ASD infant traits...please describe

[PollyC]

Hi,

Can anybody with an ASD child tell me what some of the earliest traits you noticed were?  I have a sweet 4-month-old baby that I think I may see some signs in.  We have some autism in the family.  I won't go into my own observations...more interested in your unbiased info.  Most of the things I read in books or online about early signs are so general and vague, and I value how perceptive the parents who post here are.

Let me know!  Thanks, folks!

Polly

[Fay]

At that age, it is impossible to know for sure....

BUT....

Some studies demonstrate that autistic babies are more likely to look at the parent's mouth instead of the eyes.  This was certainly the case with my DS1.  There are different types of autism with a wide range of symptoms, sometimes even opposite symptoms may indicate autism.  for example, my DS1 was hyperactive, had severe separation anxiety from birth, prone to panic attacks, lots of sensory issues, so hyperactive that he could not fall asleep even when exhausted and unable to stay asleep for more than a few hours at a time.  He needed to be held (by me and only me) up to 20 hours per day, he would not tolerate alternate caregivers.  I lost 60 pounds in that first year just from the stress of taking care of him -- I couldn't go back to work or grad school.  On the bright side, DS1 was affectionate (with me, anyway) and taught himself to read as a baby.  He was always able to speak, but only in scripts that he memorized from books, and he used language metaphorically, not functionally.  There was never a dull moment with DS1.  DS1's dear little friend, also autistic from birth, was extremely passive, slept all night and took long naps during the day, did not seek interaction with people but tolerated the interaction from others.  His parents thought they had the perfect baby until they realized he wasn't making any sounds at all.

There's a lot you can do to mitigate autistic symptoms in such a young baby.  First of all, attachment parenting will help your baby learn pre-verbal social skills.  So keep wearing your baby and talking to your baby, encourage eye contact, etc.  Second of all, play therapy strengthens the parent-child bond and actively teaches the skills that autistic children do not develop instinctively.  There are no harmful side effects to attachment parenting or play therapy.  Some books that teach these methods are Play to Talk by MacDonald and Engaging Autism by Greenspan, which should both be available at your local library.

Trust your maternal instincts.

Edited by Fay - 1/7/11 at 8:19pm

[soso-lynn]

When I was a baby, I was very quiet. Apparently, everyone thought I was creepy and did not make eye contact. I had to be waken to nurse as a newborn. As I grew, I became increasingly weary of strangers and alternated between being oblivious to what was going on around me to freaking out at any little noise. The fact that I was not totally "normal" was clear and established by the time I was 18 months. 

I was APed and have Asperger's (seemed like classical autism until I started reading encyclopedias when I was 4).

[KCMichigan]

One of my DDs had an PDD_NOS dx from age 18 mon to 4.5. She had a lot of OT & PT during that time.

Things that *may* or may not have been related:

overstimulated easily

poor eye contact

craved sensory pressure (swaddling, tight holding) 

impervious to temperature changes (did fuss if cold or hot), but turned red in heat quickly

motion sick easily

agitated at changes in routine

needed 'down time' (wanted to be left alone as shown by lack of eye contact and turning away from people)

did not tolerate noisy/busy places (shopping stores, mall, etc)

craved motion (swing)

head banged at times

when started speaking lots of echoing

toe walking when learning to walk (still does this)

hand flapping when excited

edited to add: As PP stated--- DD did not notice pain. Still has a very very high pain tolerance.

It was most apparent at ages 2-4....it has improved since then (she is 5.5). She had EI from ages 18 mon to 3 through EI and did have an IEP and had therapy through the schools from age 3 to 4.5 . We also did outside OT & PT through our insurance (as prescribed by a neurologist). She had a mild CP dx as well, which impacted the services she got.

Currently, she no longer qualifies for an IEP and is in a regular PreK classroom.

Edited by KCMichigan - 1/7/11 at 7:11pm

[marge234]

I don't have a personal story to share but two links, FWIW

l  http://www.firstsigns.org/

 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/health/02autism.html

[AnalogWife]

I was just looking at photos of DS when he was very small, I believe he's had Autism since birth.  He's extremely sweet and wonderful, but some signs I would say were the poor eye contact (I was a new mom, didnt really know better until much later, a 10 month old was magnetized on my eyes, he was looooking for contact, it was a very different feeling for me) and he would smile and was happy but he wasn't especially smiley.  "Where's Daddy" games went nowhere, and Daddy was in the same room.  He didn't gaga-goo goo like the other babies, once he did it was more like "taka-taka-taka" and to this day (3.5) he does not talk.

But he DOES communicate and his eye contact is so much better and he's a very happy, kissy, laughy boy.  His receptive language is way better than his expressive, just today his teachers commented that they'd never met a child who communicates so little verbally but has so few meltdowns because gets what he intends, through his eyes, face, pointing, babbling, signing, and now some PECS.  My DH and I credit AP for smoothing out any rough edges, we truly believe that never having to CIO made all the difference in the world.

