Ditto -- Have her evaluated by someone who really knows autism and PDDs. Sounds like, if she is on the autism specturm, she's at the mild end. But the right kinds of help can make a huge difference.

Danmom

You just described my daughter ! I think I know how you feel, because I am soooo frustrated... My daughter is very intelligent, also align things and sort them by shape, colors etc. She will be 3 years old in January. Please (oh! so please !!) talk to me. My email is juliana@bernardes.us and I would love to talk to you ! Thank's...

Juliana - This post is more than two years old, so Danmom is probably long gone, but the advice given to her here is right on target.

First, do some online research into what autism in toddlers looks like. Don't read just one or two sites -- read five or six. You'll probably find some that scare the heck out of you, and others that comfort you. Not every child who lines things up is autistic -- some are merely very organized. The thing to look for is what else isn't quite normal.

Does she speak? How much? What does she say? Can she have simple, meaningful interactive conversations where you lead the conversation? Or does she have conversations at you and your participation isn't really part of her deal? Or only about certain subjects? Or does she repeat certain phrases over and over? Or use one tone of voice to repeat things she's heard (not imitating you) and another tone completely for 'regular speech'?

Does she point? Go to a window and look outside. Then look at her and say "Oh look! A birdie!" while pointing out the window. Does she look at you? Or does she look where you're pointing?

Does she ever use you like a tool? By that, I mean take your hand and move it to indicate you should get something for her?

Is she extra-sensitive to sounds, lights, tastes, smells, textures, temperatures? Or under-sensitive? Does she complain that it hursts to cut her hair? Or that the tags in her T-shirt or seams in her socks hurt? Have her lie on the sofa and close her eyes, then touch her on her tummy, arms, legs -- After each touch, ask her to touch her own body where you touched her. Can she do this?

If things don't look right, then kick into Mama-bear mode and get her evaluated as soon as possible. Be a Mama Bear and don't take "No" or "wait list" for an answer.

Dear Sweeby

Thank you for your time! I've been reading like crazy, trying to gather as much information as I can. My daughter is very organized,she plays with the toys and put them back at the boxes, don't even destroy the boxes ! She fixes things that are out of place at home (rugs, etc). She does not speak very much, she used to speak more when she started speaking a year ago. She says some new word a few times and doesn't want to say it again. She does not point. But she looks where I am pointing, most of the time (airplane, outside a window, etc). She uses me as a tool sometimes, but she looks ate me first. Sometimes she looks me in the eye and try to speak something and get frustrated because she can't. She's not extra sensitive to anything like that, she just doesn't like the vacuum cleaner noise (neither do I !!). I cut her hair without a problem and never complained about tags or socks.
I am from Brazil and I've been living here in US for 8 years. I have no family here and I only see them every two years. My friends don't have kids and my daughter didn't have a lot of contact with different people other than me or my husband. She never had a babysitter, and she just started school last August. (By the way, she loves school !). So, I know she is delay in some aspects, and I wonder if it's really autism or just the (really wrong way ) I was raising her, being over-overprotective. I am changing, making her more independent, playing more with other kids, being around people more often. I've noticed a change already and people around me said that she is different, more aware of the environment. She's been tested by an early childhood intervention program and they couldn't say why she is the way she is. The speech therapist said that she is extremely mind settled and that was the way she is, nothing else. We have some excellent days, where she interacts a lot, with everything and even people on the grocery shopping. And we have some difficult days, where she only wants to be with mom, inside the house. She is extremely intelligent, knows colors, shapes and plays with puzzles for older kids. She watches cartoons and laughs at the "right moment". I talked to my mom and she said that I took a long time to start talking. Another cousin wouldn't say a word until she was 3 years old.
I guess I'll wait until the end of the year, see if we have more improvement now that she is going to school and me being less protective, not babying her so much... If nothing changes, then I'll take her to be tested again, by another institution. Does that sound plausible ?
Thank you again for your time and interest.

Hi Juliana -

First off, I don't think you were raising her wrong! So please give yourself a break. It's good that she has more opportunity to interract with other children now and see new and different thing. That's a great way to expose her to more social situations, and also, to see how her development compares with theirs. If you do end up concluding that there are problems, having comparisons to the other children will be very helpful.

The nature of your daughter's differences are certainly in line with the autism spectrum -- but the severity of her issues seems very mild. She sounds to me like one of those kids "who can be cured" by intensive early work. (I know autism can't be cured -- but some kids with mild symptoms can get so much better that they no longer meet the criterea.)

So keep working with her. Expose her to new ways of doing things, preparing her in advance so she won't get upset. For example - "We're going to take a different road to the grocery store today. Sometimes it's fun to do something a different way." Vary some of your other routines as well so she learns it's OK not do follow a routine rigidly. It's good that she's neat and organized, but you want her to be able to tolerate mild disorganization as well.

Try to arrange play dates with one other child at a time, and tell your daughter what to do. "When Mary gets her, say 'Hi Mary!' and ask her if she wants to play with blocks." You may need to tell her how to play with another child, what is appropriate and what is not. Inviting more kids will change the dynamics and not help her develop her social skills.

For right now, I'd research intervention for kids with autism and do as much of those things as you can at home. Whether she is or is not 'on the spectrum', your activities will be helpful.

This may seem overly simplistic...but have you had her tested for food allergies? The reason I ask is that my daughter was "different" too...plus she had frequent ear infections. I had her tested for food allergies; which she had and so many-changed up her diet (all natural but without the allergens ) and what a difference. Even her personality changed. Now in her late 20's she has a PhD. It's surprising what food allergies can do.

You know, Straycat's exactly right --
And what she's saying is related to what I was trying to say.

