Re: Hi Everyone, new and have some questions...

October 6, 2009

Hi Jeanette,

It certainly sounds like he is somewhere on the spectrum, I asked the exact same thing of the paediatrician my son went to, his nursery said he had poor eye contact, I said how come he is fine with me, she said its because he is comforatable with you, I watched him with others and he stared straight at their abdomen.

Our children seem to be sensitive to stimulation, it could be that when their is more than one child he finds it too much and the screaming, which he is in control of, is his way of blocking out the stimulation.

Getting a diagnosis before they start school helps you get things in place for when your son starts incase he needs support. My son is 6 and still not diagonsed because when they raised the issue when he was 3 I did the head in the sand bit and thought he would grow out of it etc.

My son makes noises to himself as well, we just let him get on with it, I think he spends all day at school trying to keep himself in check, when he gets home it is only fair to let him be himself.

Hope this is of some help. Welcome to the struggle. lol

Lor B

PS I'm ish, so excuse the differecnces in spelling.

From: stoneleafarm <jlea@...>Subject: ( ) Hi Everyone, new and have some questions... Date: Tuesday, 6 October, 2009, 4:52 AM

Hi,I just joined this group tonight in hopes to get some advice. Just got back from the pediatricians office and not sure what to think. My 4 year old son has a very hard time in social settings. He is ok if there are just 2 kids in his Sunday school class but if you get around 4 to 6 he just kind of loses it - he runs around, sprawls on the floor, tries to escape the room, won't cooperate with the crafts or games and he does make a lot of noises. If there are around 9 or more he just screams and is so disruptive we usually just let him go to another room by himself with a teacher and he likes that. His language developement is behind but he is talking. My sister said she noticed he isn't using much eye contact but he looks me in the eye all the time. I guess its all the unusual noise making he does that makes me wonder if this isn't more than just hyperactive impulsive behavior. The pediatrician asked me today if I thought he was on the

autistic spectrum and I said I wasn't sure. He then said that we could have him evaluated by a panel but that at this point there wasn't anything else we could do other than what I was already trying besides medication. He seemed to think we could wait a while longer and see where things go. I'm willing to do this but was somewhat concerned because I'd been told if it is Autism or Aspergers that the earlier it was diagnosed the better. Or is that for more severe cases. I don't know. All I do know is that my son is a smart, cute, ornery boy who has problems with social settings. Sorry for ranting - it's late and I tend to do this when tired. Any advice would be appreciated.Thanks,Jeannette

October 6, 2009

Your experiences sound extremely familiar. It would be nice to be diagnosed early, simply because of the resources you are alotted as far as preschool and special ed with kindergarden. I just feel like a lot of people (drs) go directly to the autistic spectrum now because they think that it makes the parents feel better to give them an answer. And as parents we research away and start to look for things that might fit. I swore my son was BiPolar for about a year, then I was pointed to Asperger's through my research, which definitely fit better, and made much more sense. As genuine as you doctor probably is, make sure that you educate yourself, I think that's the most important thing. I find more and more everyday that there's no replacement

for a parent's intuition.

Jen

From: stoneleafarm <jlea@...> Sent: Monday, October 5, 2009 11:52:54 PMSubject: ( ) Hi Everyone, new and have some questions...

Hi,I just joined this group tonight in hopes to get some advice. Just got back from the pediatricians office and not sure what to think. My 4 year old son has a very hard time in social settings. He is ok if there are just 2 kids in his Sunday school class but if you get around 4 to 6 he just kind of loses it - he runs around, sprawls on the floor, tries to escape the room, won't cooperate with the crafts or games and he does make a lot of noises. If there are around 9 or more he just screams and is so disruptive we usually just let him go to another room by himself with a teacher and he likes that. His language developement is behind but he is talking. My sister said she noticed he isn't using much eye contact but he looks me in the eye all the time. I guess its all the unusual noise making he does that makes me wonder if this isn't more than just hyperactive impulsive behavior. The pediatrician asked me today if I thought he was on the autistic

spectrum and I said I wasn't sure. He then said that we could have him evaluated by a panel but that at this point there wasn't anything else we could do other than what I was already trying besides medication. He seemed to think we could wait a while longer and see where things go. I'm willing to do this but was somewhat concerned because I'd been told if it is Autism or Aspergers that the earlier it was diagnosed the better. Or is that for more severe cases. I don't know. All I do know is that my son is a smart, cute, ornery boy who has problems with social settings. Sorry for ranting - it's late and I tend to do this when tired. Any advice would be appreciated.Thanks,Jeannette

