Re: Symptoms as a baby?

[Guest guest]

>

> Although each AS child is very different, I was just curious as to

> what others have noticed as signs in their baby of AS? Also, what age

> (s) did you notice those behaviors?

My son was not diagnosed until age 12, but in retrospect there were

things there even when he was a baby. I thought he started sleeping

through the night at 2.5 months, but then I noticed that he actually

woke up but, unlike most babies, would just lie quietly in his crib

and amuse himself until he fell asleep again. He was very undemanding

of attention. He cried when he was hungry or had a wet didy. His

twin brother used to cry to get attention and to get people to

socialize with him, but my AS son never did. It is not that my AS son

was unaffectionate or unresponsive to people, but he didn't initiate

it. So, if I had it to do over, I would make a point of connecting

with him more even when he wasn't initiating it.

My AS son was a very hearty eater for the first year, but like your

son, wouldn't eat solid food (he would eat homemade pureed food). He

is still very picky at 13. He just started eating much of anything in

the way of meat about a year ago, which is a start. At the time, it

was the in thing to delay pureed foods until 6 months. If I had it to

do over again, I would expose him to as many foods as early as

possible, since I think they get more and more inflexible very quickly

at that age.

I don't know about therapy programs. I know you can get OT for babies

with sensory integration dysfunction. But, I think parents can do a

lot themselves, just using common sense and experimenting.

My AS son exhibited a low frustration tolerance even as a baby. Don't

know if there is much you can do about that except lots of hugs.

He also used to do this funny thing where he would point straight up

in the air and get everybody looking up in the sky to see what he was

pointing at, which was never anything--he always did this with a

deadpan face. I realize now that he probably didn't get what the

purpose of pointing was. When he was a toddler, he used to do things

like grab his pants when I told him things like " hold on to your

britches. "

He didn't like to swing like most babies. It scared him to death.

After awhile I realized he enjoyed it if I did it so he was barely

moving. Although he never liked swinging real high, as the years went

by, he would swing higher and higher. So, one piece of advice I would

give is to find your child's tolerance level rather than stop doing

things. By the end, swinging was something he really enjoyed and

relaxed him.

He didn't potty train until he was almost 4yo. Not because he

technically couldn't, but because he didn't care. He didn't mind

being changed and didn't want to bother himself. He told other

children he liked diapers (other little kids actually used to ask him

why he was still wearing diapers LOL!). We finally went against all

the experts and simply took his diapers away and told him " no more

diapers " . After about 3 days of him stubbornly going in corners, the

bath tub, and the backyard, he announced, " okay, you win; I will use

the potty. " And he did so immediately and never has been one to have

accidents.

When he was a baby, I used to really shelter my twins (they both have

sensory issues). I'm not sorry for that. We couldn't go out much

except to parks and do many of the normal things other families

do--had to give up church or going out-of-town to visit relatives

until they were 4yo, for example, but I think it was worth it. I

think they are more secure than they would be and we had a better home

life than we would have if we'd pushed their limits more aggressively.

I think gentle does it.

Ruth

[Guest guest]

Yes, I did. My son was my second child and my daugter was 13 when he

was born, I was 34. I never heard of asperger but I knew of autisim

and I was leaning towards that. He too had the sensory issues and

could not eat solid foods until much older and only certain things

and he could not use silverware, he hated it in his mouth and I could

not figure out why, after buying every spoon they sold I finally gave

up and one day I was at a yard sale an bought an antique spoon that

was shaped differently than anyting I had seen, I took it home and

washed it and tried it and he ate off of it, not well but it was the

first time he let me put anything like that in his mouth, I dont know

if it was because of the shape or what it was made of but it worked,

then I had to find the right foods that he would eat off of it. He

would not touch a scrambled egg cause of the texture he hated them.

My daughter loved scrambled eggs as a baby so I thohugh he would but

he screamed when I would put them on his tray. How wierd is that how

they have sensory issues over food and silverware. I still thought

did not know why he behaved this way. He cried all the time and the

doctors said he was colicy and he was on nutramagen formula the most

expensive formula you could buy. I raised him on mylacon drops for

gas. I just knew something was wrong with him from day one and I

believe like you said its mothers intuituion. He would not socialize

with any one especiall if little kids would come around he wanted

notheing to do with them and when he was old enough to get away from

them he would crawl as far away from them as he could get and hide.

