Expert: James Michael Roan - 8/23/2006

Question
My son is 15 months old and exhibits some things that would be considered to be questionable in respects to being autistic.  He hardly ever acknowledges when I call his name, he has a serious obsession with things that have wheels like cars or the lawnmower.  He also is drawn to ceiling fans, pinwheels or just about anything that spins. He has mastered a few words over the last few months, but only uses them for a short time repeatedly then moves onto a new word and rarely if ever uses the same word again.  Everyone that comes into contact with him all tell me how amazingly bright he is.  He is fully aware when he is not supposed to do something and will wait until you are out of sight or look at you to see if you are watching first then turn away and grin and do the "bad thing".  He is an only child and doesn't get a lot of interaction with other kids.  When he is around other children he doesn't seem to interested in them and prefers to play off by himself.  P.S. He has never been vaccinated.
Thank you for any insight you might be able to provide.

Answer
Hi Sebrina;

The behaviors you described could fit under an autism/Asperger's Syndrome umbrella, however, let's gather some more data so I can comment to you intelligently. In autism we are primarily looking at social delays or even social aversion in some cases.

I suggest you first download the M-CHAT from here:
http://www.firstsigns.org/downloads/m-chat.PDF

Then get the scoring guide here:
http://www.firstsigns.org/downloads/m-chat_scoring.PDF

If there is any risk noted, contact me again to discuss the results. In any case you need to do two things should any risk is noted:

1. If you live in the U.S. make a referral to the special education department in your home school district, and

2. Arrange an appointment with a university autism unit or an autism team at the nearest Children's Hospital for an evaluation. If need be, you can get the referral from your pediatrician using the results of the M-CHAT.

Kind Regards,
James