[PollyC]

This is all really interesting.  I do see some common threads that connect to my baby, but, as you say, it is a little early to tell.  In any case, my baby is loved and well cared for...never has to cry it out, is held a lot, and carried in the baby-wrapper daily.

Looking forward to more narratives!  Thanks so much for these!

P

[Linda on the move]

My dd (aspergers & gifted) was very quiet and never cried. I had to wake her to feed her. She slept through the night very young and slept a lot during the day. We were more concerned about weight gain than anything else. She was a beautiful, easy baby.

As a toddler, she showed signs of sensory issues, becoming upset in large stores and such.

[Zan&Zav]

My absolute biggest sign was that my son hated being held. He would cry anytime he was picked up or touched. Other then to feed him he wanted to be layed down. From the time he was home from the hospital. He was also a preemie and in the NICU for 2 months (26 weeker). He was oblivious to temp changes, and has never shown any signs of feeling pain. This year he had an impacted bowel that i had to fight with 3 docs to help him because noone believed he was in enough pain to have a problem. He was diagnosed at age 2, and is now very verbal and sometimes even wants to snuggle but it took alot of therapies to get there.

[sbgrace]

Well, I had the unique experience of having spectrum and neurotypical twins. There was a qualitative difference I couldn't put my finger on in interactions between the two. My spectrum child was much more "smiley" including responsively and babbled a lot more than my neurotypical. He was always extremely cuddly. But I felt more like an entertainment I think at some level--an interesting thing--than it felt like a true back and forth when I interacted with my spectrum child. He loved eyes. But, again, more like wow, interesting thing there than taking in the whole face including the eyes. A qualitative difference that I never really thought about and only noticed in retrospect. It felt different but I didn't think spectrum back then. In fact, had you asked me which of my kids was spectrum, I might have picked the neurotypical! He was serious. He was colicky. He didn't babble nearly as young as his twin and never as much. He was stiff and not cuddly in my mind. But boy did he need me--needed me to sleep, to console, to everything.

The spectrum twin wasn't demanding at all and seemed easy to please compared to his twin. He was self entertaining--he would laugh and babble at his mobile we had above the changing station forever for example. In fact, I bought another and anchored it to the wall so he could lay on the floor and "talk" to his animals as he enjoyed it so much. He was never able to be soothed by me as a baby it seemed--not really until I could intellectually calm the kid could I help him. At the time I thought this was because of either personality or issues with pain (he had very severe reflux as in spitting up blood). I still think it might have been more personality than the spectrum in him. But mostly he was happy. He always loved people, loved hugs, loved to smile, etc. Still does. Still talks a lot too! Still self entertains well!

The first "hard" sign we saw was probably that he wasn't consistently responding to his name. I started getting concerned at 6 months but technically he had a year to do that. He didn't at a year. He also didn't point at a year (nonverbals missing) and he was delayed as a young baby in reaching out his arms to be picked up as well. He did it but late. All his nonverbal stuff has been late. Earlier I noticed he didn't look to see where I was looking (or pointing) like his twin. In retrospect he didn't look to us when he was uncertain about things like a typical young baby (even 6 months) would do. When a typical child say, sees a door and they don't know if it's safe to try to open it they look to the parent to see on their face whether they should or should not be scared. Mommy doesn't have to say. My spectrum child didn't look. Had he looked I'm certain he wouldn't have "read" my expression.

But at four months I think it would be very hard to know. As I said at four months I would have picked the "wrong" child as spectrum here.

[Logan's Mom]

My son wouldn't nurse even though we went through 3 lactation consultants and I went to La Leche meetings.  Just wouldn't latch.

He ate small amounts every 2 hours for 3 months.

He had poor eye contact (didn't gaze like all the books say babies do)

He had nighttime colic.

He wouldn't sleep unless he slept on top us.

He loved to be held.

Then there were gross motor delays (not rolling, etc) so he started early intervention.

He didn't babble and was a very quite baby.

He didn't sleep through the night until he was almost 4.

He took short naps, couldn't get him to sleep long streches.

He loved to be swaddled, which we did until he was probably about 9 months.

He had "super sonic" hearing as I called it...could hear the slightest sounds.

With that said, he didn't get his dx until a few days before his 4th birthday. I *knew* there was something wrong and kept saying he was on the spectrum, but everyone thought I was nuts.  They chalked it up to being a paranoid 1st time mother.  I know 4 months is way to early to get a dx, but there is no harm on keeping an eye on things.  If it becomes an obsession and you can't enjoy your baby, that is a whole other story.