He started humming and banging his head as soon as he was old enough

to lift it up and he would bang so hard his crib would slide across

the wood floor and bang up against the wall and wake us up through

the night and I would have to go in the bedroom and move his crib

back to the other side of the room and eventually he would work his

way back to the other side. I got up quite a bit through the nightLOL

He did not talk and he would be very angry cause he could not

communicate, he was obsessed with signs as long as I can remember, he

knew every sign there was and could draw them and write the names of

them yet he could not talk. He would stare off in a zone for

minuetes and minutes at a time and they thought he was having

seizures but this is when I started thinking autisim. and then I read

up on asperger and knew right then that was what he had, the doctors

said they could not diagnos him until five but I started early

interventio;. The first thing I did was put him in speech therapy,

then when he was not quite three I put him on a bus and sent him to a

special school that taught young children witht these disorders to

socialize and speech was taught there too and of course the normal, I

also took him to socialization play groups three times a night and

one thing I always made sure that when I talked to him he made eye

contact with me. That was very improtant cause if they are not

looking at you they wont hear you. Diet is also an improtant aspect.

There are alot of moms on here who know about diets, I think

might be able to help you with that. Just ask and everyone will be

willing to give you some information. If it wasnt for early

intervention my son would not be the boy he is today. good luck and I

hope this helped you and if you want to ask me anything else please

feel free to email me. ginak1117@...

>

> Although each AS child is very different, I was just curious as to

> what others have noticed as signs in their baby of AS? Also, what

age

> (s) did you notice those behaviors?

>

> We have a 1 year old who may have AS (and we have a little family

> history to suggest so as well). He is far from the age of being

> diagnosed, but my mommy intuition is really saying he may have it.

He

> has already been diagnosed with sensory seeking SPD and along with

> that, refuses solid foods (among other symptoms).

>

> If you knew your child had Asperger's at a young age, what are some

> things you would recommend doing in order to help? Are there any

> therapy programs that would help in your opinion?

>

> Thanks so much!

>

[Guest guest]

My daughters has only recently, at age 13, been officially diagnosed,

but I did know right from the 2nd set of vaccines and we were even

talked into a 3rd set, with both of which she developed encyphalitis

first 24 hours of no touching and extremely high pitched noises and

the 2nd time 48 hours, that something was very wrong. So by the time

she was about 6 mos old it was quite clear something was very

different about her. Her development totally changed from the 2nd and

3rd sets on. For some years now I have known that she has Aspergers.

She is also very dyslexic.

If I could only turn back time :-(

Cheers,

- UK

[Guest guest]

My son was diagnosed at age 3.5 but I knew before that. I started to

worry when was an infant that he didn't make eye contact. I can

watch old videos of him and see that I'm working my butt off just to

get him to notice me. My daughter, though, demanded I make eye

contact with her. never put his arms up to get me to pick him

up when he was a baby. He did it later but not as a baby. His first

word was clock. None of his early words had anything to do with

people. When he was about 2 he did like a child name Zoe who was on

the TV show Zoom. He was in love with the letter Z. Pizza was his

favorite word. He read it when he was 2 along with a bunch of other

words. Once when he was a little over a year old he was making

sounds that I thought were babbling. ZEEEEEE, DEEEEE, BEEEE. Then I

noticed he was holding up the correct letters from his wooden

alphabet puzzle. He spelled the word " moon " around this time. He

had a toy moon in his hand but I didn't notice it. He pulled me to

our easel which had a chalk board side. He pointed and said, " I want

a 'm'. " I drew an 'm'. Then he asked for an 'o'. Then he said, " I

want a 'o'. " a second time. Then he asked for an 'n'. Then he

said, " Moon. " I was floored. Then I noticed the moon he had in his

hand! He spelled things with his magnet letters on the fridge at age

2. His earliest words were the whole alphabet. None of it was

useful for getting needs met. He liked to spin the wheels on any

wheeled toys. He never stacked blocks but he liked to kick his duplo

blocks around so they made a loud noise which he thought was funny.

He laughed at lots of noises. My shoe squeaking on plastic on a

rainy day while I was strapping him into his car seat. The sound of

someone practicing playing a trumpet. He would get stuck on a word

and say it over and over and over. Age 2 I told him what an

ampersand was ( & ) and he said, " Ampersand daddy. Ampersand daddy! "

Over and over and over. He was obsessed with letters and numbers. I

bought him an alphabet that also had punctuation marks and he liked

the ampersand. He laughed hysterically at funny sounding words like

spatula. He didn't really start to play pretending games until well

after his sister was born. He floored me one day by going, " We going

to grandma's house. " While making his toy car go across a table.

