Expert: Jene Aviram - 5/14/2009

Question
hi jene,

i have asked a question before about my son and you answered it well.  i just have a follow up question.  i don't know if you remember but i was asking about the tilt test and you told me that not all babies pass this 100 percent of the time at 6 months and you are right, my son is more consistent now in passing the tilt test 2 weeks after my tilt test paranoia.

now my concern is there are teddy bear patterns on the cushion of his high chair that he loves looking at.he would turn around while eating just to look at it.  he also likes some leaves pattern on the wall.  although he wouldn't stare at these things for longer than 2 minutes, he really seems interested in some objects/patterns.  i read somewhere that this was one of the things that a mom saw in her child before the diagnosis came.

he is 7 months old now and is so curious with everything.  when he is intently looking at something he would often times ignore me. but when i enter the room and call his name he would look up to me and smile.  but when he starts crawling he would just look at me at times but continue to play.

is this ok?

otherwise he is fine.  smiling, playing, interacting, babbling a few words etcetera.  im just bothered with his interest in patterns and prints.

when will this constant fear go away? i dont know if im being too hypervigilant or i am really seeing things.

help me please. im going out of my wits.


Answer
Hi Belinda,

I know it's hard not to worry.  When we have kids we want them to be absolutely perfect and we fear that something could go wrong.  Your little boy sounds perfectly on track.  It's totally normal for him to be interested in the patterns on his chair.  While you have seen millions of things in your life, your son is discovering everything for the first time.  Can you just imagine how fascinating that must be?

I know you read that a mother noticed her child was fascinated by patterns and then he was diagnosed with autism.  The thing you must keep in mind is the DEGREE which a child exhibits behaviors.  As an example, typical kids sometimes have a meltdown, they sometimes talk late, they sometimes don't have eye contact, they sometimes won't cooperate, they sometimes don't have imaginative play, they sometimes have strange habits, they sometimes are fascinated by windmills, they sometimes are extremely picky about their foods, they sometimes don't like certain textures.  This list goes on and on.  This is all normal.  

Children with autism might have these behaviors too, but the intensity which they exhibit behaviors associated with autism is great.  For example, they might be fascinated by windmills and all they want to do is watch them, to the exclusion of everything else.  Or they might exhibit poor eye contact 95% of the time.  Do you see what I'm saying?  It's not enough for your son to have behaviors that are found in children with autism, he would have to repeatedly indulge in these behaviors plus many other behaviors associated with autism, and he would have to exhibit these behaviors to a large degree.  

From the others things you've said about your son, it sounds like he is developing just as he should.  I would tell you not to worry - but I know you will anyway :-)
Enjoy him and take lots of photos and videos.

Jene Aviram
http://www.nlconcepts.com