re: Question for parents with autistic kids

quote:

---

What ASD traits does he display?

---

That was the real trouble getting to this point of deciding we needed some extra help. He was always a bit behind as far as crawling, walking, speech. However, he always made eye contact and was very happy. Smile in pictures, conversed with family members.

It wasn't till he got to a Mother's Day out program where we started to notice things and his teachers started to tell us they were concerned. He would read most of the day by himself. Did not interact that much with his peers.

We got very concerned a few months ago
when he began flapping his hands when he was excited or very stimulated. We spoke to his pediatrician about it initially and he said that it was a sign of concern, but not to panic. He could possibly have another condition that he would grow out of,
such as apraxia. We went back to the pediatrician after this persisted for several months and did not improve via occupational therapy. The pediatrician said he was concerned and recommends us go to a neurologist and the Emerge Center here in BR for a full evaluation.

I am thankful that he seems to be on the high-end of the spectrum and hopefully will respond well to whichever route we choose. He is intelligent, shows emotion to his parents, hugs us, kisses us. Will repeat I love you pretty easily.

He does have issues with transition, seems to have the same G.I. issues that most kids with autism have.

I guess I was in denial for a while, or just hoping he would pull out of whatever he was going through. But my wife pretty much hit me over the head with a hammer last week and made me sit down and look at all of the 20 or so symptoms of the autism spectrum. He had three fourths of them. Him being happy and smiling and engaging with family members is what threw us off for a few months thinking it was not what it was.