Prior to that it was all wheel spinning. He had an odd sing songy

way of speaking that made him sound like he was quoting scripts all

the time. He would take whole chunks of dialogue from TV to suit his

needs in order to communicate when he got a little older. He started

pulling me around to communicate things but he wouldn't point. He

couldn't really share experiences. He never said, " Watch me, mom. "

until he was about 7 or 8. My daughter pretended tea parties at 18

months. She constantly said, " Watch me " once she knew the words.

She was interested in people. looked at people in the same way

he looked at very fast moving objects. He squealed with delight at

wiggly kids and battery operated trains in exactly the same way.

Of course I didn't really KNOW what was up back then but I remember

talking about it to people and wondering about it. I asked my

husband, " Is he making eye contact? " My husband said, " Oh yeah, he's

fine. " My HUSBAND usually doesn't make eye contact. So how would HE

know?! ROFL.

Miriam

>

> Although each AS child is very different, I was just curious as to

> what others have noticed as signs in their baby of AS? Also, what

age

> (s) did you notice those behaviors?

>

> We have a 1 year old who may have AS (and we have a little family

> history to suggest so as well). He is far from the age of being

> diagnosed, but my mommy intuition is really saying he may have it.

He

> has already been diagnosed with sensory seeking SPD and along with

> that, refuses solid foods (among other symptoms).

>

> If you knew your child had Asperger's at a young age, what are some

> things you would recommend doing in order to help? Are there any

> therapy programs that would help in your opinion?

>

> Thanks so much!

>

[Guest guest]

Within a few weeks of bringing home from the hospital, I noticed he would do a little singsong humming sound of 2 notes when he was upset. It was very odd. I remember him not liking to be held. He would often repeat the same thing over and over. He would crawl a certain pattern repeatedly unless I physically moved him away. He never played with toys, he would bang or throw them. But he could spend hours with a piece of string. Before he was a year old I found him in his room, he had separated all his toys into primary colors. He would get stuck on things...like emptying his drawers of everything, even with baby locks on the drawers. He acted as if it was his mission in life.

He never pointed or waved. He had very little eye contact until after his 15 months shots, and little went to 0.

He was very unhappy. I felt sad for him. It seemed like he was sad to be alive. After 10 years of wanting another baby, this was heartbreaking for me. I felt like a very inept Mom.

He also became fascinated with numbers and letters and reading. I actually found out he could read long before he could talk. At that point there wasn't a word he understood auditory, so I was in shock!

So, yes...there were LOTS of things.

Donna

www.HisGraceAmazesMe.blogspot.com

[Guest guest]

>

> I wouldn't take the books away.� Of all things to be obsessed about,

books are good!� There's no harm in it at all.� I suspect, if he truly

is on the autism spectrum, if you took the books away he'd just start

up a new obsession.� My son comes and goes with different things he

does/says all of the time.

I agree. Also, a lot of your son's behavior sounds like typical

intellectual giftedness and high imagination and creativity rather

than dysfunction. My smart little aspie also fell in love with books

before age 1 and learned to read fairly young. This never did him any

harm, although he had his feelings hurt a few times as he dragged a

new book out to show a neighbor tot only to have them show total

disinterest. He still loves playing with language at age 13 and is a

very creative writer and sometimes reads the dictionary for fun,

looking for interesting words. Anyway, you might want to read up on

giftedness too. It is not unusual for the obsessiveness to turn into

intense interest as kid's mature. Personally, I don't think you want

to try to kill a kid's natural interests. What I've always been told

is to try to widen the interests rather than trying to change them.

In other words, take your child's interest and try to expose them to

different aspects of it and more things they can do with it. This

will expose them to a wider and wider variety of things that they can

find interesting.

Ruth

Ruth

[Guest guest]

Both of my Aspie kids were mostly typical seeming as infants, with a

few exceptions in my daughter's case. They both became more withdrawn

socially around age 2.5 years. Up until that time they had been

affectionate, smiling, and played much like their peers. My daughter,

did have a few indicators. She talked early, words at 9 mos and long

sentences by about 14 mos. She also required less sleep than the

typical infant. Her autism is more profound than my son's. She is

also hyperlexic and began reading quite well just before age 4. She

too was obsessed with numbers and letters. At 2.5, though, both were

noticeably a little different and had trouble in social situations

with other children.

