Could my son be autistic?

Hi 

I would ask your doctor and your health visitor for advice. If they attend a nursery i would also ask their advice too. I would also write down a list of how you feel they have autistic tendencies.

My daughter is nearly 10 and we still haven't got an official diagnosis of ASD. Both the school and i have highlighted the issue and she is now in the process of getting a referral. Looking back, I wish i had gone to the doctor sooner and said more to the school as there were signs many years ago - poor social communication,  limited eye contact, dislike of change, sensory issues etc which i had highlighted earlier, but somehow it got ignored as my daughter is quite bright academically. Now i feel if we had a official diagnosis of her autism, i would have had more understanding, help and support with her issues. Please try to go with your gut feeling and say that you feel there concerns with your son and you would like to have a referral etc. 

I would get an appointment straight away as the process is so lengthy and early intervention can make a big difference for speech and language regardless of an autistic diagnosis or not.   

NAS68236 said:

Are we doing the right thing when he doesn't respond to his name and we keep saying it over and over ?

What is your aim when you carry out this action and is your behaviour achieving it? If no, then stop.

I wouldn't try and make your son do something that isn't natural to him just to fit in with the expectations of the majority. Both I and my husband are autistic, as is our LO. She rarely looks directly at us when we say her name but she will often smile when we do this, therefore, I know there's nothing to worry about re her hearing or understanding. If eye contact isn't something your son enjoys/has an interest in/finds comfortable etc why is it important to you that he looks at you?

Autistic individuals are first and foremost humans. Like most people, if your son isn't accepted for who he is and isn't encouraged to be himself then he's likely to have issues in the future, esp around his mental health. If he's loved and accepted, this will go along way towards his happiness and success.

The questions I'd be asking include:

• What will a formal diagnosis achieve? For example, does your son need additional support or can he function perfectly well as is?
• Will any support the diagnosis may bring outweigh the potential issues that may arise from the diagnosis?

You may find this book helpful - https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9781847094926?gC=5a105e8b&gclid=CjwKCAjwgdX4BRB_EiwAg8O8HTQgv2P2nbSOj4w00F3q-lr4sgCCuMHawg4BTpQt7X6C5xrijXjh-xoCw-gQAvD_BwE

Also, it might be useful to know that the DSM manual used to diagnose autism as a 'disorder' and a 'disability' was used to diagnose homosexuality as a disorder when this behaviour illegal. Think back to the way that homosexuals were portrayed on tv back in the 60s/70s/80s. Autistic individuals face the same prejudices now, therefore, what you see in the media isn't representative of what life is like for autistic individuals. I was a late talker and refused to make eye contact as a child, as an adult most of my professional career has involved public speaking.

Hi

I ,m in a similar position. i was going to post a similar thread

I have thought for a while there was something different about my 23 month old son. He always seemed more hyperactive than other kids his age.

Although because of recent events (virus) it has been hard to compare as he hasn,t seen any other children his own age.

He rarely sits still and constantly rocks his head back and forth whilst flapping his hands especially at meal times. His behaviour has changed as well and he often lashes out, bites and trys to headbutt me. His speech has hardly developed over the last few months and he still repeats his favourite word "hiya" over and over even when theres no-one there.

I,ve often been advised not to look at the internet to find out if there is anything wrong with him and being told he,ll grow out of things but in the last couple of days i have been watching videos on youtube and it is clear to me he has autism.

I have today made an appointment with the health visitor and will take it from there. I have also started taking videos of him when he is rocking back and forth to show any proffesionals incase we have an appointment and he doesn,t do it in front of them.

I am already waiting for an appointment with a pediatrician regarding his walking so i will also bring it up with them.

Its all come as a bit of a shock to be honest and something that will take some getting used to but will just take one step at a time.

Good luck

Paul

Hi,

I have been through a similar experience with my son (now 28 months old). He has only recently started responding to his name, and also looses words that he has previously used. We discussed our concerns with our health visitor who recommended a referral to paediatric services for a developmental assessment. We are currently waiting for an appointment. We initially went to the health visitor when he was 23 months old so the process is quite lengthy. 

I found it really helpful to make a note of all the things my son does well, as well as the areas I was concerned about, before going to the health visitor. I also had a report from his child minder, which was really helpful. The actual referral was made by our GP but he wanted the health visitor's input so I was glad we had seen her prior to the GP. 

In terms of getting him to respond to his name, we made a conscious effort to use his name a lot when we already had his attention, as well as to get his attention, and if he did respond we would make a big fuss. This seems to have helped a little as he does now respond most of the time (he does also ignore us sometimes if he is "busy"!).   

I hope this helps.