Thursday, November 19, 2009

Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, whats going on?

My daughter is going into a speech/physical therapist on the 2nd to see whats going on. However in the mean time I'm curious to know what other people think about her symptoms.





My daughter is 4 years old.


she weighs 28lbs, but both her mother and father are really small so I'm not sure thata a "symptom"


She will not talk to any strangers or make eye contact with them, ever.


she will talk a little to extended family of familiar faces but rarely makes eye contact.


She will talk at home but her speach is slightly "strained", when she speaks it's never clear and always in a singsong/whiny tone...even if she's happy...it's weird and annoying at times...it rare that she ever just says something in a normal tone.


she flicks her fingers together while sucking her thumb ( she's always sucking her thumb)


she is clumbsy beyond belief


She has "issues" with just how tight or lose her shoes and carseat belt are. We have to ajust it for every trip based on the thickness of her clothes.

Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, whats going on?
It's good that you are taking her in for evals. This will help her get services through the school district. But if you want a diagnosis that will be accepted by schools, state,etc she needs to be evaluated by a developmental pediatrician or neurologist.





A few of her behaviors sound consistent with kids on the spectrum. Her lack of eye contact, poor social skills and sing songy voice. The finger flicking may be a stim. The thumb sucking could be a stim or oral sensory thing. Don't try to stop the flicking and sucking right now. If they are stims, then they serve a very real purpose for her. The seatbelt could be a sensory issue as well. Is she sensitive to tags, heavy seams and casings on clothing as well as texture?





Take a look at the website for the Autism Society of America (www.autism-society.org). It has some good basic info about autism. The OASIS website is great for Asperger's (www.aspersyndrome.org). If you want to do some of your own evals on her take a look at firstsigns.org. It has developmental milestones for up to 36 months. Although she is older than that, if she has delays it will give an idea of what her functioning levels are.


The massgeneral link goes to a table of common rating tools used and who would complete them. Quite a few include parents and have links to the questionnaires- some free, some for sale.





She is also old enough to be evaluated for services through your school district.





If she turn out to have some sort of PDD, you will have to become something of an expert in many areas. You will have to become her advocate. Don't leave everything to the "professionals",


Good luck.
Reply:Hi! My son (3 years old) is going to be evaluated soon for Autism. I am pretty sure he is somewhere on the spectrum.


His symptoms are : echolalia, poor eye contact, socialization issues, sensory (sounds mostly), high pain tolerance. His only stim is that he likes to "spin". I can't answer your question per say. But, just to share something I've noticed over the past few months...


I started him on the gfcf diet and have seen great improvements. His speech has soared. Better eye contact. Before he would just say words, things he heard on the television and they were usually out of context. He just seems to be more coherent after starting the diet. His bowel movements, which were very loose, have even improved. Which, proves to me that he may have the 'leaky gut syndrome'. He's always been that way. I read Karyn Seroussi's book on how she helped heal her son and I must admit I pick it up still and read sections over again. It is an amazing book. Lisa Lewis has a few books for the gfcf diet. Both are awesome. Anyhow, I hope this helps a little. Wishing you and your little one the best. :)


Mommy of Two :)
Reply:Its not aspergers, but it could be autism. However, because of the genetics involved with autism, its really unusual to have a younger child that is not affected - especially a male. That's assuming they have the same father.
Reply:I finally got my daughter to a neurologist who specializes in children and behavioral issues. She has Aspergers Syndrome. It totally explained all the symptoms she was having and I got one diagnosis for it all instead of someone saying she was this and that. Check out books from a leading reasearcher named Tony Attwood. He did a seminar not to long ago and I totally had an eye opening experience about how wonderful my daughter is and how much she needs me to understand her world. They really struggle to fit into our little box and can get overloaded and meltdown so easily because we don't understand. Contact your pediatrician and ask for a specialist for Neurology for children. Also, go to this website for more information:





www.autismspeaks.org
Reply:It sounds like your daughter has apraxia or problems with motor functions of the mouth and its affecting her speech. The sing song voice and strained voice are symptoms of this. My autistic son has the same problem with speech. Prompt therapy for speech is great to teach the kids how to control the muscles of the jaw and tongue to produce correct sounds. This is really helping my son. Does your daughter overextend or underextend her mouth when she tries to talk or strains her mouth ( looks like a smile).


You need to take her to be evaluated by an occupational therapist for gross and fine motor control. The problem she has with the carseat belt are related to the amount of pressure. She is seeking a comfort zone to deal with all the sensations around her. Your daughter is listening to you but you don't realize it because she is trying to deal with her surroundings. She is suffering from low muscle tone.


