About Michelle Fattig Expertise I can answer questions about educational testing, autism, Asperger's Syndrome, ADD/ADHD, Special Education, IEP, Learning Disabilities, Sensory Processing, Parent Advocacy, Response to Intervention, living and parenting with disabilities, parent rights in special education, school psychology, and more. I cannot provide a medical diagnosis.
Experience I am a school psychologist, medical technologist, author of the Annie Books series: Experience Aspeger's Syndrome and Attention Deficits Through the Eyes of a Child, RTI facilitator, ILCD facilitator, parent advocate, presenter, and researcher. My children and I have Asperger's, ADD/ADHD, and learning disabilities.
Organizations National Association of School Pyschologists, American Medical Technologists, Learning Disabilities Association of Nebraska
Education/Credentials Ed.S. in School Psychology, doctoral studies in SPED Law, SPED Systems Enhancement Leadership, and doctoral candidate Education Leadership. MT(AMT) and MLT(ASCP)
Question I have 18month twin boys. While twin A is very social and demanding all the attention twin B is little bit withrown but not at all shy. He is also letting his brother hit him, pull his hair without fighting back too much and even though he protests when twin A takes toys he is not all upset too much, finds other toys to play with.
Twin B does not point at all, sometimes waves good by but it is mostly when he wants to go somewhere. He likes to play alone for most of the time, does not seek my attention but when I play with him he loves it. Plays "peek aboo", kids rimes and loves to be praised and claps and sais yeee so we can continue praising him. He does not share toys with us but willo come to us and want us to watch Teletubies with him when excited. He also does not answer to his name, never did...but is able to follow directions such as "get down", no, turn arround and do not tuch that.
He does not notice kids his age very often but when he sees them running arround wants to be chased and laughs when kidds are running arround and often wants to join in. Like I said he is not shy, often wants to be picked up even by strangers but lots of times does not respond when people talk to him. Loves to be arround daddy, and cries when daddy leaves the room. Loves grandma and grandpa and wants grandma( they live with us) to rock him to sleep. Often gives huggs and kisses and comes to us with kisses for no apperant reason. Likes to run arround a lot, likes to climb on things but is very carfull not to hurt himself, very carful...will never jump unless he is sure he will not get hurt.
Transitions from activity to activity very easy and if he realy wants something will take us by hand to what he wants...when wants to go out will bring his coat or shoes and say go, go. Does not talk too much, has about 10 words that he uses well when he needs to...when sees a toy he likes like a ball he will be excited will say Oh, ball or daddy ball.
We had the hearing checked, it was fine but hearing specialist and child speach therapist and other therapists said that he has Audatory Processing Problems and thayt he is very visual and that might be the reason for his somewhat poor eye contact. When we say for example "so big" he reakts and joins in play but it almost has 5 seconds delay in responding.
Does not have any repetative movements or odd toy play such as lining the cars, does not seek rutine...falls a sleep quite easy, when tired tels us sleep or simply comes to us and wants his "guga" pacefier and wants us to either rock him or rubb him to sleep. As far as pretend play, we are not too sure about that. Twin A pretends to feed his dog toy but twin B kisses him and hits him sometimes but does not feed him or anything like that. He likes to jump into the pillows on the flour and we can see he is mimiking swimming( we were at the coast for 3 months swiming every day) and now at home he acts like he is swimming sometimes.
Loves to watch TV but if we turn it off fusses a bit but can be easily destracted with other activities. He is very independant and he does not shy from kidds but he plays side by side with them. Both of my boys love to spin wheels of cars and other things but spinning lasts for maybe a ninute or two and he is off to the next thing.
In most ways he is as a typical toddler but does not seek our attention as much, when we interupt him and play with him he loves it but will not initiat it.
We were told that he does not understand us due to the fact tht he does not process information that he hears and we are starting therapy for that but we are still warried that he might have Autism. Twin A and Twin B talk to each other all day but we do not understand them, they seem to know what each wants and play well together.
When kidds aproach him and talk to him he acts like he ignors them but then out of blue pulls them to chase him or play ball.
What do you think?
