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Aspergers?
- Nov 1, 2010 at 1:38 PM
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- Comments (5) Total Views (412) Everyone can see this journal post.
The first time I ever took him to the doctor about his behavior was just after he turned one. He would have these strange tantrums. Nothing appeared to be wrong with him. I hadn't told him no or gotten on to him about anything but he would bang his head into the walls. It seemed to be his favorite past time. The doctor assured me that it was fine.
Shortly after he turned two I brought him back to the doctors. He wouldn't leave the blinds alone. Every morning at the same time he would walk to the blinds and tear at them. Every morning he would walk into the shower and bang on the glass. Every morning he would stick his fingers in the fan. My house was ridiculously baby proofed and I was sure it was just the terrible twos. The doctor agreed. I just needed to be more firm.
When he was three my mother in law got on to me because he wasn't making eye contact. She said that my husband did that too and she said she had to stay on him about it. So began the forever repeated statment of "LOOK AT ME!" We still have issues with eye contact and he is five. He is doing better though.
When he was four I realized that it wasn't normal for a child to stack his toys or line them up in a row as form of play. He had never pretended so I figured he was just a literal person. I tried teaching him to play like his brother would and like his neighborhood friends. He didn't like playing that way.
I took him back to the doctor because at four he still wouldn't stop drooling. He learned to read at three and his books were destroyed b/c he would drool all over them. He is five now reading third grade level books. Should I mention he taught himself to read?
The doctor assured me that he would learn to swallow his spit.
When his preschool threatened to throw him out of school b/c of the strange tantrums (he would curl up in a ball screaming it's too loud) and because of the drooling (they felt it was a health issue) I took him back to the doctor and his doctor said, "I think it could be Aspergers."
After a long list of doctors that went back in forth with words like Aspergers, Anxiety, Adhd (do all syndromes start with A?)...well I got sick of it. I changed his diet to fruits and veggies and stop seeing shrinks who looked right through us.
HE CHANGED! He started to pretend. The first time he pretended he was four almost five and he walked in with a shoe on his head! He said it was a hat. It was a very happy day! He stopped lining things! He started playing with friends. I thought that he had outgrown whatever it was going on with him. I still have to let him know what to expect or a tantrum follows. He still struggles with eye contact. He has issues with personal space and he isn't easy...ever! But I thought Hey, this is more like normal kid behavior.
He started kindergarten this fall and the teacher says he can't control him. He acts superior to everyone. He won't keep his hands to himself. He only wants to talk about birthdays and Ben Ten. "One of these things is not like the other...." and that would be my son. HELP! Is he a normal kid and I'm just a sucky parent? Is it Aspergers? Is it something else?? Is there anyone out there that can help me?
Comments:
Look into Sensory Integration Dysfunction. (also known as sensory processing disorder)
We are working with an education team, as well as an autism specialist. Good luck!
Obviously, I haven't seen the child in question. However, it does seem to me that he is presenting a lot of Aspergers' characteristics. There are several conditions that kind of run together-many kids are labeled AD/HD and then get rediagnosed with Aspergers' later on in their school years. You can also have OCD and anxiety issues w/and w/o an autism spectrum disorder, so this does get confusing from time to time. There are a lot of ODD behaviors that can look just like the noncompliance behaviors that kids with autism demonstrate. But my initial impression based on the behaviors that you are talking about would be Aspergers'. The hyperlexia, or reading at an early age, is definitely an indicator for highfunctioning autism or Aspergers', as is being obsessed with particular topics.
I teach adolescents who fall in different parts of the autism spectrum, and I am familiar with Aspie behavior. You mentioned many behaviors that indicate sensory integrative dysfunction-this is something that people on the spectrum have to varying degrees and it manifests itself in different ways from individual to individual. I also live with my 3 sons, who fall into different aspects of the spectrum. One is highfunctioning autistic, labeled PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified) and has an IEP, one is undiagnosed but is probably a borderline Aspie and one is undiagnosed (tested, but not found to be definitively AD/HD within the boundaries of school, anyway-home is another story). I am very used to being able to differentiate between the different types of autism spectrum disorder.
It's definitely a good idea to get professionals to work in the field to observe and evaluate him. They will probably want you and others close to him to provide them with anecdotal notes and fill out behavioral rating scales, so they can look for behaviors that he commonly demonstrates in different settings.
Good luck! He is lucky to have a parent who is so in tune with his needs. You will be a great advocate for him.
Ask your pediatrician--or the school--to recommend a developmental pediatrician, or a center that evaluates children for developmental or behavioral disorders.
I have a child on the autism spectrum. Much of what you describe with your son sounds very familiar to me. Based on your story, I'd strongly recommend that you get your son evaluated as soon as possible. Ideally, your pediatrician would have referred you to someone a long time ago, but it's just recently that pediatricians have been directed to take a close look at milestones and behaviors of their young patients.
Don't delay. The sooner you get a diagnosis, the sooner you can start getting your son the therapies that will help him in the classroom as well as in social situations.
Good luck!
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I wish that I had advice to give you but I don't. We're going through the same thing. We've only just started. I've always known that something was off. Little things that I knew weren't normal. Loud sounds scare him very badly. We avoid certain fabrics because he refuses to wear them. He won't look us in the eyes, never has. You can tell he's trying very hard to but he just can't. He is obsessed volcanoes!! It's all he'll talk about. He can tell grown adults stuff about volcanoes that they didn't even know. It's all he draws and I know before I open his book bag what type of library book he brought home. He plays along side other kids rather than with them. He can play with his little brother but I think that it's more that his brother is use to how he plays. A lot of the time he seems that he's in a different world. He gets in to tantrums and he can't seem to snap out of them. His teacher has had to physical take out of the class room to the principals office. He kicks the, turns over furniture, screams.
Right now we're thinking that it's either Aspergers or ODD. We're having an I.E.P meeting of thursday. In December we're taking him to a psychiatrist to start getting him evaluated.
Talking your sons school and see if they have any resource that can help him and help you to figure him out. Your not a bad mom, it's not something you did or didn't do. It's how his brain formed. Good luck!!
- Littledudesmomm
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