If you do end up researching autism, you'll find a number of instances where parents "cured" their children using a variety of methods -- special diets, suplements, certain therapies. And what I was trying to suggest to you is that your daughter sounds like those children. It truly might be as simple as changing her diet! Because some food allergies cause children to act 'spacey' and not react normally. Or mineral toxicities. Or immune reactions. Or whatever --

Now my personal opinion is that if it can be cured by a change in diet, it wasn't autism.
But I'm also willing to say that if the problem hadn't been cured that it would have been called autism.

I can't believe it !! I've never heard of that before, and guess what... She is lactose intolerant ! She can't drink regular milk without having a really bad diarrhea. Yogurt usually doesn't cause that, but maybe... it affects her in other way. Anyway, I am making an appointment with an allergist and changing her diet. I did cut all lactose in the last couple of days, and... today, we went to Barnes and Noble and she was soooooo sociable, sat quietly and listened to older girls reading stories, played with them a little. I was shocked ! She napped better, she played better, she had the best day at school so far (according to her teacher). I am amazed, I would never imagined that her diet could be affecting her speech. I don't know what to say, I don't know how to thank you guys for taking some time and sharing your thoughts and experiences... Since I am changing her diet, after researched online I've decided to "go green" and use only organics and different cleaning products at home. You guys definitely change my life ! I'll keep you all posted how things progress, so other (desperate) parents can use the information.

Hi Julian,

I am very glad you posted the situation with your daughter. I have a 28 month old son who is not speaking with the exception of "Ma", "Da" and "baby" - "yum" and "uh oh".

He follows directions when he wants, but does things only what he wants to do. He is very affectionate and interacts with other children as much as any other child his age does. When he plays he likes to line-up his trains and make sure the wheels work properly, but he also plays blocks, and dinkies etc.

I am a little annoyed when some of my friends suggest he may have autism. It seems whenever someone hears of a development pattern that is not mainstream, they automatically suggest a spectrum disorder. I am a higly educated and observant person and refuse to give him a label that others perceive is a 'catch-all' for speech-delayed toddlers. I understand the importance of early diagnosis and incident rate of specturm disorders in North America, but I also caution against reaching for an easy answer.

I am curious, since several people mentioned autism to you, if your daughter was ever diagnosed with it (a spectrum disorder encompasses autism). I am concerned about my son's speech delay, I like to hear of other mothers in a similar situation with their children where the child was treated as a unique case.

Thank you!

So are you getting him Speech Therapy Elgadsby?
It's certainly not too soon.

And while I agree with you that autism spectrum issues are over-diagnosed and can be a 'catch-all' diagnosis, it concerns me that "...some of my friends suggest he may have autism." That's probably not a suggestion they made lightly, and you should ask them "Other than his speech delay, what makes you suspect autism?" Then see what they have to say.

My son has a catch-all autism diagnosis. And in my heart-of-hearts, I'm pretty sure that autism isn't what he has. (I don't know what it IS, other than that he was born with it and I'm 99% sure it's genetic.) BUT - That probably-wrong autism diagnosis has been a great resource for finding therapists, therapies, parent resources, medical information, special education services and parenting strategies of all sorts.

Your concern seems to be that your son be treated like a unique case. And from my own experiences, I can tell you that most kids diagnosed with autism ARE treated like a unique case, because they are unique cases! The wide variability of kids on the autism spectrum is one of the most challenging treatment obstacles. No two autistic children are alike. (I know a pair of identical twin boys, both autistic -- and yet incredibly different. Same DNA, same diagnosis, completely different symptoms.)

Don't be afraid of 'the A word'.
If that shoe doesn't fit, it will be discarded soon enough.

My Daughter will be 3 this June 2009. She has not spoken a single word yet. She 'talks' a lot in her own way. They seem to be gibberish because no one can understand her. She mimics some of the words she hears from us and on TV. She looks at us in the eyes and 'talks' to us but we can't have a normal simple conversation.
She is still on diapers but we have been potty training her. When she poops in her diaper, she either comes to us to tell us again in words we don't understand, and gestures towards her diaper or removes it herself then runs to the bathroom. When I ask her if she pooped, she would nod her head.
She likes singing and dancing a lot. She calls her brother when she needs him. When I tell her to fetch something she does.
Aside from her speech problem, she doesn't want to eat solid meals. We have to put everything in a blender just so she would eat. But when it comes to pizza, junk snack foods, etc., she gobbles them up like crazy. We only let her eat some of those out of desperation of finding out if she will eat them without putting them in a blender.
Her Doctor told me I'm a bad Mom because i didn't introduce solid food to her early on. But I swear to God even before she was 6mos old I started introducing solid food to her. She just couldn't take it. She would throw up everytime.
Some friends told me I should starve her and she will be forced to eat solid foods.I tried but we couldn't bear it after 4 hours. She didn't seem to mind she missed out on one meal!
Any help or sharing will be appreciated.

"She looks at us in the eyes and 'talks' to us"

This is fabulous! Really important. But it also points strongly to a speech disorder, and 99+% of them can be cured with speech therapy -- especially if you start early. (Like NOW)

"Aside from her speech problem, she doesn't want to eat solid meals."

This may be related to the speech problems. Some children have trouble learning how to use their mouths or getting all of the parts to work correctly and in sync. The problems may be muscular, neurological or a combination of the two, or something else like a hyper-sensitive gag response or strong texture preferences. But it's GREAT that she'll eat junk food solid, and I'd use that to expand her dietary range. Things like sipping thick milkshakes through a straw, chewy foods like carmel or taffy, cruncy foods like nuts or croutons, or licking peanut butter off a spoon will all build different types of oral strength and endurance. Blowing horns, bubbles, balloons and whistles may also help. If weak facial muscles play a significant role in her speech problems, these activities may help.

