Re: Need help with my 9 month old, does she has autism?

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 2/12/2007 7:50:16 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time,

summer_onalaska06@... writes:

I have a 9 1/2 month old daughter and I am afraid that she might have

some form of autism. When she was young,like 1 month she would stare

at the mobile above her swing. She hits everything like she is

keeping a beat on a drum with her hand. When she first started to

" talk " she was really loud. She isn't crawling, trying to walk,

standing, scooting, or rolling to get anything. When she is on the

floor if she loses a toy she might reach for it but if it is out of

her reach then she gives up. Everyone keeps telling me she is just

lazy but I am beginning to get worried. When she sits in her

highchair she will arch her back so her stomach hits the edge of the

tray untilher stomach has a red mark on it. If anyone has any

children that did similar things when they were younger and it turned

out to autism can you plus reply and let me know some other symptoms

and tell me if I need to get her seen by a psychologist. Also I live

in Little Rock Arkansas so if anyone knows any good psychologist or

organizations to help I would greatly appreciate it.

Hello,

I would contact your pediatrician immediately and express your concerns.

When you say she arches her back when she's in her highchair, it could indicate

seizure activity, however, it would be too premature to speculate this since

I haven't viewed the behavior and don't know if this is a behavior that you

can break. Just because she isn't crawling, trying to walk, standing,

scooting or rolling to get at anything doesn't necessarily point to autism,

however, it does appear to be a development delay and this should be addressed

immediately.

Ask your pediatrician to recommend a pediatric neurologist for an

evaluation. Don't settle for anything less. A mother's instinct is a very

powerful

tool.

~ (Mom to Aimee, 22), sdale, AZ (Felbatol, Zonegran, Valium & VNS)

[Guest guest]

Hello there,

I just wanted to say hello from another mum with a little girl who

had many unusual ways when she was 91/2 months old, she never did any

of the things you have mentioned but she was diagnosed at 2 1/2 with

mild autism. She would stare at things for a long time (especially

lights) and one thing we noticed was she never sat up straight and

tended to lean to oneside(now we know low muscle tone), she was also

happy to sit in her pram/highchair for ages (we thought we were

blessed with the most placid child around. She also did not seem

to " chatter " like other 9 month old children so the fact that your

little one is trying to " talk " is probably a good sign. I am not an

expert at all. I just wanted to say from one mum to another, try not

to worry too much - get it checked but even the worse case senario

will work out ok. Venessa.

>

> I have a 9 1/2 month old daughter and I am afraid that she might

have

> some form of autism. When she was young,like 1 month she would

stare

> at the mobile above her swing. She hits everything like she is

> keeping a beat on a drum with her hand. When she first started to

> " talk " she was really loud. She isn't crawling, trying to walk,

> standing, scooting, or rolling to get anything. When she is on the

> floor if she loses a toy she might reach for it but if it is out of

> her reach then she gives up. Everyone keeps telling me she is just

> lazy but I am beginning to get worried. When she sits in her

> highchair she will arch her back so her stomach hits the edge of the

> tray untilher stomach has a red mark on it. If anyone has any

> children that did similar things when they were younger and it

turned

> out to autism can you plus reply and let me know some other symptoms

> and tell me if I need to get her seen by a psychologist. Also I

live

> in Little Rock Arkansas so if anyone knows any good psychologist or

> organizations to help I would greatly appreciate it.

>

[Guest guest]

Oh and just one other thing. If you have your suspicions, start

the SCD now. I wish I had a long time ago. Jenna is doing amazing

on it and at 31/2 is quickly catching up to everyone else. Maybe

start yoghurt and other healing things just in case. Just a

suggestion. V.

>

> I have a 9 1/2 month old daughter and I am afraid that she might

have

> some form of autism. When she was young,like 1 month she would

stare

> at the mobile above her swing. She hits everything like she is

> keeping a beat on a drum with her hand. When she first started to

> " talk " she was really loud. She isn't crawling, trying to walk,

> standing, scooting, or rolling to get anything. When she is on the

> floor if she loses a toy she might reach for it but if it is out of

> her reach then she gives up. Everyone keeps telling me she is just

> lazy but I am beginning to get worried. When she sits in her

> highchair she will arch her back so her stomach hits the edge of the

> tray untilher stomach has a red mark on it. If anyone has any

> children that did similar things when they were younger and it

turned

> out to autism can you plus reply and let me know some other symptoms

> and tell me if I need to get her seen by a psychologist. Also I

live

> in Little Rock Arkansas so if anyone knows any good psychologist or

> organizations to help I would greatly appreciate it.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi -

Your daughter is still very young. Young enough that it can be difficult to

get a formal diagnosis of autism. It sounds like your daughter is very tactile

with the drumming and pushing her tummy against the tray etc. Sometimes a child

will over emphasize one sense when another one isn't working up to par. I would

have her vision and her hearing tested by someone who specializes in infants.

