Will his behaviours get worse?

aaargh I wrote a long reply and lost it!

Little C doesnt have any meltdowns or even really any tantrums yet.  We are starting to see the odd occasion when he gets mad, stamps his feet pushes you away and cries, but I can normally make him laugh and then its over.

He had a rough start at nursery after spending a year at home with his dad but he loves it now.  Loves his keyworker, all the activities (especially the bloody messy ones!) just not so interested in the others although he has started to occaisionally hug the small ones and give them a toy he is playing with or share his blocks that he has been lining up :)

He doesnt actually grunt or point - he has started to really reach for things he wants and gets a bit mardy if you dont pass them - stamps his feet etc, started to make a frustrated whine.

Thanks for all that - really helpful.  I just feel that some of his behaviours seem really mild just now - in fact he seems a positive angel against lots of peoples toddlers - haha and I just wondered if things are likely to change from here on in.

Hi,

 My son showed many of the signs you mention. His speach was severely delayed and he really only grunted at age two. The lining up of the cars and tantrums. (Not to be confused with the terrible twos) were also present. He displayed meltdowns so much more frequently than his older brother who was also diagnosed years later. I used to call it 'having a Billy', but at the time I didn't realize he may be showing the signs of Autism.

Irrespective of the diagnosis I would work on helping him. It was painstaking, but I really had to insist that my son made the effort to talk. He would point and grunt and members of my family would hand him things, which would really irritate me. Without careful and patient pronounciation and getting him to repeat, he would have continued to grunt, I'm sure. If you believe his issues are more profound, combine signing with speaking the words you want your son to say. I'm not suggesting your son is deaf, he may have auditory processing difficulties, as my son did, but a multi-pronged approach will help. My son now speaks with reasonable clarity, even if his understanding is off at times.

At the time, Early learning Centre did picture cards of many household objects which I litterally stuck around the house. I had extra sets which I would sit and look at with him and also place another set next to the images with the written name next to the item or image. This gave him a good base of common words, pronunciation and an image library. As it happened this was instrumental, as he was also diagnosed with Dyslexia at Primary School.

Use as many multi-sensory strategies as you can find. I found my sons behaviour was best when he was at home and in a familiar environments. School, nursery etc presented huge issues for him. He's seventeen now. Since giving up edcucation and the stresses that came with it, he's a different person. He manages his time in his way and at a stress level thats managable for him.

Don't get me wrong he's still has his 'Billy's', but at a volume which is way more managable than before.

I guess what I'm really trying to say is that the stresses increase as a child gets older, but I understand that if you prevent him from doing something because it's inappropriate. (Take something out of the tool box) it's important to replace it with another tool so that he learns to manage his emotional overload. Look for triggers to certain behaviours and you can ensure his behaviour is more managable.

Don't focus on whether it's likely to get worse, work on making it better, by learning about his world. The link attached will be a bit premature for you as your son is not in School yet, but it is worth watching to gain insight into some of the issues children on the spectrum can face.

www.youtube.com/watch

As you may have guessed I have two on the spectrum and both are completely different characters and approach their difficulties in different ways. One is now an Ambassador for autism at his College, the other works for himself part time, but prefers others not to know of his Aspergers. Every individual is different and what works for one may not work for another.

Trial what works for you and your son. Aspergers/Autism or not, if you feel he needs support then don't wait for a diagnosis. Early intervention makes a huge difference.

Coogybear

thanks for reply. so should i expect any behaviours to worsen? hes my only child so i dont really know whats normal development and whats outside of that.

"He lines a lot of things up, runs on the spot excitedly, has quite an aversion to certain foods, is non verbal (does that mean no words but makes sounds?) and used to show a lot of upset to loud noises"

These seem reasonable diagnostic indicators...the eye contact issue is the strongest indicator of Autism, but not universally present especially in babies. I think you should consider yourself justified in seeking an assesment. 

Hi!  Thanks for your reply.

Lots of people have said that its too early for people to start labelling him but SLT and HV are falling over themselves to tell us how bad he is!  Well actually the HV (new, as we just moved) didnt even talk to him or look at him just suggested sensory rooms and an assessment with an autistic clinic.  I just feel that they are not being respectful to him.  If his is indeed autistic then it will stay with him for life - there really is no need to accelerate the diagnosis faster than it needs to be.

I think their main flag is the lack of speech.  He makes lots of sounds but barely any words.  I feel really let down by the whole approach so far except for his nursery who are being amazing!

SproutsMa said:

He makes great eye contact with us and is very loving but prefers to play on his own at nursery and will interact minimally with the other children.

That doesn't sound very autistic! Two year olds do not normally play nicely with other children, that comes later. At two he will tolerate other children but he won't be able to share or be very social. If he is making good eye contact with you then there is no red flag in that department. Children develop at different rates and he may suddenly start talking with a torrent of words but you are quite right to get this checked out.