The best website I've ever found for kids with complex speech disorders and issues like feeding problems is Apraia-Kids.org. I'm not suggesting your daughter has apraxia (though she may) but the website is fabulous even if she doesn't. They also have a forum similar to this one with some very knowledgeable and helpful folks on it who will get you going in the right direction. The folks who run that organization are WONDERFUL and were instrumental in my son's progress. He did/does have apraxia of speech and needed 7 years of near-daily speech therapy.

(And if you do end up on those forums, please say you were sent by Susan in Houston who has a 13yo son named John who is doing really well, and that she sends hugs to Sharon, Donna and Kathy!)

My son has significant eating disorders due to a couple of issues...first, eating (or taking nutrition through a bottle) caused pain (chronic diarrhea) so at just a couple of weeks of age he quit making an effort there. We are happy to puree his food, because prior to doing that he didn't eat anything. But he can eat solids as well, just not mixed with another texture. He just can't unjumble them in his mind so he tries to swallow anything without chewing unless it's an "All chew" food.

So for instance, pizza. If I let him, he can eat pizza, but a whole bunch because his jaws get too tired (which could be happening with you). He'd eat a huge amount (for him) on occasion, then not touch solid food for a while (which is most likely due to jaw stregnth). But he can't eat things like bean soup...the broth throws him and he misses the beans and chokes.

So, first, let me see if I can help a bit..first, I hope your pediatrician didn't say you're a bad mother. I happen to know I'm an excellent mother (we've been tested too many times not to think we're good parents). If they did, you should consider a new doc, really! Secondly, it is true that when you introduce food to a child at the right time, they do develop muscles that make all the difference in their future mouth skills. Eating, talking, drinking, etc., are all efffected by how and when a child learns to eat. But as with my son, you can't always move them into the foods that "normal" kids eat when you have to. There are hundreds of thousands of parents who deal with this daily, and thousands who end up in feeding clinics for long term care because of it. They're not all bad parents.

She could have a sensory perception disorder as well, which for some, makes eating a difficult chore.

One thing they do in feeding clinics is to start kids on highly pureed food (ie th texture of thin pea soup). Then they work them up from there. Each time you introduce a new texture you need to give them a week or longer if it's a tough texture, to get the hang of handling that texture in their mouths. So, start with where your texture is now...pureed...but how much? If you're down to milkshake smooth, don't process quite so much next time and move to applesauce texture. If that goes well, (and there will be choking and gagging and vomit...get ready for it and then don't panic when it happens, just move onto the next bite after a calm and quick clean up). You then move up to a lumpier texture...then you move to fork mashed. This is done with a fork (duh LOL) but you want to pour say a 1/4 of the meal size onto a plate. Mash it first going on the horizon across the pile of food, then go back over it vertically, then scrape into your feeding bowl. This is a huge step forward so it may take time. After fork mashed works, you move onto just fork mashing it one way (say horizontally) which will leave more chunks. Then you go to very finely diced foods, progressing up the ladder with different chunk sizes. You have to do this slowly, very slowly!

You also want to limit the meal sizes so as to not wear her jaws out. My son is 24lbs (he is 3 years 4 months) and we do six ounce meals three or four times daily to meet his calorie needs. He supliments with a bottle (because he can't drink from a cup).

Eating disorders in children are so hard to deal with! Believe me I know :) You need patience, but you might try giving some of those options above a try, and at the same time, get her evaluated asap by a speech therapist who specializes in feeding (it's important that they be feeding primarily). My son sees his once a week. It's been the difference between him starving to death or not. (Because contrary to what people say, some kids will not eat, even if you starve them). My son can go over 24 hours without food, and has gone up to 48 (in a hospital testing program...do not do this at home ever ever ever!!) He has no natural hunger drive.

I wish you the best in this fun journey! And having been through it myself and knowing it's going to be in our future for many years...let me just send a mental hug. It sucks! I do know it sucks!

My son just turned 3 today and he really hasn't stated talking yet he say ma ma and no,but he hasn't started talking yet. If he wants something he takes me to it. He knows how to count from 1-10. But when I call his name he doesn't respond or he doesn't comprehend with things yet. When its time to leave he gets his shoes and grab the keys. He can feed himself and he shows eye contact when u talk to him,he loves hugs and kisses,and loves to play with his brother. I have him a speech therapist coming every week now to help him and am taking him to the neurologist next week but is there anyone that can tell what could be the problem with my son.

At this stage, the problem could be any number of things from clogged ears that impair his hearing but are easily cured to autistic spectrum disorders and anything in between. Rather than scaring yourself with a variety of possible diagnoses over the internet, know that you're doing the right thing by getting him into speech therapy and seeking the advice of doctors.

Ask that the neurologist screen him for autism -- NOT because I think he has it, but because the initial screens are fairly simple to do, and because if it is something along those lines, it's important to start treatment early.

Ask your speech therapist what other specialists he/she thinks you should see, and what you can do at home to help your son develop his speech.

Also, if you haven't done it yet, DO take him to have his hearing checked. You'd be surprised at the amount of information a skilled pediatric audiologist can get from even a non-verbal toddler. Just make sure that the audiologist you take him to knows in advance that he is pre-verbal so she'll have the right equipment and supplies for testing.

I know you're worried -- I've been there. Just know that working aggressively to find the answers is the best you can do for your son right now. You may need to push -- Don't be reluctant to do it.