Your doctor should be able to refer you.

I didn't realize my son had vision problems until he was 5. He is nonverbal

so he couldn't tell me, and he has autism so everyone chalked up his tactile

behaviors to that. I had him checked by early intervention - nothing. I

finally went to a specialist and he needed super thick glasses! The glasses

really helped with some of his behaviors like touching everyone all of the time,

licking the TV, climbing slowly out of the car - like he might fall 10 feet or

something. But because he was so old, he has never really gained a trust in his

vision. Now he looks at something, then follows it up with tactile input to

check his vision. I wish I had found out sooner.

Keep hounding specialists till you get an answer, and one that makes sense.

If the vision and hearing check out okay (I wonder about the loudness?) then

maybe have her checked for allergies - food and environmental.

If you still suspect autism, have her checked for it. Does she have good eye

contact? Does she get excited when she sees familiar people?

Hang in there,

Lori

summer_onalaska06 wrote:

I have a 9 1/2 month old daughter and I am afraid that she might have

some form of autism. When she was young,like 1 month she would stare

at the mobile above her swing. She hits everything like she is

keeping a beat on a drum with her hand. When she first started to

" talk " she was really loud. She isn't crawling, trying to walk,

standing, scooting, or rolling to get anything. When she is on the

floor if she loses a toy she might reach for it but if it is out of

her reach then she gives up. Everyone keeps telling me she is just

lazy but I am beginning to get worried. When she sits in her

highchair she will arch her back so her stomach hits the edge of the

tray untilher stomach has a red mark on it. If anyone has any

children that did similar things when they were younger and it turned

out to autism can you plus reply and let me know some other symptoms

and tell me if I need to get her seen by a psychologist. Also I live

in Little Rock Arkansas so if anyone knows any good psychologist or

organizations to help I would greatly appreciate it.

[Guest guest]

She was checked for reflux and they determined that she didn't have

it. I know how you feel when you say that you thought you were

blessed with a placid child, Kaitlyn is the same way.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I agree with what the other moms have said. You have some red flags here, but

don't get overwhelmed with it. On the other hand, don't let the doctors tell

you to just wait and see what happens. We started noticing concerning issues

with our son about one year old. We brought it to our pediatrician's attention

at the one year, 15 month, 18 month, and two year check ups. I wasn't until the

two year check up that he finally referred us to a pediatrician. At that point,

we had to do vision and hearing first, and didn't get in to see the specialist

until he was 2 1/2 yrs. old. Even then, the specialist said that there were red

flags, but too mild to know if it was ASD or just some developmental delays. We

brought him back a 3yrss, and the autism diagnosis was given. I wish I had

known about SCD before that. I would've started it at a year, and who knows

where we would be now. Get her hearing and vision checked by infant

specialists. If that checks out, take her to a developmental pediatrician.

They probably won't diagnos her with anything, but it will give you some ground

work for getting her into an early intervention program with your local school

district. Get the main number for the local district, and they should be able

to get you in touch with whoever you need to speak with to get the paper work

rolling for early intervention. They'll do an evaluation, and then give her

services(usually in home) for what she needs. It sounds like they'd give her

speech, occupational therapy(OT), and maybe even physical therapy(PT) based on

what you've said. And, if they don't, but you feel that she needs it, ask them

why they're not recommending it, and to change their plan. In the meantime, get

her on SCD. I assume she's eating solids now. Get her offf of grains and

jarred baby foods. It will be a lot of hard work, but you can't take any

chances. You'll basicly make either pureed smal small chunks of cooked veggies,

fruits, and meats. It's important to start properly with the intro diet, and

then add foods in very slowly just like you did when she first began eating.

We'll all be glad to help you, double check your food choices, ect.

Meleah

Need help with my 9 month old, does she has autism?

I have a 9 1/2 month old daughter and I am afraid that she might have

some form of autism. When she was young,like 1 month she would stare

at the mobile above her swing. She hits everything like she is

keeping a beat on a drum with her hand. When she first started to

" talk " she was really loud. She isn't crawling, trying to walk,

standing, scooting, or rolling to get anything. When she is on the

floor if she loses a toy she might reach for it but if it is out of

her reach then she gives up. Everyone keeps telling me she is just

lazy but I am beginning to get worried. When she sits in her

highchair she will arch her back so her stomach hits the edge of the

tray untilher stomach has a red mark on it. If anyone has any

children that did similar things when they were younger and it turned

out to autism can you plus reply and let me know some other symptoms

and tell me if I need to get her seen by a psychologist. Also I live

in Little Rock Arkansas so if anyone knows any good psychologist or

organizations to help I would greatly appreciate it.

