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Autism/is it autosim or high functional autosim or not of them

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Expert: - 1/4/2006


Question
my 3 years and 9 months male child looses the ability to speak or look me in the eye for about 4 hours during this period he will be very passive with staring look, then the following day for about 3 hrs and still he is repeating this abnormality but on a decreasing scale, this happened after soffering from a severe cold that he had last week. we took him to the doctor who examined him, made EEG and MRI for him, and after examining the exrays she told us that the brain is OK, but she could not give us a clear diagnosis.
I must tell you that my child spoke at the age of 18 months and he usually expresses his feelings normally and has no broblem playing with his peers.  I live in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Answer
Hi Nowaf,

Autism is usually not something that comes and goes like that.  It sounds more like something we call an "absence seizure" which can be associated with some forms of epilepsy.

Since it is decreasing in length, it might be safe to wait a week or so and see if it stops.  If it does not, I recommend you go back to the doctor and ask for a referral to a neurologist familiar with young children.

Best wishes,
Catherine

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Catherine Ridenour

Expertise

I can answer your questions about parenting your High Functioning Autisic or Asperger`s Syndrome child. In particular, questions about family life, discipline, siblings, finding resources, and working with (sometimes opposing) the educational system are welcome.

Experience

I am the parent of an Asperger's Syndrome child who is now 22 years old. She went undiagnosed for 14 years of her life, so I have done extensive reading and Internet research into the possible cause of her difficulties. Even a short 8 years ago, A.S. was practically unheard of by the public educational system.

We fumbled our way through her childhood and early adolescence without any effective outside support. In some ways, that may have been a blessing as we were focused on her abilities rather than a label for her disability. However, I can think of many times when knowing WHY would have been comforting.

Had we known very early on, some social skills interventions might have made her life in school easier. At this point, I like her for who she is so I do not regret how things have turned out. More importantly, she likes herself.

Education/Credentials
I have a Bachelor of Science in Education.

I have worked to educate myself about Autism in general and HFA/AS in particular.

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