Re: Toddler pointing and imagination stages?

"Yvonne and Dan" <cherimoya@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:vfuqg.80364$qD.16858@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:

I'm asking on all boards because we would like to have a
more informed idea whether or not Stephen is autistic. The
doctor put forward an 'urgent' referral to a paediatrician
yesterday but we have to wait 13 weeks until we can see him
and get help. The health visitor has also done an MDA form
on Stephen and faxed it through to the children's centre
today. Also there is something called 'portage' over here
where a trained person comes into your home and works with
you and a child with learning difficulties once a week.
We've been refered for that. He's still only 17.5 months so
it's difficult to know at this point how far behind he is.
I would say he is almost a year behind the stage that my
other children were at at his age. He is only now doing the
things they were doing at 8 or 9 months. Things like
throwing toys out of his cot and handing us toys.

Boo never threw toys. he is rather rigid with how things
should work. he learned that throwing balls or beanbags was
ok, so he does that now. no ball throwing in the house though.
he has always 'shared' with others, but he wasn't so much
sharing as allowing anyone who wanted what he was holding to
take it away.

My mum says my brother didn't say a single word until he
was 2 yet he isn't autistic. My husband's sister never
pointed yet she isn't autistic. My gut instinct is that
Stephen IS autistic but it's hard not knowing for sure.
Once we know for sure we can get him the help he needs. In
england it's difficult to get help until you have the
formal diagnosis.

yes, i understand that from my friends on a.s.a. i think
living there would drive me nutty.
Boo did not speak or imitate sounds, except an ambulance
siren, at 2. i had been mentioning delays & sensory issues to
my pediatrician since he was just under a year, but by age 2 i
was pretty convinced we had to do something NOW. i had to be
very insistant to get an evaluation. his speech was at 6
months. he was at 12 months with fine motor & social skills &
36 months with most gross motor (he had been walking since 6
months, climbing stairs at 8 months & trees at a year old).
his upper body gross motor is not as advanced. he didn't do
things that require crossing the center line until around 4
years,, no crawling, couldn't pedal a tricycle, etc. he's
barely able to pedal now, but can if he works at it.
he did grunt & point at 2 years, but not at 17 months.

Some days Stephen seems more responsive. He's started
giving us things now. And in the last 2 days he's been
saying the word 'yeah' when he does something good.
Sometimes we see signs that make us think he isn't autistic
but that's not very often. He doens't do pretend play and
the pointing thing is an issue. Also he has very sensitive
fingers and loses the plot when I cut his nails. He sings
beautifully but simply does not talk. The health visitor
said she thinks he's a mild case because he looked at her,
made eye contact etc. Yet I've heard that some autistic
children are very social. Stephen is very social indeed and
only time will tell if that is at an inappropriate level.

Boo was very social with adults he knows well. he was
terrified of other children. he doesn't respond to other
people now unless he has had a chance to 'warm up' first. he
will NOT hug and/or kiss his grandparents or aunts & uncles,
except Uncle R who visits here frequently. given a chance to
warm up, he will talk to adults sometimes. he also does a bit
better with other kids, although he doesn't like rough play or
getting dirty (sensory issues). he plays better with girls,
unless they want to pretend play... he really doesn't get that
at all.

I took Stephen to a parent and toddler group this morning
and he was very different to the other children. He kept
crawling in circles round a mat on the floor and he wasn't
aware to be careful of the younger children. I sat him at
the playdough table and he wanted to throw everything on
the floor, then we tried the water trough and he tried to
take all the toys from that and throw them on the floor. I
really don't believe he's naughty - he just doesn't
understand. Sometimes he zones us out but his understanding
in general is very poor.

actually all that sounds like Boo, a bit. he hated playdough.
it smells funny & has a sticky texture. he didn't want
anything to do with it. he would have played in the water by
splashing, but not with toys in water.
he had a lot of both sensory seeking & sensory avoiding
behaviours as a toddler. we had a swing in the playroom for
him & i made rice & dried bean boxes for him to dig in. we
have textured surface balls, different fabric beanbags, etc.
we did a LOT of spinning him around in circles & swinging him
upside down...

What was your son like (progress-wise) at 18 months and how
has he changed over the past few years?

he has mild apraxia of speech. he has trouble getting his
facial & tongue muscles to do what he wants to say things, so
sometimes what comes out isn't what he means to say.
he started occupational therapy once/week at 26 months & was
speaking 3 word sentences in 6 weeks. we did lots of therapy
with blowing bubbles & making fish faces. and bouncing. say a
word. bounce the kid. say the word. repeat. he learned that
way.
he really blossomed this past year. he was in preschool, got
moved to a smaller class in a smaller, less well lit room... &
finished the kindergarten curriculum in 3.5 months. he loves
math. he can add & subtract numbers to the thousands place,
has started multiplication & fractions. he can read, but it's
not his favorite thing yet. he's just starting to understand
that reading will help him do electrical experiments (another
passion. i need to buy stock in batteries!) when mommy is
busy.
i would say his autism is pretty mild, but he's in a private
Montessori school that is willing to make accomodations for
his learning style. i think he would be a basketcase if he
went to the public schools here.
i'm also on the spectrum, so i'm not horrified by his DX. i
think it does make it easier for me to figure out his needs &
to ignore most of those weird autie habits, like the circle
walking or flapping or lack of eye contact.
lee
--
war is peace
freedom is slavery
ignorance is strength
1984-George Orwell
.

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