[Guest guest]

Summer

I just wanted to add that I live in Conway, AR. I took my son to Dennis

Developmental Center there next to Children's. I think it is part of UAMS. I

wanted to speak with Dr. Tara Reid since I had heard she was the autism " guru "

there. My expectations were high that I would get a diagnosis of something on

the autism scale, yet she just called him speech language delayed. I went back

again and argued with her over the diagnosis, but she wasn't willing to call him

anything on the scale. I am a school psychologist and bottom line, I know my

son is on the scale. I work with autistic kids daily and have referred kids to

Dennis who were obviously on the scale (much more obvious than my son), and they

sent reports back calling the kids mentally retarded or speech languge impaired.

I don't know what is going on there, but wanted to let you know my experiences

with them because most pediatricians will refer to Children's/Dennis

Developmental center. That's not to say that

they couldn't help diagnosis some other medical condition your child may have.

You know it is Children's and they have helped numerous kids from all over the

world. But as it relates to autism, you may have a fight on your hands. I gave

up on them and my pediatrician and went to a DAN doctor to help my son. Meleah

is right, you won't get a diagnosis of autism right now. Usually such

diagnosis' come around the age of 3. They want to rule out all other things

prior to such a label.

My son developed normally until around 15 months or so, so he was older when

we started the process. I went through my local DHS office and they have

waivers for people who do make money that will provide, speech, occupational and

physical therapy for kids until the age of 3 for NO COST. Basically it's your

tax money paying for your kid to get help, It is fairly simple. I see children

as young as 5 months in therapy at the place where my son gets his OT and

speech. Feel free to call me if you want and I will fill you in on the services

if you had not heard of them. or you can email me off post if you

want.

Becky

robin wrote:

I agree with what the other moms have said. You have some red flags

here, but don't get overwhelmed with it. On the other hand, don't let the

doctors tell you to just wait and see what happens. We started noticing

concerning issues with our son about one year old. We brought it to our

pediatrician's attention at the one year, 15 month, 18 month, and two year check

ups. I wasn't until the two year check up that he finally referred us to a

pediatrician. At that point, we had to do vision and hearing first, and didn't

get in to see the specialist until he was 2 1/2 yrs. old. Even then, the

specialist said that there were red flags, but too mild to know if it was ASD or

just some developmental delays. We brought him back a 3yrss, and the autism

diagnosis was given. I wish I had known about SCD before that. I would've

started it at a year, and who knows where we would be now. Get her hearing and

vision checked by infant specialists. If that checks out, take her to a

developmental pediatrician. They probably won't diagnos her with anything, but

it will give you some ground work for getting her into an early intervention

program with your local school district. Get the main number for the local

district, and they should be able to get you in touch with whoever you need to

speak with to get the paper work rolling for early intervention. They'll do an

evaluation, and then give her services(usually in home) for what she needs. It

sounds like they'd give her speech, occupational therapy(OT), and maybe even

physical therapy(PT) based on what you've said. And, if they don't, but you feel

that she needs it, ask them why they're not recommending it, and to change their

plan. In the meantime, get her on SCD. I assume she's eating solids now. Get her

offf of grains and jarred baby foods. It will be a lot of hard work, but you

can't take any chances. You'll basicly make either pureed smal small chunks of

cooked veggies, fruits, and meats. It's

important to start properly with the intro diet, and then add foods in very

slowly just like you did when she first began eating. We'll all be glad to help

you, double check your food choices, ect.

Meleah

Need help with my 9 month old, does she has autism?

I have a 9 1/2 month old daughter and I am afraid that she might have

some form of autism. When she was young,like 1 month she would stare

at the mobile above her swing. She hits everything like she is

keeping a beat on a drum with her hand. When she first started to

" talk " she was really loud. She isn't crawling, trying to walk,

standing, scooting, or rolling to get anything. When she is on the

floor if she loses a toy she might reach for it but if it is out of

her reach then she gives up. Everyone keeps telling me she is just

lazy but I am beginning to get worried. When she sits in her

highchair she will arch her back so her stomach hits the edge of the

tray untilher stomach has a red mark on it. If anyone has any

children that did similar things when they were younger and it turned

out to autism can you plus reply and let me know some other symptoms

and tell me if I need to get her seen by a psychologist. Also I live

in Little Rock Arkansas so if anyone knows any good psychologist or

organizations to help I would greatly appreciate it.