Janice

NC

[Guest guest]

I never took anything away unless it was something that could hurt

or that he was using to hurt someone else. I tried to take

interest in everything he did because I couldn't get him into my

world. I joined him in his because I wanted to be connected. I

think in infants and babies and toddlers the connection is the

important thing. So let him lead when it is possible. I really feel

that using these things to build a trusting relationship with

helps me RIGHT NOW in this very moment and is 11 years old. I

can say, " you know I'm trying to help you. " And he really does

know that. He trusts me more than anyone else but the fact that he

can trust anyone is pretty amazing given how hard it is for him to

connect. But being able to connect with one person means it is

possible to connect with others. There is a critical period for this

learning and it happens at a very early age so unless there is some

overwhelming reason to discourage an obsession (cost, safety,

annoyance so great you want to hit your child and don't think I

haven't felt that way because I have). was obsessed with latex

balloons from infancy. If he had one, though, he'd chew it. This is

an extremely dangerous choking hazard. Once the balloon gets into a

windpipe there isn't a thing anyone can do to help, the child dies.

That's it. So I still have a hard time with balloons. I let

have them only under extreme supervision and only for one day because

he still can't control himself when it comes to chewing.

Books are fine, just don't let him destroy books that you cherish.

But in my opinion letting him have his books will comfort him and

make him feel good and let him know you understand this about him.

Miriam

> >

> > I wouldn't take the books away.� Of all things to be obsessed

about,

> books are good!� There's no harm in it at all.� I suspect, if

he truly

> is on the autism spectrum, if you took the books away he'd just

start

> up a new obsession.� My son comes and goes with different things

he

> does/says all of the time.

>

> I agree. Also, a lot of your son's behavior sounds like typical

> intellectual giftedness and high imagination and creativity rather

> than dysfunction. My smart little aspie also fell in love with

books

> before age 1 and learned to read fairly young. This never did him

any

> harm, although he had his feelings hurt a few times as he dragged a

> new book out to show a neighbor tot only to have them show total

> disinterest. He still loves playing with language at age 13 and is

a

> very creative writer and sometimes reads the dictionary for fun,

> looking for interesting words. Anyway, you might want to read up on

> giftedness too. It is not unusual for the obsessiveness to turn

into

> intense interest as kid's mature. Personally, I don't think you

want

> to try to kill a kid's natural interests. What I've always been

told

> is to try to widen the interests rather than trying to change them.

> In other words, take your child's interest and try to expose them to

> different aspects of it and more things they can do with it. This

> will expose them to a wider and wider variety of things that they

can

> find interesting.

>

> Ruth

> Ruth

>

[Guest guest]

You asked if there was a program or therapies that we recommend.

I am hearing wonderful things from parents who have learned and used

techniques from Son Rise and the Autism Treatment Center.

http://www.autismtreatmentcenter.org/media:video,20,0

Raun Kaufman WAS diagnosed severely autistic. Click on his picture and

listen to his amazing story.

You can learn a LOT of the techniques by observing the YouTube clips;

http://tiny.cc/VPdwt

Hugs,

M.

[Guest guest]

I agree with , the behaviour will simply be replaced with

another; one, which may not be as positive as a passion for books!

By the way, my son's " snuggly " were Hot Wheels' cars! He could have

cared less about stuffies. : )

We utilized this liking for vehicles into positives: For instance, he

did not care to try to draw or write, so we made these activities

interesting to him by having him draw roads for cars to drive on,

stories about cars, etc. Put the quirks to good use! Eventually, new

interests come into play and expand. Some will remain with the child

for years and these, too, might become a specialty.

I suspect my FIL may have had AS and his career involved police work

and repairing vehicles for the force. Not too shabby a position!

Sounds like you are on the right track: Replacing inappropriate or

non-sense language with modeling of correct version. Good for you!

Lots of helpful therapies are simply based mother's instinct after-

all!

Again, I cannot speak for all, but I believe that as the children

grow older, find their niche in life, things can become smoother than

in early childhood when the quirks may just seem odd to others. The

kids grow and mature in their social aspects just like other

children, but it is simply at a slower pace at times.

Best wishes!

> >

> > Although each AS child is very different, I was just curious as

to

> > what others have noticed as signs in their baby of AS? Also, what

> age

> > (s) did you notice those behaviors?