Thank you sweeby and rj13 for their sharings. My 33 months old son has similar situation (I don't want to say problems) described above. He can count 1 to fifteen and recognize A to Z (big letters and small letters). He doesn't seem to have other symptoms for autism besides language delay.
He started to make sound "ba" "ma" at about eight months, but then stopped. And I thought back, I blamed on the MMR vaccine he had. Although there is no medical evidence to prove MMR vaccine and autism are related, some information online state that they are somehow related. At one year old check up, the doctor suggested my son should have an evaluation if he was still not speaking when he was 18 months. Thank God that he started to speak more words at 17 months. However, his speaking is progressing very slowly. He can make some 2-3 word phrases but not sentences. I have to force him to follow me to say the words. Quite often, I found him having difficulties pronouncing the words. I don't know if this made him not speaking, just because he cannot pronounce it. Since he doesn't use his speech and hence lack of practice, he just doesn't like to use verbal communication. I heard some people bringing their toddlers to ENT to have test and treatment. He likes to watch TV very much. He can watch it non-stop. Don't know if this also cause his language delay. I am also thinking if that would be caused by his banging his head couple times when he was little.
Anyway, I will bring my son to doctor and get formal evaluation. Same as other parents on this forum, I am worried and frustrated.

Good to read more about your son Meilee -- If the only 'autistic' symptoms you see are language-related, I would definitely not jump the gun into suspecting autism. Screen for it - yes. But don't assume that's what it is.

Regarding vaccines causing autism -- That scare was one of the worst abuses of 'science' in recent memory! The Dr. who conducted and published that research was proven to have manipulated his data to further his own agenda -- so his work was invalidated. And I'm sure you've heard of the massive government studies trying to validate or disprove the theory? All of which cleared vaccines.

Yes, I've read all the stuff about how Big Pharma and the Gov't are in cahoots and don't want anything anti-vaccine to be published. I can easily believe that. (So I watched and read critically for several years before Wakefield's fraud was discovered and published.) BUT -- It still doesn't make Andrew Wakefield's "science" true. I'm furious at the harm he did to thousands of kids who caught and passed on diseases we can vaccinate against!

Anyway - Have his hearing checked. Continue to work with him to build his language, getting him to imitate you as often and as much as he can. Play with him in ways that encourage verbal output -- Push a little car and say 'Voom voom' or 'go, go, go'. (When he speaks, push the car. When he stops, you stop.) When he wants a cookie, have him give you a word for it. Accept his best effort, but challenge him too.

And don't worry too much about the head banging (unless he's still doing it.) I don't know a single child who hasn't banged his head a time or two...

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/60918.page

http://www.speechdelay.com/forum/yaf_postst772_Speech-delay-and-milk-allergy.aspx

I found some findings about milk allergy and speech delay. I am quoting some of other parents from the above websites. I remembered I started to give my son whole milk after he turned one. Since then, his speech didn't improve. I am going to stop giving milk to my son and will see if he will have any improvement.

"We took milk away from our non-autistic child at age 5 (minor speech issue), and the difference was immediate. Our child was much more focused, speech clearer, better sleep, easier to manage, no more tantrums. We later discovered our child is allergic to milk. "

"I have a 23 mo old son with a speech delay as well. We not only stopped milk, but all products with casein and have seen a big change. We took him off dairy/casein 10 days ago and he is making more eye contact, better attention, and is trying way more to talk. He is starting to point more too. His skin looks great and no more diareah."

"I saw a difference within 3 days. We give him RiceDream with cereal and on it's own and he likes it. It has the same amount of calcium as milk. At the very begining of taking him of milk it was to see if it helped the eczema too."

Hi,
I am a mother of 3 years and 6 months boy and I have been browsing a lot lately on todders development and came accross your question.Its the same exacct question I have for my kid can you please help me what was the problem and is it curable what I need to do?
He is going to preschool now the teacher has ask him to be evaluated. I need help..Can you please help me.

Hi, Hyma:

I can totally understand your worry and your urge to seek for help. I have gone thru that. While I was still waiting for the hearing test and speech evaluation appointment, I came across some websites I posted earlier regarding milk allergy and speech delay. I would consider my son non-autistic with speech delay. He is now 33 months old and he could speak some one to three word phrase but not sentences. I stopped giving him milk but soy milk 9 days ago. After couple days, I could see some improvement. He suddenly said some words that I never taught him before but he may have heard from us. Then, several days later, he was more willing to repeat what I taught him and said it clearer. He could gradually say 5-6 words together. He seems to understand more and does more variety of activities instead of just watching TV. I will watch him closely and teach him to see the improvement will continue.

If you want to email directly, you can email to doriswtan@yahoo.com.

ONE QUESTION TO ALL!

How Many Of The Children With Delayed Speach Are Vaccinated????
Something To Think About And Research.

MissRealness -

You don't seem to be aware that the 'vaccine scare' was based on fraudulent research that had been manipulated to wrongfully support Dr. Andrew Wakefield's horrifying conclusions. The man was a fraud and a phony, and the harm he did by spreading this false information is horrifying.

Parents, if you're wondering about the reported link between vaccines and autism, PLEASE research Dr. Wakefield. He was the pioneer in the 'vaccines may cause autism' scare, and his research was the basis for the uproar.

It has been conclusively disproven.

Hi there,

I noticed this thread ended almost a year go. If any of you could please, please update how your children are doing. Were they diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum? I am curious because I am having similar experiences with my almost 3 year old and eager to do all I can to help him. He is already in speech therapy.

Apart from changing your kids diet,did you do anything that brought noticeable change in his/ her speech or habits. I will love to know everything. Thanks for taking time out o respond to this. You can either respond to me In private or post to the thread.

I'm also replying to this thread late. My son will be 4 tomm. And he still does not speak in full sentences or communicate the way other children do. I've asked our pediatrician several times, and he feels there is no need for me to worry- yet. He displays a great deal of the same characteristics your child does- however, we stay home quite a bit due to a family members illness, and he is rarely around other children. I feel he is delayed in part, due to this. It seems, though, that everyone wants to jump on the autism bandwagon- much like they did 20 years ago for the ADD bandwagon. I'm curious if no one considers environmental pollution factors? Ingredients in our food mutating DNA? It seems something is happening on a countrywide spectrum, and people don't look at it. I'm in the process of changing my sons diet to organic- and it's made an unbelievable change in him. I'm concerned, but I will not take my son to a doc- in- a- box "child neuropsych" to have a label slapped on him. He can do some things other talkative children can't do at 10 years old (drawing). I will work with what I have, and implore people not to want their child stuck with a label or medicine they can live much better without.