[Guest guest]

I would be more inclined to have a developmental pediatrician examine her.

Maybe she just needs a little physical therapy. Get her checked out before you

worry yourself to death.

Need help with my 9 month old, does she has autism?

I have a 9 1/2 month old daughter and I am afraid that she might have

some form of autism. When she was young,like 1 month she would stare

at the mobile above her swing. She hits everything like she is

keeping a beat on a drum with her hand. When she first started to

" talk " she was really loud. She isn't crawling, trying to walk,

standing, scooting, or rolling to get anything. When she is on the

floor if she loses a toy she might reach for it but if it is out of

her reach then she gives up. Everyone keeps telling me she is just

lazy but I am beginning to get worried. When she sits in her

highchair she will arch her back so her stomach hits the edge of the

tray untilher stomach has a red mark on it. If anyone has any

children that did similar things when they were younger and it turned

out to autism can you plus reply and let me know some other symptoms

and tell me if I need to get her seen by a psychologist. Also I live

in Little Rock Arkansas so if anyone knows any good psychologist or

organizations to help I would greatly appreciate it.

[Guest guest]

Hi Summer,

My son is now 3.7, ASD, and did have early symptoms such as staring

at lights or out windows, sit up late, crawled late, walked late, had

a few sounds and words early, but then lost them at 1.5ish. Had

problems with digestion from the start but I did not realize how

badly until recently. We never seemed to find the right formula. He

has always had bad mushy stinky stools which I didn't realize that

wasn't normal until I had my little girl and her poops are perfect.

He didn't point or bring me toys although he is very loving and has

good, although not always appropriate, play skills. Everyone told us

to wait and see. Most pediatricians just don't know enough about

autism. I knew in my heart something was wrong and I was 75% sure it

was autism by 1.5 years, we were very lucky to have him diagnosised

by Dr. Doreen Granpeesheh at 1.9 months. Early intervention is key

and I agree that starting the SCD now would be a GREAT thing to do.

We just recently started and I wish we had done it first. I highly

recommend finding someone in LR that has experience with autism and

having them assess your daughter. Dr. Jill is a research at

Childrens in LR maybe someone her her office can put your in touch

with a person to do the assessment. (I grew up in Little Rock.) Go to

the Autism Research Institute site and listen to all the DAN!

Presentations. It is still VERY early for you. It may or may not be

autism, but a good diet and supplements will only help no matter what

it is. (Stay away from cows milk and dairy!!Yes, everyone will think

you are crazy!)Plus get down on the floor and play with your child

everyday as much as possible. I know that is why my son's play skills

are so great.

Trust yourself above all others.

Best wishes,

Tricia S., mom to Aidan, Buggy Gooser 3.7, ASD (for now) SCD 5 weeks

>

> I have a 9 1/2 month old daughter and I am afraid that she might

have

> some form of autism. When she was young,like 1 month she would

stare

> at the mobile above her swing. She hits everything like she is

> keeping a beat on a drum with her hand. When she first started to

> " talk " she was really loud. She isn't crawling, trying to walk,

> standing, scooting, or rolling to get anything. When she is on the

> floor if she loses a toy she might reach for it but if it is out of

> her reach then she gives up. Everyone keeps telling me she is just

> lazy but I am beginning to get worried. When she sits in her

> highchair she will arch her back so her stomach hits the edge of the

> tray untilher stomach has a red mark on it. If anyone has any

> children that did similar things when they were younger and it

turned

> out to autism can you plus reply and let me know some other symptoms

> and tell me if I need to get her seen by a psychologist. Also I

live

> in Little Rock Arkansas so if anyone knows any good psychologist or

> organizations to help I would greatly appreciate it.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Becky,

I just found out yesterday that they are sending me to Dennis and now

I am worried that they won't help her. I do not know whether she has

anything wrong or not but I do know that she isn't crawling and isn't

even trying to stand up. I have no idea what I am going to do if they

can't help me.

Summer

>

> Summer

> I just wanted to add that I live in Conway, AR. I took my son to

Dennis Developmental Center there next to Children's. I think it is

part of UAMS. I wanted to speak with Dr. Tara Reid since I had heard

she was the autism " guru " there. My expectations were high that I

would get a diagnosis of something on the autism scale, yet she just

called him speech language delayed. I went back again and argued with

her over the diagnosis, but she wasn't willing to call him anything on

the scale. I am a school psychologist and bottom line, I know my son

is on the scale. I work with autistic kids daily and have referred

kids to Dennis who were obviously on the scale (much more obvious than

my son), and they sent reports back calling the kids mentally retarded

or speech languge impaired. I don't know what is going on there, but

wanted to let you know my experiences with them because most

pediatricians will refer to Children's/Dennis Developmental center.