> >

> > We have a 1 year old who may have AS (and we have a little family

> > history to suggest so as well). He is far from the age of being

> > diagnosed, but my mommy intuition is really saying he may have

it.

> He

> > has already been diagnosed with sensory seeking SPD and along

with

> > that, refuses solid foods (among other symptoms).

> >

> > If you knew your child had Asperger's at a young age, what are

some

> > things you would recommend doing in order to help? Are there any

> > therapy programs that would help in your opinion?

> >

> > Thanks so much!

> >

>

[Guest guest]

On May 28, 7:22am, " jnemeth1942 " wrote:

}

} Although each AS child is very different, I was just curious as to=20

} what others have noticed as signs in their baby of AS? Also, what age

} (s) did you notice those behaviors?

I honestly suspected *something* almost right away. His gaze was so intense,

and he would arch away from us. We had to feed him in his bouncy chair.

He seemed oddly insensitive to pain. He never fit into any of the

descriptions I read about in baby books; I had to stop reading them, because

they upset me so much, because he didn't seem attached to me the way a baby

was " supposed " to be.. This was months - years! - before he started seeming

" off " on those checklists they gave us at the pediatricians. His other

development was perfectly on target.

Willa

[Guest guest]

is 11 and is in a regular classroom with a 1:1 support person

(they're called paraprofessionals or paras here). He is obsessed

with computers and video games. He loves to read but is no longer so

obsessed with letters and numbers that he puts himself in danger. He

used to run across streets to get to street signs or license plates.

He HAD to touch anything with letters on it. If we go to a museum he

reads a lot of the plaques up next to displays. He struggles with

comprehending stories with people. He does better with nonfiction.

But he does LIKE to read stories. He was stuck on curious george for

ages even though his reading ability was way beyond that. Part of

the reason for that is his vision problems. He has convergence

insufficiency and tracking difficulties. I think anyone with a child

who has asperger syndrome or HFA should check for eye movement

problems. is getting vision therapy and wears glasses with

prism lenses.

Miriam

> >

> > Although each AS child is very different, I was just curious as

to

> > what others have noticed as signs in their baby of AS? Also, what

> age

> > (s) did you notice those behaviors?

> >

> > We have a 1 year old who may have AS (and we have a little family

> > history to suggest so as well). He is far from the age of being

> > diagnosed, but my mommy intuition is really saying he may have

it.

> He

> > has already been diagnosed with sensory seeking SPD and along

with

> > that, refuses solid foods (among other symptoms).

> >

> > If you knew your child had Asperger's at a young age, what are

some

> > things you would recommend doing in order to help? Are there any

> > therapy programs that would help in your opinion?

> >

> > Thanks so much!

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Miriam,

I find it facinating that someone else has a child so obsessed with

street signs and the letters on them that they too have to touch them

or they get upset and would put themselves in danger. I have a cute

short story I would like to share with you. My son was three and a

half when he went trick or treating and of course he was dressed as a

big red stop sign with STOP spelled as big as possible LOL and he was

so happy to wear this, he is ten now and still has his stop sign

costume he wears once in a while LOL, anyway when we went trick or

treating he was not interested at all in going up to the houses and

getting candy, the only thing he wanted to do was go up to every

street sign and touch them and looking at all the letters and

memorizeing as much as he could take in and after about an hour of

only touching signs and not trick or treating he wanted to go home.

As soon as he got in the car he got out his magnadoodle and started

copying down all the signs he came across, he drew them and spelled

all the names out, and when he got home he got out his extra large

magnadoddle and was in seventh heaven. LOL. He had magnadoodles in

both the cars, and a few different ones in the house and had one at

my mothers in case he forgot his. Needless to say he loved trick or

treating but not for the candy only for the steetsigns.HA HA. He is

now ten and likes to finally go out for the candy, he still likes

signs but is not obsessed anymore, now he is obsessed with wrestling,

he knows all the wrestlers, their real names and everything there is

to know about their personal lives and of course he knows every

wrestling move there is and likes to do them on the trampolene with

his cousin. Im afraid they will break their necks,LOL, but I guess

boys will be boys.

Its only been the last three years that he likes to go out for the

candy. I started going by myself every year cause we would hold all

the other kids up and I didnt want to do that so we would just walk

around all night dressed up looking and touching street signs, how

funny we must of looked to everyone else. The things we do for our

kids is amazing, I guess that is called unconditional love. Instead

of carring a bag for candy he carried around his magnadoodle.HEE HEE.