October 6, 2009

This reminds me of my 5 yo. He has major problems when there is more that a

couple of kids. He comes off as defiant, but he just can't handle all the

stimualtion from others being around. He won't participate in crafts etc...tears

things up, hits, kicks, screams, cries...it was so weird and for so long we

thought he would just grow out of it...not so. If you suspectthis get it going

now!! I had to pull my 5 yo out ok kindergarten and am now having a devil of a

time getting him back into preschool, which his ped believes he should repeat. I

am on the wait list to get into easter seal and the dev. ped., so my suggestion

is educate yourself to the nth degree and get the diagnostics done and

intervention begun asap!! You are right early intervention does lead to a better

outcome in most cases. Research every angle...whether you buy into or not, and

wax what you can from it and discard what you think is rubbish. You and you

alone will be your childd's greatest advocate and safety net...be prepared adn

armed with knowledge. You are like the rest of us and just want your child to be

happy and have friends. We never get invited to play dates and my sons have no

real connections with others despite trying really hard to have them.No matter

what you will do what is best for your son and you will be glad you did. Nobody

regrets getting the diagnosticsts done and you will not either...even if he does

grow out of it!

Best of Luck on your journey,

kelley

>

> Hi,

> I just joined this group tonight in hopes to get some advice. Just got back

from the pediatricians office and not sure what to think. My 4 year old son has

a very hard time in social settings. He is ok if there are just 2 kids in his

Sunday school class but if you get around 4 to 6 he just kind of loses it - he

runs around, sprawls on the floor, tries to escape the room, won't cooperate

with the crafts or games and he does make a lot of noises. If there are around

9 or more he just screams and is so disruptive we usually just let him go to

another room by himself with a teacher and he likes that. His language

developement is behind but he is talking. My sister said she noticed he isn't

using much eye contact but he looks me in the eye all the time. I guess its all

the unusual noise making he does that makes me wonder if this isn't more than

just hyperactive impulsive behavior. The pediatrician asked me today if I

thought he was on the autistic spectrum and I said I wasn't sure. He then said

that we could have him evaluated by a panel but that at this point there wasn't

anything else we could do other than what I was already trying besides

medication. He seemed to think we could wait a while longer and see where

things go. I'm willing to do this but was somewhat concerned because I'd been

told if it is Autism or Aspergers that the earlier it was diagnosed the better.

Or is that for more severe cases. I don't know. All I do know is that my son

is a smart, cute, ornery boy who has problems with social settings. Sorry for

ranting - it's late and I tend to do this when tired. Any advice would be

appreciated.

> Thanks,

> Jeannette

>

October 6, 2009

Hi, I would go ahead and get him evaluated, not wait. Even if he doesn't get an

autism dx (though he may), the eval should help identify his needs/supports,

sensory issues, social issues....

>

> Hi,

> I just joined this group tonight in hopes to get some advice. Just got back

from the pediatricians office and not sure what to think. My 4 year old son has

a very hard time in social settings. He is ok if there are just 2 kids in his

Sunday school class but if you get around 4 to 6 he just kind of loses it - he

runs around, sprawls on the floor, tries to escape the room, won't cooperate

with the crafts

October 8, 2009

Thanks everyone for your encouraging words. I've contacted his pediatrician and

told him I want to pursue this. His office still hasn't contacted me back with

the info yet but will soon I'm sure. I just needed a little support that I was

making the right decision to go forward. Surely someone who works with children

on the autistic spectrum could give me some new ideas to use with my 4 year old

because I'm kind of running out of ideas of my own. The pediatrician indicated

that my older son who is 6 may be on the spectrum too. He isn't as active or

violent like my younger son. He is more obsessive. He can talk one's ears off

about one particular subject (the subject may change from day to day). I tell

everyone my older son wears me out mentally and my younger one wears me out

physically LOL. Sometimes I tell my older son he has overloaded my brain -

can't he see the smoke coming out of my ears Ha Ha.

Thanks to all of you for the encouragement,

Jeannette

October 8, 2009

I don't agree with your MD at all. He gave you the advice I got

and I regret I waited so long. I would video tape his social interactions to

show a neurologist and get him clasifed under AS or PDD NOS. My daughter too

would look good 1:1 so it was hard to

see the problem at first. With a classification you can get him into the public

school systems special education preschool (they are all required to provide

this).

Can you imagine trying to get him to cooperate with preschool or

kindergarten. You need a safe place for him. I regret all the

explaining I tried to do without a diagnosis. Noone cared

that I suspected Asperger.

If as he gets older he is able to be mainstreamed then

he will be fully mainstreamed. And don't worry the

school district will always push for this if they

think he is going to behave and not get agressive

with others.

Pam