Hello everyone. So happy this threat still active. My 3 year and 4 months old son also has speech delay. Since he was one year old i took him to the doctors may be 7 times and every time the same answer everything is normal he is just slow to talk. I was very worried when until he was 2 years old as before that he used to scream a lot and almost all day, the doctors used to say he is too small to be evaluated. But when he was two he calmed down totally. He is very strong and developed physically. the only problem he doesn't talk. He do say words like hug, wet, hot, milk, juice he can count from 1 to 10, he knows colors. The other thing is that he can say a word a couple of times and then not to use it as though he forgets it. He likes to communicate, he is in heaven when we are heaving guests and he entertains them a lot, bringing them his toys, drawing for them. lately he stared to greet them and say good bye. he is trying to ask for their names. He likes to play with other kids, but he is very demanding and always wants to do everything as he wants. He never avoids eye to eye contact. Points to objects and watches when I point to them. He always says yes or something when I call his name. He asks me to come with him and he shows me what he wants as he cant put it in words. As you noticed Im trying try to say he displays no autistic syndromes and other things like that. To tell the truth I'm still very worried as the question "what if.." is always in my mind. We have another appointment on august 28 with doctor again. Ill keep you posted what they will say, as I really know how you all feel and want you all to know that you are not alone. Before going to the doctor Im going to try to take away milk products from him but still have no clue how to do it as he simply ADORES it. I have also a 5 year old daughter and she freely speaks 3 languages and even translated from one to another and for me having a slow talker after her is very unusual if you know what I mean. Thank you all for sharing your experiences these all are really helpful.

dear Danmom and Juliana
it feels as if you have described my child.
my son is now 3 years and two months and he is exactly as Damom has described her child.

i feel so helpless. it is so frustrating. however he makes eye contact with me and my husband. and those in my houshold, including my parents since he meets them often. but with strangers and people he does not know well or does not want to interact he does not make eye contact.

he does not initiate conversation. if i ask him how his day was at school he does not tell me. if i ask who his friends are or what he did. there is no reply.
today i got so frustrated i took him to the bathroom locked both of us inside and asked him questions regarding what he did in school. his friends name. his teachers name. he did answer. but i also rephrased my questions by giving him a choice of answers.
e.g. what is your teachers name? is it Amrah aunty or it is Geeti aunty?
but i dont know if he answered in fear because we were locked in the bathroom or cause i gave him options in answers..

sometimes he just keeps singing to himself which is mostly alphabets and numbers..
he knew all his alphabets when he was 1 year and 3 months.. could count till 10 in english and spansih.. (thanks to dora)
now he can read and identify most 3 letter words, he can write numbers and alphabets, make some 3 letter words out of random alphabets and can count and identify upto 100 in numbers.. he knows a lot of spanish words..memorizes routes in the first go..and a crazy memory which never seems to forget anything..

but his language / speech.. his lack of conversation... this also limits his interaction with other kids.. his lack of eye contact.. sometimes he plays with them but sometimes he wanders off on his own...

i would appreciate if any of the previous moms who posted about their kids could give an update.. i am so depressed right now..

Please Please tell me how is your daughter now. I am facing same situation with my 3 yr old son.

Is this thread still on ?

I'm wondering the same thing. i just stumbled on this thread and looking for some kind of answer regarding my 3.3 year old son's behavior. A lot of the comments here are very identical to my son's. I feel like a bad mom because I'm a SAHM and i should have caught on sooner but because of the generalized symptoms of autism (lack of eye contact, anti-social, unable to cope with change, etc), i dismissed the possibility. My son is very affectionate and happy-go-lucky kid and likes being around others. I've always babied him a bit much and i've chucked up some of his quirks to just him being different and me babying him too much. Every time he gets excited, he flaps his arms. He doesn't really play WITH kids when we go to the playground but instead laughs out loud flapping his arms while looking at them running around and having fun. I've assumed its because he's only around me and my husband and not around other kids enough therefore he doesn't know how to just jump in and go play WITH the kids. When we ask him a question, he just repeats what we ask or if we make a statement, he'll repeat that too. It can be very frustrating when needing an answer from him. He'll repeat very clearly what he sees/hears on TV or from one of the many youtube educational videos he likes. He doesn't really speak in full sentences..... he really started speaking more just two word sentences at the beginning of this year. He was a late crawler (9 months), late walker (17 months) and so late speaker (2.7 months). He is extremely intelligent.... counts to 100, knows his ABCs (since 1.5 years old), colors, shapes, LOVES books and can read just about anything every thing; It's a matter of him comprehending what he's reading, which he doesn't a lot of the time. He's really into sports (baseball, football and basketball) and reading... those are his two many things for enjoyment. He lacks social skills but again i chucked it up to not being around others and have recently signed him up for JR sports and have started to take him to the storytime programs at the local library which he just sits quietly and some times not even pay attention or listen to what the teacher's saying. My husband and i have always fed him and have not really taken the time to teach him to feed himself... until now. However, he will sit in his chair (all day if forced) and will not take one bite. If we get on him about eating, he'll only cry and freeze if we get loud about picking up the spoon and taking a bite. It's like he doesn't understand, but i know he does because if it's finger food and we tell him to take a bite, then he will pick it up and feed himself. I'm going to call his pediatrician tomorrow to schedule an appointment for screening. What do you all think, could he be on the spectrum?

Sorry, but yes, that's what it sounds like to me... The signs you mention are pretty typical of ASD kids -- though
if you've done some research, you may have just mentioned those issues
that 'fit' and omitted mentioning things that don't.