Now he loves to go with his friends and try to get as much candy as

he can, he doesnt eat much but its the fun in doing it. Im just glad

we still dont have to go around touching signs. LOL

> > >

> > > Although each AS child is very different, I was just curious as

> to

> > > what others have noticed as signs in their baby of AS? Also,

what

> > age

> > > (s) did you notice those behaviors?

> > >

> > > We have a 1 year old who may have AS (and we have a little

family

> > > history to suggest so as well). He is far from the age of being

> > > diagnosed, but my mommy intuition is really saying he may have

> it.

> > He

> > > has already been diagnosed with sensory seeking SPD and along

> with

> > > that, refuses solid foods (among other symptoms).

> > >

> > > If you knew your child had Asperger's at a young age, what are

> some

> > > things you would recommend doing in order to help? Are there

any

> > > therapy programs that would help in your opinion?

> > >

> > > Thanks so much!

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Im not sure but I think one of you had commented on their child

making up words and using them. My son does this too, but I find it

interesting. He doesnt do this at school so Im not concerned and its

funny cause he gets his friends and his cousin saying these words and

before you know it all the kids in the school are saying this new

phrase. I guess you could say he is a word trend setter.LOL. I will

ask my son but there is a new place on line where you can go to and

have your made up words put in the dictionary, you spell them out and

put your own definition to them and they get reviewed and if they

dont exist they put them in this dictionary. Pretty cool, my son does

this all the time. His new word right now is Plit. It means silly or

goofy. All the kids that come over now are always saying oh your a

plit. He said that some of the kids at school are copying him now. I

dont think I would worry to much about it unless he is talking in

this language all the time then that might be a little concerning.

Maybe if I can get the name of the site your son might be interested

in checking it out. Im not sure who initially was talking about this

so if you read this post and you want the email address let me know

and I will get it from my son. gina

> > >

> > > Although each AS child is very different, I was just curious as

> to

> > > what others have noticed as signs in their baby of AS? Also,

what

> > age

> > > (s) did you notice those behaviors?

> > >

> > > We have a 1 year old who may have AS (and we have a little

family

> > > history to suggest so as well). He is far from the age of being

> > > diagnosed, but my mommy intuition is really saying he may have

> it.

> > He

> > > has already been diagnosed with sensory seeking SPD and along

> with

> > > that, refuses solid foods (among other symptoms).

> > >

> > > If you knew your child had Asperger's at a young age, what are

> some

> > > things you would recommend doing in order to help? Are there

any

> > > therapy programs that would help in your opinion?

> > >

> > > Thanks so much!

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

<<I have considered taking away his books so they can no longer

be his main focus..>>

Actually, the love of reading really has helped my son in so many

ways. I've been able to use the written word to help him comprehend

things.

When he was in the echolalic stage, I would write the answers to the

questions on index cards. Then I'd ask him the question and hold up

the card. He would read the answer! I know it was rote, but

eventually it became conversational. It worked for him.

You can use the books interactively. Always USE the child's love for

something to get what you want. I made up word games, using file

folders, so he could velcro the words to the pictures. This helps

with comprehension.

I also used the big party serving trays. found miniature items

(animals, dinosaurs, etc) and would make sets of words to go with them.

Velcro on the back of the word, as well as each compartment of the

tray. I could change out the words that way. He would put the

miniature object in the compartment with the word.

We also made " scrapbooks " of different themes. He could cut out words

and pictures. I remember doing " My ABC " book. Each page was for a

different letter. Cut and past pictures and words. Kept us busy for

hours.

Think of books and written words as being the bridge to your son.

Donna

[Guest guest]

Thanks everyone for their responses, it's really helpful to hear

what other signs were. In general, do asperger children not regress

like some autistic children (e.g. display some normal qualities only

to lose them)? Do most asperger children have eye contact and are

pretty social?

Any other advice for what types of therapies would be helpful? I

think it will be a long road until we get him diagnosed since he's

so young. Does ABA typically work with asperger's as well?

> > > > >

> > > > > Although each AS child is very different, I was just

curious

> as

> > > to

> > > > > what others have noticed as signs in their baby of AS?

Also,

> > what

> > > > age

> > > > > (s) did you notice those behaviors?

> > > > >

> > > > > We have a 1 year old who may have AS (and we have a little

> > family

> > > > > history to suggest so as well). He is far from the age of

> being

> > > > > diagnosed, but my mommy intuition is really saying he may

> have

> > > it.