Answer If you have worries about Autism, a nice screener for you to print out and provide to your child's physician is:
Child’s Name_______________________________
Checklist for Autism Spectrum Disorder (Susan Mayes, PhD, Penn State College of Medicine)Check each item that applies to your child now or in the past
PROBLEMS WITH SOCIAL INTERACTION
__(1) Social isolationwithdrawn, aloof, avoids contact with others, or prefers to play alone rather than with peersparallel play along side but not with peersdifficulty establishing friendships
__(2) Limited reciprocal interactionlimited social smile or eye contact (looks away, looks through people, looks at speaker’s mouth, needs tobe prompted to make eye contact, or does not make eye contact when communicating)limited sharing and showing (e.g., does not show a toy to an adult, seek recognition, or share anexperience or accomplishment with others)excessively rigid play with peers (dictates play according to his/her peculiar and repetitive interests and rules)enjoys physical or sensory play with others (e.g., tickling, chasing) but has limited reciprocal socialinteraction (e.g., does not play social games or games involving turn taking)
__(3) Self-absorbedself-absorbed or in own world (e.g., engages in self-stimulating behaviors, talks to self, or fantasizesexcessively about things such as movies or cartoons)oblivious to the presence of others or unresponsive to the social overtures of others
__(4) Socially indiscriminate behaviorinappropriately talks to or hugs strangersinvades personal space (gets too close to or touches others)no stranger/separation anxiety when young (not wary of strangers or upset if separated from parents)socially inappropriate, insensitive comments or behaviors (picks nose in public, asks personal questions)
__(5) Problems with social skillsdoes not appropriately initiate or sustain peer interaction though may interact well with adultspoor social reasoning (difficulty understanding social cues/comments, facial expressions, body language)wants to have friends but does not know how to make friendsPERSEVERATION
__(6) Narrow or unusual range of interests and play behaviorsobsessive preoccupations or extreme fixation on things such as certain movies or TV shows (reenacts orwatches the same movies over and over), computer games, letters, shapes, numbers, counting, objectsor topics (e.g., trains, dinosaurs, NASCAR, maps, planes, electricity, Yu-Gi-Oh, cartoon characters, etc.)unusual attachment to and holding or hoarding objects (e.g., small figures, string, other______)
__(7) Stereotyped and repetitive playrepetitive play (e.g., excessively lines up, sorts, spins, or throws objects; opens and closes thingsrepeatedly; plays with the same toys without variation; draws the same pictures repeatedly; other_____)disinterest in toys or lack of normal and varied imaginative playunusual preoccupation with parts of objects (e.g., repetitively spins wheels on a toy)
__(8) Upset with changedistressed by change (e.g., change in routine or schedule, parent takes a different car route home fromschool, furniture or child’s toys are moved, seasonal change in clothing, other______)difficulty with transitions (e.g., from one activity to another)extreme need to finish what he/she startsidiosyncratic or ritualized patterns (e.g., drinks only from a certain cup, wears only certain clothes, insiststhat food be arranged a certain way on a plate, other_____)insists that things be in a certain location or a certain way (e.g., doors must be closed, coats zipped, etc.)insists on doing things the same way every timeoverly precise and inflexible, upset if someone breaks a “rule,” rigid and literal thinking
__(9) Stereotypies (unusual repetitive movements such as hand flapping when excited, toe walking, bodyrocking, head shaking, body tensing, teeth clenching, teeth grinding while awake, finger movements, facialgrimacing, repeatedly running back and forth, twirling or spinning, pacing, playing with saliva, skin picking)
SOMATOSENSORY DISTURBANCE
__(10) Excessive atypical craving and love of spinning, tickling, climbing, rocking, swinging, bouncing, jumping
__(11) Unresponsive at times to verbal input (not react when name called or spoken to, hearing questioned)
__(12) Hypersensitivityunusual hypersensitivity to some sounds (e.g., distress or covering ears in response to loud noise,motors, vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, baby crying, sirens, clapping, alarms, toilet flushing, people singing)unusual hypersensitivity to smell, light, or temperature
__(13) Distress with commotion or crowds (uncomfortable/anxious in large groups, theatres, cafeterias, parties)
__(14) Extreme fascination with spinning or repetitive movements (e.g., revolving fans, Wheel of Fortune,running water), linear patterns (e.g., credits on TV, window blinds), minute details, lights, shiny surfaces
__(15) Abnormal sensory inspectionexcessively smells, mouths, chews, licks, or rubs inanimate objects or surfacesrepetitively visually scrutinizes objects or finger movements close to eyesplaces ears