That's not to say that

> they couldn't help diagnosis some other medical condition your

child may have. You know it is Children's and they have helped

numerous kids from all over the world. But as it relates to autism,

you may have a fight on your hands. I gave up on them and my

pediatrician and went to a DAN doctor to help my son. Meleah is

right, you won't get a diagnosis of autism right now. Usually such

diagnosis' come around the age of 3. They want to rule out all other

things prior to such a label.

>

> My son developed normally until around 15 months or so, so he was

older when we started the process. I went through my local DHS office

and they have waivers for people who do make money that will provide,

speech, occupational and physical therapy for kids until the age of 3

for NO COST. Basically it's your tax money paying for your kid to get

help, It is fairly simple. I see children as young as 5 months in

therapy at the place where my son gets his OT and speech. Feel free

to call me if you want and I will fill you in on the services if you

had not heard of them. or you can email me off post if

you want.

>

> Becky

>

>

[Guest guest]

They will help you...I am sorry if my email made you worry. Diagnosing autism

is a hard call and they couldn't make that call yet anyway. It is the autism

diagnosis that I am leary of people getting through them. If your daughter is

significantly below timelines in meeting developmental norms then I can't see

how they could not do something to help you.

Tell me again how old your daughter is. I want to say around 9 months??? Did

they let you know what kind of evaluations they are going to do? Or are you

just at the phase of filling out paperwork. I know when I did it they sent me a

package and based on what my concerns were, that dictated which doctor I got to

see. We had already had the occupational and speech evaluations done prior to

us going to Dennis.

She may just be a late blommer? Is she babbling or trying to talk yet?

Sometimes kids will focus on one part of development before the other. Both my

boys walked at 9 months and all the other milestones were met prior to nine

months EXCEPT talking. My oldest didn't talk until he was around 15 months.

Sometimes their brains just need to focus on one area at a time and then the

other will kick in. If you are really concerned, I would ask for a Physical

and Occupational Therapy evaluation. Speech probably wouldn't be appropriate

yet (that is if I got her age correct).

My best advice is follow your gut. If you don't like what you hear, challenge

it. EVERYONE told me not to worry about Gavin, but I knew better. It caused

grief in my marriage and stress with some of my family. But you know

what....Momma was right and now they are dang glad I didn't listen to them :>)

I'm here for support for you. We don't have the exact same issues but I do know

what it is like to " know " something is not right and be petrified. Sleep well

.......THEY WILL HELP!

Becky

summer_onalaska06 wrote:

Hi Becky,

I just found out yesterday that they are sending me to Dennis and now

I am worried that they won't help her. I do not know whether she has

anything wrong or not but I do know that she isn't crawling and isn't

even trying to stand up. I have no idea what I am going to do if they

can't help me.

Summer

>

> Summer

> I just wanted to add that I live in Conway, AR. I took my son to

Dennis Developmental Center there next to Children's. I think it is

part of UAMS. I wanted to speak with Dr. Tara Reid since I had heard

she was the autism " guru " there. My expectations were high that I

would get a diagnosis of something on the autism scale, yet she just

called him speech language delayed. I went back again and argued with

her over the diagnosis, but she wasn't willing to call him anything on

the scale. I am a school psychologist and bottom line, I know my son

is on the scale. I work with autistic kids daily and have referred

kids to Dennis who were obviously on the scale (much more obvious than

my son), and they sent reports back calling the kids mentally retarded

or speech languge impaired. I don't know what is going on there, but

wanted to let you know my experiences with them because most

pediatricians will refer to Children's/Dennis Developmental center.

That's not to say that

> they couldn't help diagnosis some other medical condition your

child may have. You know it is Children's and they have helped

numerous kids from all over the world. But as it relates to autism,

you may have a fight on your hands. I gave up on them and my

pediatrician and went to a DAN doctor to help my son. Meleah is

right, you won't get a diagnosis of autism right now. Usually such

diagnosis' come around the age of 3. They want to rule out all other

things prior to such a label.

>

> My son developed normally until around 15 months or so, so he was

older when we started the process. I went through my local DHS office

and they have waivers for people who do make money that will provide,

speech, occupational and physical therapy for kids until the age of 3

for NO COST. Basically it's your tax money paying for your kid to get

help, It is fairly simple. I see children as young as 5 months in

therapy at the place where my son gets his OT and speech. Feel free

to call me if you want and I will fill you in on the services if you

had not heard of them. or you can email me off post if

you want.

>

> Becky

>

>

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