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[Guest guest]

Hi,

I've been a member here for a while but haven't been posting -- I

think the list changed since I first signed up! My son, , is 2.

He has DS and the developmental ped is following him for some " red

flags " for autism. He doesn't make great eye contact, he's not

talking much, and he will happily play by himself for quite some time.

He LOVES to take two similar objects (for instance, a drum and a

pillow that's shaped like a drum, or two blocks) and play with them

together. He's also got some sensory issues and craves movement and

heavy work. He also has this thing for hair and will pull hair to

defend a toy and sometimes for the sensory feedback. It's very

aggravating!

That being said, also has surprising strengths. The OT who

follows him as part of a t-21 clinic was very happy with his fine

motor skills. Cognitively, he's an awesome problem-solver (which has

been a pain with trying to teach language -- we put all his toys in a

clear bin to get him to ask for them. He figured out that if he

pushed the bin to the china cabinet, climbed up on top, walked it over

so it fell on it's side, then bounced on the top, the lid would pop

open and he'd get his toys. So much for language). He loves to

categorize things by color or shape and actually has great attention

for things of his choosing.

has 2 older brothers (7 and 4) who both seem to have some mild

spectrumish symptoms. I think my oldest has nonverbal language

disorder and he might have very mild Asperger's syndrome -- he's got

an IEP at school and is getting loads of help and is coming along

nicely. He is also profoundly gifted, which might explain some of his

little quirks. My 4-year-old also has an IEP and is in an inclusion

pre-k class, and does well with supports.

also has a younger sister, 18 mos (15 mos younger than

!), who is getting Early Intervention OT for some sensory/motor

planning issues. and his sister both seem to have some apraxia

of speech and is also unable to chew and swallow solids. He's

being followed by a feeding team, and they are of the opinion that his

inability to swallow is due to motor weakness and not " behavior " or

anatomical obstruction. We shall see.

What else? loves to play with his siblings. He imitates them

well and interacts with them, just not through eye contact. I

remember the first time he saw snow last winter. He stood at the

window gesturing and making all kinds of excited sounds -- he was

eager to share it with me but did it with his voice and not his face.

That's all of my kids, really, but they were all well well well

beyond their ages verbally so it seemed fine, kwim? When your child

says " I feel sad because my ball rolled under the table " it seems like

they're sharing and it's easy to overlook the fact that the child

isn't looking at you while they say that.

We're teaching and his sister sign language. That's going

well. His sister is an awesome model and he is following her lead. I

was so thrilled when he first came over to me and signed " drink " -- it

was the first time he'd used any sort of language to make a request.

Up til then he was just labeling. He also recently started calling me

" mamamamamama " , which was AWESOME, and he's begun referring to himself

as " ah-doo " which is what his little sister calls him.

He'll be starting school on his third birthday this April. They have

an all-day program, with no nap, and I'm not too happy with that. His

developmental ped thinks that it will teach him to shut down and fall

asleep, she'd rather see him on a nap schedule. I'm more afraid that

he'll stay up at school but then come home just to decompress and fall

asleep. Oh, melt-downs, we don't have too many of those and he's

pretty good at calming, with a bottle. He still uses a bottle despite

our many many attempts to get him to use a cup. He's happy to drink

water from a cup but milk belongs in bottles. SIGH.

also hates haircuts (he hates being restrained in any way) and

he's never been a candy-eater, either.

That's us!