> > > > He

> > > > > has already been diagnosed with sensory seeking SPD and

along

> > > with

> > > > > that, refuses solid foods (among other symptoms).

> > > > >

> > > > > If you knew your child had Asperger's at a young age, what

> are

> > > some

> > > > > things you would recommend doing in order to help? Are

there

> > any

> > > > > therapy programs that would help in your opinion?

> > > > >

> > > > > Thanks so much!

> > > > >

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

My daughter is 6 and has PDD NOS (diagnosed when she was 6). As a

baby she had colic and pushed away from me when crying. But at the

same time, was carried around in carrier while asleep because

otherwise she cried all the time. She smiled on time and made eye

contact. She had a lot of hypersensativity and later hyposensativity

in other areas. She started talking at 15 months but had trouble

communicating. At 18 months her pediatrician said she needed ST

because she did not talk to him (she talked more at home). I thought

she was fine and said to look again at 21 months. She seemed fine at

21 months and then slowly started to regress. By 24 months it was

obvious and she started ST. But she only was given a diagnosis of

speech delay. At 3 she was placed in special ed due to lack of

awareness of the objective of speech. But she was never referred for

a medical diagnosis. At 4 she school psychologist changed her

placement to autism. But she was not given a diagnosis at the Autism

Clinic a few months later. At 6 I took her to the Regional Center

for an evaluation and that is where she got a diagnosis.

My 3 year old son was born when she started special ed. He developed

normally until about 16 months when he stopped using the words he had

learned. It took a long time to get an appointment at the Regional

Center and then he was diagnosed with Regulatory Dysfunction,

Impulsive Type at 21 months. At 3 he was re-evaluated and given a

diagnosis of PDD NOS. With him I had to go straight to the Regional

Center when he was 18 months because his pediatrician wanted to wait

til 21 months to look at his speech again.

> > > > > >

> > > > > > Although each AS child is very different, I was just

> curious

> > as

> > > > to

> > > > > > what others have noticed as signs in their baby of AS?

> Also,

> > > what

> > > > > age

> > > > > > (s) did you notice those behaviors?

> > > > > >

> > > > > > We have a 1 year old who may have AS (and we have a

little

> > > family

> > > > > > history to suggest so as well). He is far from the age of

> > being

> > > > > > diagnosed, but my mommy intuition is really saying he may

> > have

> > > > it.

> > > > > He

> > > > > > has already been diagnosed with sensory seeking SPD and

> along

> > > > with

> > > > > > that, refuses solid foods (among other symptoms).

> > > > > >

> > > > > > If you knew your child had Asperger's at a young age,

what

> > are

> > > > some

> > > > > > things you would recommend doing in order to help? Are

> there

> > > any

> > > > > > therapy programs that would help in your opinion?

> > > > > >

> > > > > > Thanks so much!

> > > > > >

> > > > >

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I laughed when I read this, what a terrific title for a children's

book! " Insane for the letter 'Z' " I am curious what he did or how he

show this obsession. There was a parent on here that posted about her

son's obsession with snow. Anything related to snow! And I thought

that too would make a wonderful children's book. Sigh, if only I were

a writer and illustrator.

Sue in TN

> > letter Z since he was insane for the letter Z.

[Guest guest]

There's a book that the school librarian gave to my son as a gift

when we were moving away from Texas and leaving our school there.

It's called Frindle and it's by an author whose last name is

clements. It's fun. The kid in it is different. He always has

interesting ideas but he often gets in trouble. Some teachers

appreciate him and some don't. He makes up the word Frindle and gets

everyone to use it instead of the word Pen and this leads to a whole

lot of controversy and fun. We haven't read the whole thing yet. We

sometimes jump from book to book. Anyway, I thought your son might

enjoy it since he makes up words and gets people to use them.

Miriam

>

> Hi,

> Im not sure but I think one of you had commented on their child

> making up words and using them. My son does this too, but I find it

> interesting. He doesnt do this at school so Im not concerned and

its

> funny cause he gets his friends and his cousin saying these words

and

> before you know it all the kids in the school are saying this new

> phrase. I guess you could say he is a word trend setter.LOL. I will

> ask my son but there is a new place on line where you can go to and

> have your made up words put in the dictionary, you spell them out

and

> put your own definition to them and they get reviewed and if they

> dont exist they put them in this dictionary. Pretty cool, my son

does

> this all the time. His new word right now is Plit. It means silly

or

> goofy. All the kids that come over now are always saying oh your a

> plit. He said that some of the kids at school are copying him now.