against things that vibrate or hum or presses objects against face to an unusual degree
__(16) Tactile defensiveness or extreme dislike of:being touched or huggedtouching certain things or getting hands dirty or stickywater on self or clotheshaving face washed, teeth brushed, hair combed, or nails cutwalking in bare feetclothing that is tight, seams in clothes, or certain textures of clothing
__(17) High tolerance for pain (e.g., does not cry when hurt or does not respond normally to painful stimuli)
__(18) Sleep disturbance (e.g., difficulty falling asleep, waking during the night, waking early in the morning)
__(19) Feeding problemsvery picky eater, limited food preferences, insists on eating only a few foodshypersensitivity to textures (e.g., lumps in food)retains food in mouth without swallowingeats inedible substancesother peculiar eating patterns (e.g., eats only one brand, color, or shape of a food, other____)
ATYPICAL COMMUNICATION AND DEVELOPMENT
__(20) Language regression or slowing at approximately 1 to 2 years of age (e.g., speaking a few words at oneyear but then losing speech or normal early language development and later language is delayed)
__(21) Visual-motor skills (e.g., assembling puzzles, building with Legos, operating the VCR) significantly higherthan language skills during the preschool years or walking at a much earlier age than talking
__(22) Communication impairmentabsent or limited communicative speech but gestures to communicate (e.g., pulls an adult by the handand leads to what wants, hands an object to an adult for assistance, brings a cup to an adult for a drink)communicates verbally with others only when stressed or needing somethingdifficulty with reciprocal conversational speech (initiating and sustaining conversations, listening andresponding to what others say), talks at people, or one-sided conversations on topics of interest to self
__(23) Atypical vocalizations or speechunusual voice quality or modulation (e.g., high pitch, sing song voice, lack of intonation, etc.)screeches or makes other odd noises (e.g., growls, hums, etc.)unusual repetitive vocalizations and soundsidiosyncratic jargon as if talking in own languageecholalia (inappropriately mimics what others say, such as repeating instead of answering a question)sporadic speech (says a word or phrase once and rarely or never says it again)excessively recites from movies, cartoons, commercials, etc.uses rote or memorized phrases that are excessive, out of context, or not relevantmakes pronoun substitutions (e.g., says “you” when meaning “I”)excessively repetitive speech and questionsidiosyncratic thoughts and speech (makes up words, nonsensical speech, unique views and perceptions)
__(24) Special abilities that are significantly higher than other abilitiesexceptional rote memory (e.g., at an unusually young age, identifies numbers, letters, shapes, logos, andcolors; sings or hums tunes; memorizes car routes; counts; recites the alphabet; reads; spells; etc.)phenomenal vocabulary or ability to memorize movies, books, or factual informationremarkable ability to mimic movie or cartoon charactersoutstanding visual-mechanical skills (e.g., at an unusually young age, assembles puzzles, matchesshapes, operates a computer or VCR, figures out how things work, complex constructions with Legos)remarkable artistic or musical talentextremely well-developed gross motor skills with delayed development in other areas (in contrast to high-functioning children with autism who often have writing or coordination problems)
MOOD DISTURBANCE
__(25) Overreactivity, irritability, low frustration tolerance, agitation, tantrums, meltdowns, explosiveness,aggression, or self-injurious behavior (distressed by minor events or occurrences most children cantolerate, such as intrusions, activity interruptions, proximity, confinement, performance demands, writingtasks, or when things are not the way the child thinks they should be)
__(26) Moodiness and emotional lability (the cause for mood changes may not always apparent, such aslaughter or distress for no apparent reason)
__(27) Difficulty showing and recognizing emotions, emotionally unresponsive in some situations, lack ofempathy or emotional reciprocity (e.g., does not respond appropriately or provide comfort whensomeone is hurt or sad), or misinterprets the emotions or responses of others
__(28) Unusual fears, such as fear of elevators, steps, toilets, balloons, vacuums, tornadoes, other_____
PROBLEMS WITH ATTENTION AND SAFETY
__(29) Selective attention, ability to hyperfocus on activities, objects, or topics of interest to self (e.g., lines uptoys, spins wheels, watches the same movie, assembles puzzles, builds with Legos, or draws picturesfor long periods of time), but is inattentive, impulsive, and fidgety at other times
__(30) Limited safety awareness, fearless, or oblivious to danger (e.g., unsafe climbing, wanders about house atnight, runs off by self, goes into traffic or water, walks off with strangers)
Another good overview of autism checklists and diagnosis (cut and paste into browser):