[Stephenie]

The first four months he seemed like the perfect baby. He slept four hours stretches throughout the day, waking for an hour or so and then would sleep more. He woke once throughout the night. He smiled and looked at my face (Though not my eyes, but I didn't realize it at the time) After four months, he had a dramatic change. He wouldn't sleep. Every little thing distracted him. The shadows on the wall kept his attention in a way that could make bedtime take hours. And usually did. He woke several times throughout the night, needing at least 30 min- hour to go back to sleep. At eight months old, I moved him to bed with me because I was not sleeping at all (we were not very "AP" when he was little, that really came as necessity) Starting about the time he could sit up, he would hyper focus on anything with lights. It would make him scream like he was angry, yet he would not look away. I eventually put all the flashy toys grandparents had purchased away. At his first birthday party, was really upset by the texture of the cake. This was also the first day I put him barefoot in the grass. He flipped out. He REALLY did not like the grass on his feet. When he walked, it was exclusively on his tip toes for about a year. His language development has always been advanced. The sensory issues intensified and are still the most obvious symptom, though he now has some verbal stims, flaps his hands when overwhelmed, occasionally toe walks and has poor eye contact. I do not remember when the tantrums started, but it was well before two. They were so bad that once I thought that he must be injured or sick and contemplated taking him to the ER after the tantrum had gone on for almost two hours.

Anyway, I hope that helps. I think it's really hard to tell so young and diagnosis can take a long time.

[StephandOwen]

I was a young mom and really didn't know what was typical for newborns so a lot of things I just dismissed.... until ds was diagnosed with autism and then I started looking back and saying "ah.... so *that's* what it was". Some things that I noticed but didn't pay attention to at the time- ds hardly ever cried (which I thought was a good thing at the time!). He also never cooed or babbled or anything like that. The only sound that consistently came out of his mouth was a high pitched scream (and that didn't start until he was an older baby/young toddler). He didn't look *at* people. He looked past them. I used to think it was awesome that I could sit ds in a bouncy chair on the dining table, turn on the fan and be confident he would be content while I took a shower. When I went into the shower he was staring at the fan. When I returned he was still staring at the fan. I used to wonder why parents complained of not being able to take a shower or pee without baby screaming. Only later did I realize that what ds was doing wasn't typical. DS never seemed to feel pain. When he got shots there was no reaction out of him. When ds was 4 he had a toilet incident and cut the base of his penis, where it meets the abdomen. DH was with him at the time, and ds screamed but it wasn't out of pain- it was out of fear (he absolutely hates the sight of blood and freaks out). Once the wound was covered with a tissue he calmed down immediately (because he couldn't see blood). We took him to the ER where he ended up being sedated and getting stitches and surgical glue. The whole time the staff was asking us "is he in pain?" because he was happy- watching cartoons on tv and laughing at them! Nobody could believe he wasn't screaming in pain (while poor dh was standing in the corner looking like he was going to pass out). As an itty bitty newborn ds wouldn't wake up to eat, which caused him to become more and more jaundiced. I had to take him back to the hospital every afternoon where nurses and doctors and LC's would try and get him to nurse (and eventually they tried bottles too, thinking it was maybe nursing he was refusing). DS wouldn't wake up for anything. They tried all their tricks and nothing was working. Eventually he was so jaundiced that he had to use a biliblanket. Soon after that he did wake up more, but I still had to wake him for nursing quite often.

[AllyRae]

How funny....my doctoral dissertation that I'm working on is on exactly this topic. :)

Some signs for my ds:

-He was very super sensitive to everything.  Motion, noise, lights, everything.  He screamed for hours on end every day for 6 months.  It was colic on steroids.  It was so bad that we took him to the ER one day because he wouldn't stop screaming.  Eventually, we learned that the only thing that would get him to stop screaming was being able to look at running water.

-He never looked at mirrors--most babies are enthralled by them

-He *loved* looking at ceiling fans. 

-He didn't coo or babble.  He went straight to talking and by a year old, he had a dozenish words.  But, at 13 months, he stopped talking completely and didn't make another sound (that wasn't a scream) for a year.  Now, he has an extremely high verbal IQ.

-He never looked at faces at all.

-He didn't answer to his name.  He acted deaf a lot.

-He never really played with toys the way I see my little girl playing.  He would move things back and forth in front of  his eyes, but that was it.

-Starting at about 8 months old, he would sit on the floor and pour water back and forth between 2 containers for hours.  We were having a LLL meeting one time and I tested this...a room full of kids, and I plopped him on the floor at the beginning of the meeting with a couple cups of water.  The meeting was a couple hours long, and by the end of the meeting, he was *still* pouring the water back and forth in the same fashion--really slow, close to his eyes, staring at the water moving from cup to cup. 

-He always got the "good baby" comments because he was so quiet and "well-behaved"...but he was actually stimming on toys and avoiding even looking at the other kids, even before a year old.

-He was the worst sleeper.  The WORST.  He didn't sleep for more than 45 minutes at a time even at a year old.

-He was very tactile defensive...hated the texture of clothes, hated the texture of sheets, wouldn't let us brush his teeth or wash his hair.  He was in OT for SPD by 12 months old.

-High high high pain tolerance though, which was ironic with the tactile defensiveness.  He fell on concrete multiple times, and never reacted even if his knees were gushing blood.  He'd bang his head on brick fireplaces, etc.