Many ASD kids have problems with digestion of foods. I suggest giving her digestive enzymes for all foods, fats, gluten etc. I also would note the odor and color of her urine and stool and tell the pediatrician. Yellowish stool is not a good sign and smelly urine or stool indicates an infection. Check for yeast, bad bacteria, and parasites. This could be affecting her weight.


My son does not see family often because of distance and he has to get used to them all over again. The eye contact can improve with the addition of cod liver oil. The vitamin A in the cod liver oil helps them with visual processing. Vitamin A in the rods of the eyes could be low. Our dr. saw "unequal reactivity" in our son's eyes== related to eye contact. The cod liver oil restored the eye contact in my son, everytime he is getting low on vitamin A , he starts to lose eye contact. When your daughter looks sideways- she is attempting to focus the light into the eyes, so she looks like she is not making eye contact.


My autistic son is now 5 and he making great progress in speech and fine/gross motor control. My son's school is giving lectures on behavior, fine/gross motor skills,etc. You might want to see if someone is offerring free classes.


Good luck.
Reply:If you get a chance to watch the NOVA episode on epigentics, you will see there is a definite link to mental disorders and nurturing in infancy. It turns out that genes can be turned on and off by epigenes which develop from lack of nurturing by the mothers in young mice. You have to watch the show though. These inflammatory discoveries have coyly avoided appearance on the PBS website for some reason.


However, if you want to get your toes wet, here is the intro:








http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/genes/





Another source that is not so squeamish is this:





http://www.mcgill.ca/headway/fall2006/in...
Reply:hey there:





I'm sorry to hear about your trouble with your daughter. It's always hard when there is something that cannot be figured out with one's child/ loved one.





I did some research on it and found a really good forum that is specific to both autism and asperger's syndrome. there are alot of people on the sites that have personal experience as well as doctor's that answer questions. There is alot of good information on treatments, symptoms, and clinics you go for help.





Autism Site:





http://dailystrength.org/support/Develop...





Asperger's Site:





http://dailystrength.org/support/Develop...





good luck! I wish you the best.





Warm regards-


Chanty
Reply:Okay, for one Asperger's Syndrome is an Autistic disorder, I know because I have it. I did in fact learn to reasd pretty quickly, but my socialization skills are very poor as are my speaking skills. I have a hard time with hand eye coordination, and I hate anything that constrains my arms or wrists, it took me forever to even bear having a watch on, and I still can't wear rings. I do however like my shoes either tight or extremely loose, I never used to tie them because I liked them loose, but I do like my socks to be tight around my ankles. I have horrible handwriting, and when I'm excited or nervous my hands shake a lot and so do my legs. I have obsessions with certain things like always having certain things with me everywhere I go, I love to look at art and other visual stimulants. But I have a terrible hatred of physical stimulants, it just bothers me. If you want any further info you can visit the site I am providing.
Reply:There are some very good answers here already, but I will add my two cents worth. My son is labeled as having Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). It's an autism spectrum disorder, and my younger son has no unusual characteristics.





Based on your description, it does sound like your daughter may be autistic. It affects more males than females, but it does affect females.





Early intervention is key. My son started receiving intervention when he was 13 months old. He's made a lot of progress, but he has other issues.





But it's not too late. Do have her evaluated, and do read the sites others have recommended. Also, once she has a diagnosis, she should qualify for some special school programming, depending on your public school district.





Music therapy can be very effective in treating autism. I myself am a music therapist, and have some information and links on my site, http://soundmindsoulutions.bravehost.com... Find out if your school district has a music therapist on staff. You can also request a list of music therapists from http://www.musictherapy.org/.





As a parent of a child with a disability, I am always willing to talk to other parents. It can be a real struggle, I know! Please let me know if you'd like to talk or share information!





Take care!
Reply:Autism is characterized by extreme withdrawl and an abnormal absorption in fantasy, accompanied by delusion, hallucination and inability to communicate verbally or otherwise relate to people. Asperger's syndrome is similar to an autistic disorder but lacking the delays in development of language, cognitive function and self-help skills. You don't say how well she functions, plays or interacts with immediate family or other children. Have you had her hearing assessed? Does she respond to your voice when she is not facing you? The carseat/shoes "issues" leads me to believe she may be mildly autistic. Autistic children don't do well with external stimulus, pains or constraints. I hope all goes well with your daughter.


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