Expert: James Michael Roan - 12/1/2005

Question
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Followup To
Question -
my son is currently having problems with speech and interaction, and just generally seems to show many signs of autism, we are awaiting speech therapy, and blood test results, he is always doing puzzles, and is above average for his age in the speed he completes them, and does puzzles for much older children, he gets upset quite a lot over trivial things, and needs a lot of cuddles and reassurance, he lines up cars and hardly eats, and most nights wakes up. At first we thought perhaps he was a bit deaf as he often does not respond to his name, but that was proved not the case when he had a hearing test, just wondered if you could let me know if this sounds like he is autistic, and if not any other possible causes of these problems,
thank you
Answer -
Hi Nat;

I have a few questions for you:

1. How old is your son?
2. What sort of "trivialities" upset him?
3. What is his social behavior like? Does he point to things of interest to him in a clear attempt to share? Does he bring food or objects to you for no other apparent reason than to share them with you?

I'll be able to help more when you can provide me with a few more specifics. Take care.

Kind Regards,




hi Jim, thanks for getting back to me,

1.he is 3 and a half years old
2. he gets upset if other kids in the nursery dont put lids back on pens, or if he drops a biscuit and we tell him not to eat it from the floor, also sometimes a baby crying will also upset him
3. he does not really interact with the other kids, its as if hes in his own small world, when he plays with toys, its like he forgets about everything except what he is doing, particularly puzzles, he never points at things, he only really brings things to us if they are broken and need repairing,
i hope this is a bit more helpful
thanks, Nat


Answer
Hi Nat;

Thanks for the information. I think you have presented sufficient information to warrant me recommending you to have him formally evaluated by a team of professionals experienced with children on the autism spectrum. If you live in the U.S., you can find them at a nearby children's hospital or at the autism unit of the nearest state university.

Early intervention is not an option, it is essential, if your son is make the gains he needs to have a typical life. Again, if you live in the U.S., school districts are responsible for assessment and service delivery for children aged 0-21 years. You do not, however, want to leave the autism assessment up to them for a variety of reasons. If he does have autism you will want to contact your state's Department of Developmental Disabilities to find out what support you/he is eligible for.

I am not sayimg your son has autism, just that there is sufficient evidence to concern me, based on what you have provided me with thus far. Please feel free to ask more questions as they come up.

Kind Regards,
James