Autism Spectrum Disorder

they may not be able to tell much at that age... i know at that age my older boy spoke nonsense all the time, prefered to be by himself, was great at keeping himself busy tho, seemed to lack any knd of focus....and if i read up on it i would have found he displayed some characteristics too. the spectrum is very wide tho and not all have trouble with eye contact etc. maybe you could talk to the person who advised you to get him assessed (i'm assuming its a medical professional) and see if they can give you more info

They're generally quite reluctant to 'label' kids when they're this age, but if you have him assessed it will at least get him in the system, so they can follow his progress as he gets older.

I get a bit paranoid about my Sienna coz she has her "special" traits, but it seems most of her behavioural issues stem back to her ears - I thought she was getting even more withdrawn and angry than usual this week but it turns out she has infections in both ears which is kind of a relief coz at least that can be fixed!

hi emmaohara..
yes ..take him and get him checked!!!
my son was diagnosed at 2yrs of age..and he too was loving (cuddles) and had eye contact..but tyere was just something about him that we thought ...mmmmmm, sounds like you too are thinking that.
the process is very easy..just list all you can think off to discuss with the doctor and i have to be honest here..DONT sugar coat it. two reasons...

if he misdiagnosed and they say he fine and hes not you will miss out on valuble resources and information PLUS you will be back to this point in years to come..

if he is diagnosed and he is actually fine..no harm done! its nothing medical so that wont affect him his funding or/and resources can just be stopped and life goes on...its not evasive.

do it now and dont wait till preschool because it takes time to sort and things may not come his way till school starts and that can be extremely stressful...my son had such an early diagnoses that by the time he ready to start kindy he had funding for teacher aide and all specialist help ready to go!! your doctor/paediatrition will point you in the right direction...good luck
PM me if want more info

my boy has finally been diagnosed with aspergers after a very lengthy stay on the waiting list!!!

The specialist said to us that there is very rarely 2 kids on the spectrum that will have the same traits so noone can say "no he doesnt have it bcos he doesnt do this or that" (there is a check list though but they dont have to have everything on it).

We knew something wasnt quite right from the very beginning - he hated being around other people as a baby, wasnt interested in any toys at all and if you gave him a car he just wanted to pull it apart so see how it worked!! (and that was from VERY early on like 8 months!), he also rocked back and forth and shook his hands (like the moari wiri wiri) ...amoung a long list of other things!!.

Bays plunket nurse picked it up at 2.5yrs and we said that we had suspected it.

To the average person Bay looks perfectly normal and really - he is!! hes super intellegent, is very much into computers, space, planets etc and is managing ok at school, but there are the other things like - he will freak out in school asembly and hide at the back covering his face, his doesnt really get on with other kids, hes very literal, he finds it hard to take direction (not like a normal child his age!!! he will get confused about finding his shoes when hes actually holding them in his hands!!!!) and is VERY defiant over everything!!!

I havnt got the hang of it yet and we are booked in to see an aspergers specialist who is going to help us learn how to deal with him.

Anyway that was a huge waffle!!!
I would definately get him checked out, i have heard of quite a few kids being diagnosed early! and if they say theres nothing wrong then you havnt lost anything by doing it.

good luck

yes please go and get him checked my james has dyspraxia which is on the mild side of austsm. I alway had a feeling something was deff about james and his teachers at childcare were worried about him as well as he was,nt talking or following directions like kids his age. It took a year to find out what was wrong with him and to get him the help he needs. I dont see it as a lablle if i didnt have a name for this and couldnt get help how would that help him (relly if you dont have name for it how can you get the help for them). It has been the hardest jouney i have taken so far with james so many tears and hreatbreck for my son but at least he can get the help he needs. Big hugs hunn

yay well done your be fine big hugs

I have high-functioning aspergers and TBH I wish there were the resources around when I was little to help. I was 'labelled' in a different way - highly-strung, difficult, thoughtless, etc.
It really hurt my feelings and knocked my confidence as I really didn't understand (and still sometimes don't) what I was doing that people didn't approve of. I'd try so hard to NOT be those things but since I had so little control over those decisions, as my brain was working at a hundred million miles an hour, I wasn't very successful. It also really REALLY didn't help that I had an IQ of like a rocket scientist lol Its only now (and thanks alot to OB) that I can make friends with abit more confidence and not worry so much that people will put me down or not accept me.
As someone dealing with the scars of NOT knowing what was different about me I think getting your boy assessed as early as poss is def the best move.

dont get me started on schools and the whole education system!!! actually to be more precise Ministry of education have alot to answer for

this is why it is important to get an early diagnoses as my experience is things were easier when Enson was younger and now that he 8 and needs aide more than ever the MOE seem to just close the case...its bizarre. i am taking them on as we speak.

dont they come up with the funniest things....

Hi, I agree with a few others...get him checked!

My son was 3 when he was 'officially' diagnosed with High Functioning Autism. Like your son, he still makes eye contact and can be very affectionate, but he is OBSESSED with things like numbers (has been able to count to 435 since he was 3...always 435, never higher) and he is VERY difficult to convince to try new things, like foods. He usually plays alone, shows no interest in other children and gets distressed with things like loud noises and bright lights etc.

Our GP referred us to a pediatrician, who then referred us to another pediatrician who specialises with kids on the spectrum, as well as an audiologist. We also had to get him to have bloods taken (came back clear). It all took about 5 months from first referral to diagnosis.

The good thing about getting a diagnosis early, is that you can start getting the help EARLY as well. There is so much help and support out there, like support groups, training things like EarlyBird (prepares the child and parents for school, so it has to be before age 5) and help from Special Education when your child goes to kindy/school...I've heard you get more special education help the younger they are...

Good luck!! I'm gonna watch this thread now I think.

It is possible to get diagnosis around that age or even earlier in some cases. My son is 6 and was diagnosed at 22 months. Early the diagnosis the better it is in the long run. He is very complex as he has got some traits to autism but he doesn't act autistic as he wants to communicate and socialise. He is non-verbal with very few words, he is the most affectionate kid and loves being around other adults/kids. We treat him like a normal kid if he is naughty he knows what time out means or taking the computer off him. He is in a mainstream school.