that if Lucas is on the spectrum he is a lot like Andrew. I also get comments about how smiley he is and he seems so very normal in so many ways that people are brushing off my concerns. I decided to make an appt to get him evaluated by a developmental pediatrician but have to wait a month (less than I thought, tho still seems like forever)before we can get in.

[maybemom05]

You could consider looking into the early intervention process in your area - this is a program that is typically run through your local school district - it's free - and they evaluate young children even though the kids are too young for traditional school. (These services are available to you even if you think you'll homeschool, your son is too young, etc.)

Sometimes university health centers also do early childhood interventions - often with a cross disciplinary team, which might be helpful to you.

It might take a while, but if you are worried, I would start going down the road to get an evaluation. My little guy was just dx'd with sensory processing disorder and I wish I'd had him evaluated earlier. I knew from the day we brought him home that he was a bit "out of synch", but I waited a long time to have him seen, which, in hindsight, was probably a mistake. Our pediatrician, who is a good, NP friendly, physician, insisted he was fine, and that he'd "outgrow it", however, I now realize that most pediatricians aren't trained to recognize sensory issues, and since SPD isn't in the diagnostic manual, they don't really look for it.

Good luck with whatever you decide!!

[sbgrace]

Originally Posted by andielk72

Thanks so much for the info. What is your son like today? What therapies is he is in? Does he go to school? I think that if Lucas is on the spectrum he is a lot like Andrew. I also get comments about how smiley he is and he seems so very normal in so many ways that people are brushing off my concerns. I decided to make an appt to get him evaluated by a developmental pediatrician but have to wait a month (less than I thought, tho still seems like forever)before we can get in.

Andrew is socially/relationally (autism areas) about where your average four year old is I think and he just turned six. He's made a lot of progess in autism areas recently. In the other ways he's a typical six year old--learning to read, playing with his brother, etc. He likes to cuddle and talk to you about trains. His speech is age appropriate though his nonverbal and other autism related areas still not quite where neurotypical kids his age are. None of that comes naturally for him so he has to learn/be guided to discover what other kids just automatically pick up. He's very talkative (so is his brother who is not autistic). He's very sensitive to the moods of others and he wants his dad and I happy all the time. We homeschool (lots of reasons for that, autism not the biggest at all). We do RDI. That's it right now therapy wise. I don't think autism is going to be his struggle in life though I could be wrong about that. He's got some pretty severe attention issues that get in the way more now. He's also got a metabolic condition that leaves his future uncertain.

I've got a clip I made for our RDI therapy. We'd both been sick with a stomach bug and we look like it but I'll send you a link and you can watch if you want to.

I would not expect them to be willing to evaluate autism at that age unless you're in an area where they do research on early signs of autism or something like that. But it doesn't hurt to have someone look.