It's good that you're having him evaluated, and please know that ASDs (autism spectrum disorders) are SO much more widely understood that they were 16 years ago when my son as first diagnosed.

The biggest problem I faced as a parent was a pediatrician that dismissed my concerns and fed me platitude after platitude for more than 2 years. (Though in fairness to him, I first brought up concerns at a crazy-early age, so he had reasonable cause to suspect I was neurotic.) But I mention this because "reassure the parents" is the pediatrician's mantra, and if you get a bunch of "it's probably nothing" that goes against your instincts, you need to go "Hockey Mom" on the guy and refuse to go away without further evaluation. (This can be one of the hardest hurdles to overcome.) After you get your referral, THEN consider changing pediatricians if need be, to one who will work with you in partnership, not feed you platitudes.

Know that there's a lot you can do to help your son, and that there are a lot of positive signs that point to a good outcome - the easy going and affectionate nature, reading and counting, speaking. You can do this ---

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For any old-timers who are wondering, my son is now 19 and doing really well. He graduated from high school and has just started community college (special program for Sped. kids). He drives, has a part time job, and is a young man any parent would be proud of.

I'm not sure what you are worried about San. He seems to be developing quite normally and doing very well. Some language delay is very common and to be expected in children who grow up in bi-lingual households because there's more than twice as much to learn. In addition to just learning two languages, a child also needs to learn who speaks which when, that you don't usually mix the two, two grammar structures, etc.

It's good that he's in preschool now (especially Montessori) so he'll get exposure and practice with other kids. If his only social delays were due to being home with family, those should sort themselves out pretty quickly. If they don't, you can ask his teacher for specific areas where he needs help, and either work on those at home, or bring them to his doctor's attention if you think they're cause for concern.

Plus, he's already in speech. If there's anything to worry about, you'll find out in the next few months. But really, nothing you've said so far sounds worrisome.

Hi All,
I am facing the same kind of behavior with my little one, she is of 3.3 yrs now. Delay in Speech, No Reciprocation with stranger and sometimes with mother. With me she listen but again gibberish conversation. Three word sentences she speak. For everything she says "i want to eat t shirt", "i want to eat Doll", now we are repeatedly correcting her sentence.

->she is pre schooler
->she point on object which she need
->She hold me and take to the object sometimes
->Heavy Tantrums , sometimes bangigng head in floor
->She know Counting 1-30, Can easily identify difficult shapes too.
->Only can make circle, no other shape
->Loves to color , always on Crayons and papers
->No potty trained , She doesn't tell anything on Pee or Poo. She just does it whenever and whereever she wants .
->We are nuclear family , Most of the time she will see only me and her mother.Now we are sending to Neighbor to make her feel different, she stays there and play alsone and talk less.
->When gets angry she repeats whatever you say in loud voice.eg Take the glass -- TTAAAKKEE TTHHEE GGLLLLAAAAASSS (Sample :-)).

From the school they told us to consult with any therapist to evaluate. We been to speech therapist and they referred to occupational therapist and he suggested of a very Mild Autism and asked us to consult Child psychiatrist for proper diagnosis. We plan to go for Child psychiatrist. waiting for appointment.

I saw lot of kiddo had the same problem at early of the forum on 2006 but no one responded what happened next .

Can anyone please respond to the status of the kids who diagnosed with autism , How did it go, How they are now.

Please any direction could be the best direction .

Regards

Saroj @ saroj.krsingh@gmail.com

It's good that you are having her evaluated and have started with various therapies. You are moving in the right direction, and so long as you keep pushing (this is important) she should make good progress.

Where autistic kids end up varies enormously from kid to kid. Some children do amazingly well and eventually lose their diagnoses. Other children continue to have significant problems and are never able to live independently. Most, of course, end up somewhere in between. If she's only three now, it's FAR too early to tell.

Hello DanMom, my daughter has exactly the same symptoms and she is 3 years old. Since this post was posted in 2006, what is the latest on your daughter todate?

I took my daughter for therapist and Peadritician asked us to fill out an Autism Questionaire and she is yet to send give us a response.

Hello Moms- I have 3 year old who has same issue. He can count 1-20. He knows abc but cannot express or talk. Please let me know how your kid is progressing from 2006 to now. What helped ? I am very worried too... I hope you can understand my feelings... Please help. I can be reached at. Four-one-zero-nine-six-seven-seven-four-one-three

or please update progress on this link....thanks a lot

God bless you and your child

Hi DanMom and all,

I would like to know how is your child doing now? Any tips and suggestion for worried mothers like me as my son is going to be 4 in April and doesnot started tp converse or speak.

He follows instructions, know A to Z (keeps alphabet in order), identify shapes and numbers when he is interested, but not when some one really asks what is it.

He is in preschool and he cannot tell what teacher has told or what he did with friends or what he played or had for lunch....

I am planning to take him to a speech language pathologist.

Please help and suggest.

While I want to give you all hugs!!!, I'm going to reiterate what I wrote years ago. I stand behind it:

"I
thought the same thing when I was reading this Linda, autism. I agree,
have it checked out by the right party, the sooner the better."

I have not time to read the whole thread and some things I say might have been mentioned. We had similar problem. It was very mild, not severe, but some things were off and I could not put m finger on it.

The repetitions are called eucholalia, and you need to address that asap to make sure your dd is getting help to keep her as smart as she is.

My daughter since recovered and would not stop talking! We still are working on some things, but they are getting better.

