Expert: Jene Aviram - 8/26/2010

Question
My son turned 4 in July 2010 and just started Pre-K this week. He is one of the younger kids in his class and has been babysat at home by his grandfather (not real strict) since he was six weeks old. He has great interative skills with other kids his age and even older. His motor skills are great, speech is great and his hearing seems normal, but there are occasions where he seems to have 'selective hearing' where we will have to make him look at us when we are talking to him. I know he does not have any hearing problems because we have a fairly large house and he can hear us call for him from a distance. One other thing that he does that is a sign of autism is that he occassionally displays a sensitivity to loud noises. My wife said that she was sensitive to loud noises when she was young, but he covers his ears immediately when a loud noise is heard, but doesn't do it all of the time. He doesn't have any repetive habits and seems to be well rounded. He is an extremely lovable child and seems normal, but some of his hearing and attention problems worry me. Could this be a mild case of autism or just a case of an everyday child adapting to a different environment?

Answer
Hi,

While one can never diagnose over the Internet it definitely does NOT sound like your child has autism.  The selective hearing, sensitivity to noise and focus problems you are seeing are most likely in line with sensory challenges.

If I were you, I would get an evaluation with an Occupational Therapist.  She will be able to help your son conquer these challenges so that they are a thing of the past.  The best part of OT (Occupational Therapy) is that there are so many fun activities to help.

Something else you will find helpful is this article called "How do I know if my child has sensory integration disorder?"  Go to this website and look at the red box on the right hand side.  You can download the article.  I think it will be of help to you.
http://www.nlconcepts.com/autism-saleweek.htm

I truly think you can put your mind at ease.  Your son sounds too cute for words and I'm sure he'll be just fine.

I hope this has been of some help.

Jene Aviram
http://www.nlconcepts.com