I

> dont think I would worry to much about it unless he is talking in

> this language all the time then that might be a little concerning.

> Maybe if I can get the name of the site your son might be

interested

> in checking it out. Im not sure who initially was talking about

this

> so if you read this post and you want the email address let me know

> and I will get it from my son. gina

[Guest guest]

Thanks Miriam,

I am going to go to Barns and Noble to see if I can find the book to

purchase. You are right , collin would love this book. He normally

only reads non-fiction books, usually anything to do with science or

weather, but I think this book would be right up his alley. Thanks,

> >

> > Hi,

> > Im not sure but I think one of you had commented on their child

> > making up words and using them. My son does this too, but I find

it

> > interesting. He doesnt do this at school so Im not concerned and

> its

> > funny cause he gets his friends and his cousin saying these words

> and

> > before you know it all the kids in the school are saying this new

> > phrase. I guess you could say he is a word trend setter.LOL. I

will

> > ask my son but there is a new place on line where you can go to

and

> > have your made up words put in the dictionary, you spell them out

> and

> > put your own definition to them and they get reviewed and if they

> > dont exist they put them in this dictionary. Pretty cool, my son

> does

> > this all the time. His new word right now is Plit. It means silly

> or

> > goofy. All the kids that come over now are always saying oh your

a

> > plit. He said that some of the kids at school are copying him

now.

> I

> > dont think I would worry to much about it unless he is talking in

> > this language all the time then that might be a little

concerning.

> > Maybe if I can get the name of the site your son might be

> interested

> > in checking it out. Im not sure who initially was talking about

> this

> > so if you read this post and you want the email address let me

know

> > and I will get it from my son. gina

>

[Guest guest]

My son is dx'd with Asperger's and he DID regress. He was fine for

quite some time, developed some sensory issues and allergies (at 3) and

started sliding slowly away, and then went into a hard and fast

regression (at the relatively late age of 4). One thing to remember is

that their is SO much variability with autism spectrum disorders, even

within the same diagnosis (Aserger's). By the time my son

was " officially " diagnosed (this past June at age 5), we had started

many different treatments and he had improved enough to be dx'd with

Asperger's, rather than childhood disintegrative disorder, which I have

now found out is what the initial psych thought in January. All autism

spectrum diagnosis are subjective evaluations of behavior - there is

no 'test' to prove Aspergers. My son has eye contact with me, but looks

all around when talking to anyone else. And he is VERY social - TOO

social. He'll talk to everyone about anything.

Sorry can't answer for ABA. For us we do OT, he sees a psychologist

every other week, I have a master's level therapist come to the house

once or twice a week to work with him, he goes to a preschool for

special need kids, and we do DAN! protocol and other alternative health

treatments. Now, 6 months post diagnosis he no longer has any

allergies, sensory issues are diminished by 95%, and he is about 90%

better. Just keep reading and researching and follow your instincts!

> >

[Guest guest]

The first word I remember reading was Pizza. He loved the show

Zoom. There was a girl named Zoe on there so he would shout ZOWWEEE

when he saw her. At age 1 my husband got him a wooden alphabet

puzzle. He would hold up letters and scream their names. DEEEEEE,

BEEEE, ZEEE. I heard Z more often than anything else. It took me a

while to figure out he was actually saying the letters. I just

thought he was making baby noises. Perhaps I should write a book.

Have any of you seen the movie Snow Cake? One of the characters

writes a book about how her autistic brother spells things with

spagetti letters. The film is about a guy who befriends a woman with

high functioning autism (played by Sigourney Weaver very excellently

IMHO). Alan Rickman with whom I have a real asperger obsession is

the man who befriends her. He plays professor snape in the harry

potter movies. He's a very sweet and kind character in Snow Cake. I

happen to LOVE the movie. You can get it on DVD now.

Anyway, there's a scene at the end I won't give too much away, but

the spagetti letters book is read and I bawl my brains out EVERY time.

Miriam

>

> I laughed when I read this, what a terrific title for a children's

> book! " Insane for the letter 'Z' " I am curious what he did or how he

> show this obsession. There was a parent on here that posted about

her

> son's obsession with snow. Anything related to snow! And I thought

> that too would make a wonderful children's book. Sigh, if only I

were

> a writer and illustrator.

>

> Sue in TN

>

> > > letter Z since he was insane for the letter Z.

>