Here is what we did:

we asked for free evaluation from the school district. You really have to keep after them and ask for as many evaluations as possible. It does not mean something is wrong with your daughter, it only means that all kids grow differently, and many need help here or there. They eventually outgrow most of the problems, but later in life some have challenges. It is like some kids that never crawled later in life have problems with reading. In order to overcome these problems, they as adults are advices to go no their fours and crawl, literally, and it helps. You have to ask for audio, cognitive, speech, etc evaluations. My dd's evaluation showed some delays, but school district refused to give us help because they were very mild. It was good though, because I know no what I needed to do for her.

we usually go to a regular doctor, but for her, we went to a good holistic pediatrician, a good holistic dentist who believe it or not noticed a ow muscle tone, a practitioner with Asyra machine, and most important we are going to a nutritionist. Her name is Kelly Dorfman, she does Skype or phone appointments and I went to her after listening to her audio book twice. She has a regime with necessary vitamins and minerals in such cases (it includes it E complex, fish oil, and something else but I cannot remember right now)

we gave our daughter a large dose of high quality fish oil, with good amount of DHA and EPA, a complex of vitamin E, vitamin D higher dose than regular, and cilantro extract, essential minerals and some other vitamins and minerals besides multivitamn. Make sure you talk to a knowledgeable doctor, and not a regular doctor, because in high doses some vitamin might do worse.

we checked her blood for Lyme, and metal toxins: lead and mercury

we asked her to repeat full complicated sentences many times a day, we basically taught her how to speak. She knew all letters when she was 2, but ould not talk much, and would repeat after us sentences that did not make sense in many situations.

we bought some books about sensory processing disorder, and played games with her from those games

we took her to the playground, and into crowds, because physical exercise is directly related to how her brain processes language and so she gets exposed to a lot of sensory stimulations

we hired and OT, I do not think she really needed one, but she could use all the help, and I wanted to help her get better

please PM me if you need more info, and good luck!

Thanks Anna for writing. ..my son just turned two last week...He knows alphabets, numbers 1-10, he recognize and says colors names...use some other words like up, car, shoes....He also says rhymes ...for example if I am singing old Macdonald. ..He says eieio...When I say pig...He makes sound. He plays games peekaboo...ringa ringa rosei, he loves to chase his brother....but my concern is he doesn't talk whenever he need something, he hold our hands and take us there..He even does not know family persons names...I took him to speech therapist. ...she just mention the same things which I am already doing....playing games...showing pics etc....could you please mention the names of books you have used to encourage communication. .

Thanks

Hi all.. My son is 33 months old. He speaks a few words only identifying objects and people and calling us Mumma papa or his mama or nana. He is little active too only when he is at park or some open ground. He follows our commands. But he does not receprocate us like if I ask u want milk so he doesn't say yes or no. He says nothing and keep playing usually. He conveys his needs very well. He tries to interact with kids and people outside. He just cannot sit at one place for long. He is fond of playing with balls and balloons. He doesn't speak sentences at all. His eye contact is good with us but not with outsiders when it comes to communicating. Now he does actions of poems. But he is not singing them. He is not potty trained yet. He is little messy with toys at home. But when I ask him to collect and keep all toys in box he obeys sometimes and sometimes he doesn't. He also lines up toys but also put blocks vertical too. He can match shapes and put alphabets in puzzle game. He really loves his father's company so he cries a lot when his father leaves home for work or drop him to play group. In his initial years we were living separately in other city with no relatives or friends but 5 months back we have come to our home town so I do take him to my parents house and he loves to interact with them. This made him learn new things too. He easily points out things and say words like car, ball etc.

He sits at school when teacher asks him to sit.

My only issue is now is speech delay, problem in responding with yes or no when I ask him something, his running in parks.

I am worried what is his problem? Is he autistic or hyperactive or add or nothing?

Please reply asap.

Regards

Vandana

Hi Saa, I gpt "Everyday games for sensory processing disorder' by Barbara Sher.

"Starting sensory therapy" by Bonnie Arnwine

and Sensory Secrets by Catherine Chemin Schneeider. - Hard read this one, but it is good for understanding whys' and hows'

I also do homeschooling, a bit very simple with Montessori and Waldorf, lots of simple art activities and purchased the cheapest sensory table and put rice in there, some day, some days water, some days sand. Montessory does not need to be hard. For example I just took a broom and a cloth and showed her how to clean. She loved it. Then showed her how to close draws quietly, so simple but she really loved it , and such :)

Hi I was reading the whole thread and i was amazed as my child almost has the same issues. My wife had taken my clid to the child psychotherapist and got some IQ test done and diagnosed that he has mild autism features now he is attending regular Occupational therapy and we have been asked to stop giving milk now he is getting better however really lagging when compared to other children i am really worried about his future abhilash_bndr@yahoo.co.in

What is being discussed here is matching with my son as well. The sad thing I that no one is updating as their kids grow up. I am curious to know how danmom's kid is doing now after 10 years but doesn't look like we see any response.

Reading the thread and I have the same experience with my 38months. I hope they can update the progress on their kids cause I assume they may be 10 by now

