Expert: Valerie Herskowitz - 2/25/2011

Question
Hi  my son who just turned 6 yrs old   is  presently  being recomended for  a autism assesment by his pediatrician .  He  started kindergartin  this yr ,for the  first  month or so of school he  cried and screamed and  had temper tantrums  ,I was not able to leave his  side   if I was out of his site for even a  sec  he  would  have  extreme  aniexty .  I was told  to keep him home  as  his behavier   went on to involve  running  out of the school onto the  road  seeming not to hear  me when I called his name  .  he also runs  back and  forth on his hands and feet  like  a  dog   and rocks himself  ,  he holds his hand up by his head and  flaps it when talking   will look down  or to the side when  someone talks to him   occasional he will look up at the person then  look away .  he  gets  frustrated  easliy ,  he will trhow himself  on the floor covering his ears  when I turn on the vacum  , hair dryer ect. he  makes  od  noses and animal sounds   he will growl at his teachers ,  he  gets  angry at the drop of a hat   he will hit himself in the head  chest  where ever  ,  hit  me    tell me he hates me     ect .   just before he turned 4  he  seemed to have all of a sudden  lost  some of his speach  ,  where  before  it seemed he talked very well now he   struggles to  say what he waants  and  it frustrates  him  .  he has  a   youth worker  at school that works  with him ,  he  only attends school  2 hrs a day  .  Oh yeah  I forgot to mention  he has started to   collect    rolls of toilet paper  ,  found a cupbaord tht  has  alot of chewed gum and garbage wrappers in it .  when went to take it away  he  had a  tantrum saying he needed them  .
does this sound like autism  or  something on the spectrum to you . thank you   dusty

Answer
Hi Dusty

It sounds like your son has a lot of issues going on. An autism diagnosis appears to fit. He seems to be displaying a lot of frustration, sensory issues, language delays, Obsessive issues, and other odd behaviors. Are you getting him so help? Speech therapy, occupational therapy, behavior therapy.

It isn't right that he is only in school 2 hours a day. Your school district has the responsibility to school him the entire school day. You need to contact the powers of the district and find out what's going on. Possibility try to find an advocate to go with you.

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