I have read this whole thread as my son is also having similar problems. He didn't crawl till after 1, he didn't walk till later, he always made gibberish sounds with little words. He didn't start putting words in sentences till he was almost 4 and its still only a few words. He has a small attention span unless its something hes really interested in. To get him to cease doing an activity usually results in him getting very upset over it and us having difficulty calming him down. He can get rather loud and hysterical. He will keep doing behaviours he has been told specifically not to. Of a morning before we are up he will just screech & make bird noises out the window, he makes beeping noises like his grandfathers van that backs out and throws things & just general bad behaviour until we get up. If you ask him a question he will just repeat a couple words back of the question at times, if its one he knows hell answer. He had trouble making choices he will decide one and then when given that he will want the other and get upset over not getting it. He will say hello to people, look at them and us and smile and laughs, sometimes he just gets the giggles. I don't know how to toilet train him, he goes to school next year and he just doesn't know when he needs to go, he will pee if put on the toilet but that's it, there's no regularity to when he goes. He loves to sing & do action songs like clapping etc, loves TV, he knows and recognises both numbers and the alphabet, knows shapes, colours, knows his name and can spell it as well as his Nan's and pops and dads. He cannot write it, doesn't take an interest in drawing can draw a circle and a line and the letter L but that's about it. He has been attending daycare since before he was 1 as he is an only child and we have no friends with children and don't go out a lot. They referred us to a speech, physio and OT therapist who he has seen a few times a year. He is progressing but very slowly, he is way behind other children. They also put him into an early intervention group to try and get him ready for school, he loved the activities, he loves being around other kids he just doesn't interact with them. They find him strange. He has now been referred to a team to see if he is on the spectrum, they have done a part evaluation of him and are referring him to a developmental psychologist in January before deciding their diagnosis. He also has trouble with toe walking and W sitting. He refused to feed himself off and on for awhile until i took to counting to 5 and if he hadnt taken a mouthfull I put him straight to bed without finishing, he now eats his food thank godness for now especially if mummy starts counting. This is all new to me, I am a first time mum, I was an only child and also used to toe walk so did my mother. I have little experience in knowing what's normal for kids at what age so this has been tough. Its been tough realising that a lot of parents are having conversations with their kids by now and telling them things and are able to teach them things about the world etc and I have never had that communication with my son. Yes I am afraid of what putting a label on my son will do but I don't feel qualified to help him alone. I am worried about his future and am hoping he will continue to develop. He is a happy little boy mostly he loves to smile and laugh and sing. He loves cars and trains and anything electronic, going out anywhere is a great time for him. He has no problem with strangers or new environments, he loves to explore and learn how things work. Just don't leave him with a book or a picture as he will rip it up in tiny pieces even though he's been told repetitively not to. When he was younger he used to like opening and closing doors.

I should probably also add that as a baby he suffered with bad colic that no matter what we did we couldnt cure only make less severe as I was unable to breastfeed him. when he got on solids he was better but having a milk daily seemed to build up on him and cause diaherrea. We had to move him to soy milk because of this though he does not seem to have the same reaction to other dairy products. I mention this as others have mentioned diet may be a factor which does make me wonder. My son struggled by catching a lot of colds and flux and infections with mosquito bites he had to have antibiotics for too. We went to a naturopath pharmacy who gave us vitamin D drops which may have helped or as he has grown perhaps he's become stronger, I have since ran out and haven't gotten more. He has had all of his vaccines but he was struggling before most of them so I don't beleive they were a factor. He wouldn't turn in the womb so they had to pull him out via c-section, which having major surgery for my first pregnancy and then not being able to breastfeed and then struggling to feed him a bottle with colic which not matter what we tried got better but wouldn't go away and then his developmental difficulties its always been a battle with my son. We love him to bits, some days are tough especially when we are tired and his screeching and bad behaviour is relentless no matter what we try. Other days he's quite cooperative and even communicative using things he's heard on TV etc in context to tell us things and pointing and showing us things. It's so hard as I see he's bright like others have said and has so much potential, there's a lot that is positive in his behaviour too.

Hi Juliana,

My 3 and 1/2 old dd is same as you described your daughter, have you done food allergy the test, how did it go and how is your daughter now. your response would really help me.

I have posted for my son in 2011. My name was under meilee. Lately, couple parents emailed me to ask about my son progress. He is now 11 years old.

I brought my son to evaluation when he was 30 months old and they said he might have slight delay but not hitting the spectrum. Then, I stopped giving my son milk the day I saw this post. I saw the difference in about a week. He was 33 months. I don't think things could happen just coincidentally. It must be because of getting rid of dairy. Ever since, I could see his progress month by month. Now, he is in regular 5th grade. He is above the grade level. He has no problem communicating with teachers. He is even talking too much.

I found the followings have good information. Beside getting rid of diary, I have also been giving my son DHA with omega 3 and probiotics. I found them helpful too. Probiotics helps to remove the bad stuff in the gut.

Joyful Noise: Leaky Gut

Autistic Child Fully Recovered with Biomedical Treatment for Autism - Holly Riley

Hi All moms ,my son is 35 month old and not talking......not saying yes he even dont know how to response if mama is asking...like if i ask him do you want strawberries he repeats strawberries, if i ask him, u want this so he will repeat the last word...only when he wants and cannot able to say or express yess he repeats or he comes in the kitchen if he wants what i ask for...and if he dont want somethng he will clearly say 'no'he is talking only his alien language (gibberish) using 1 or two words like head or sit ,or pointing outside and saying mama look bird or tractor ,airplane he knows all the transportation names ,colors,count 1 to 16,shows Alphabets if i ask him what is this,he knows all body parts name,singing poetry with me at bedtime sometimes solo sometimes we sing together,he follows me if i say something to do..only when he understands what am saying..he tell me when he wants to go for pee ' mama pee '..but not potty trained yet....most of the things he pickdup from the tv...but not always he is sitting front of tv..he plays with all sort of toys ...very good with puzzles and name them too..he likes trains ,railroad crossing he even imitate and start doing it with hands ,watching tornado siren and playing with stick assuming it as a tornado siren,he plays with tractors ,cars,excavators ,his fav is cats which he takes them everywhere....he is not interested in drawing ,only doing scratch on papers, my concern is he dont understand fully what we are saying...and he talks but in his own langauge..he makes eye contact with me and my husband ..but i have noticed him..he is making very little eye contact with others and when they ask him something he is not responding may b becoz he doesnt know how to....he is friendly play with his frnd ,interact with others like saying hi ,shaking hands,saying bye tata ...he respond to his name but when i ask what is your name he only repeats my sentence...he doesnt say his name when other ask him...i dont understand what to think on this plss any one having any answer to this or understanding what am trying to say plss help .Also we had appointment with Alberta health care to check him with his speech and other developmentel delays. But it got cancelled bcoz of covid 19 we are waiting for them to call and reshedule us...

Any suggestions from any one will b great help.🙏🙏.Thank u