Sensory Problems

Some things parents want to watch for in their developing child are sensory issues.  Someone doesn't have to be on the spectrum to have sensory disorders.  The signs are there, you just have to watch for them.

With my son he would cup his ears to block out certain noises and still does. A flushing toilet and blow dryer for example. He would become finicky when we were in noisy and crowded places like the mall or restaurant.

Dane would tantrum over starting the microwave, toaster, dryer, flushing the toilet, flipping the light switch, turning on the ceiling fan.  He is to this day obsessed with pin wheels and fans.

Food is also something with certain textures that some children cannot endure.  I don't think my son had much problem with that area. He wasn't much of a picky eater until recently.

Dane would pull at his shirt neck line because the tag was always scratching at him.  A small drop of water on his shirt would have him take it off.

Speech delay a definite sign.  Dane didn't start talking until he was 4.  He is going to be 6 this November and he is hard to understand at times.

One question that really made me upset was when Birth to 3 would question why I think he is smart.  Do you think Dane is smart?  Of course I did.  It was strange.  He was 2 and a half.  He didn't speak but he knew all the animal noises.  You would ask him what noise this animal made and he would hit the nail on the head.  He wasn't talking but he could count.  One time he counted to 20 with Birth to 3. Is he smart?  Hell yes he is.  It's amazing to see him think outside the box.  Sometimes I think he's way ahead of his time while other children are learning to plant a seed.  Dane will say now that the seed will open and grow into a flower.  Then you can take the flower and put it in Grandma's vase.

I remember during his screening for his speech and he was only using a 2-3 word vocabulary.  The picture of a ball.  I was expecting him to say "ball"  he said "beach ball"  I was shocked!  I didn't think he knew what a beach ball even was.  Crazy.

Danes therapist was playing a sensory game with him with beans out of a bean bag chair.  That is when he told her about the seed sprouting and growing into a flower.  Most children his age are still just playing around with the beans and not thinking about the science behind it.  When kids on the playground are busy playing, he is looking up in the sky figuring out what shapes the clouds look like.  He gets mad when he tries telling me and he's pointing and I don't know what he is pointing at.  Eventually I figure it out.

Oobi - language development

There is a show on TV called Oobi on the NickJr. channel. This show has been on for some time. I thought it was lame the first time I seen it a few years back. Watching it now I see why it is the way it is.

The characters are people's hands with a set of eyes on them. They speak in really reduced sentences for children to develop language skills. My autistic son actually sat and studied the characters. This show also has good moral teachings. That is a hard thing to find now days on cartoons and TV shows.

Cartoons today are either too educational and boring or violent. What ever happened to silly and funny cartoons like Bugs Bunny and Garfield? Even Sesame Street now is about eating veggies. Not that that is a bad thing, but where is the humor? Sesame Street used to have a bunch of segmented clips about numbers, letters, colors and other educational meanings. Now, it focuses on a topic, like bubbles, and has the whole show on that. Then comes Elmo's World. That doesn't teach much either.

Speech delay was a big factor in my son's autism. He didn't start speaking until the age of 4. When he started speaking, he was echolalic. He would copy things we would tell him to do. Now, he is starting to ask questions for himself instead of copying what we say. He still has a puzzled look on his face sometimes we tell him to do something.

I will say that Oobi is a really good tool of language providing and morals when you have a child who has a delayed speech. Speaking slow, short sentences is how to get the communication skills working.

"KEY SYMPTOMS OF ASD"

I have been telling so far my experience with my sons autism.  The red flags, his signs of the autism spectrum disorder.  No two children on the spectrum are alike.  The spectrum can range from mild to very severe.

I have been studying on this topic going over  4 years.  Every time there is a new idea about treatment, I have to watch or read that article.  I want to know and understand what other parents, like myself, go through to teach and handle their child with autism.  How to handle their sensory overloads.  How to advert their attention away from their autistic traits.  How to be more social.

As a new parent, you see your child as flawless.  As baby's they are so beautiful and fragile.  You want nothing other than the best care and security for them.  As they grow and you see that child roll over for the first time, it brings tears of joy to your eyes.  Then you see them take their first steps.  You hear their first words.  But then all of a sudden, they stop talking.  What's that about?  Does it make you think, or do you just go on to wait and hope it comes back?

These are more of the key symptoms of autism in infants:

No joyful expressions or big smiles by 6 months

No sharing of sounds or facial expressions by 9 months

No baby babbling by 12 months

No showing of gestures such as pointing, waving, showing or reaching by 12 months

No 2 word meaningful sentences by 24 months (by not repeating)

Loss of speech, babbling or social skills at any age

I never understood how a child younger then the age of 2 could be diagnosed.  The professionals know and can spot the signs as clear as you can read these words. 

I waited to see if my sons routines would break themselves.  That his speech would return and we could understand him.  That his sensory overloads were just behavior that would change in time.  I regret the wait.  I should have taken him in to get him screened sooner.

EARLY SIGNS OF AUTISM AND MY DENIAL

We were involved in a program called Birth To Three when Dane was 2 and a half.  The county got us on this program because we let our family doctor know we were having troubles getting Dane to talk.  The most he could do to communicate at the time was whine and cry while pointing.  The trouble was: What is he pointing at?  What does he want?  The doctor made the call and referred us.  If she had not I don't know where we would have started.

Christmas 2007 Dane received a toy dump truck for a present.  The first and only thing he did was flip it over and spin the wheels.  The same went for a toy wagon we had.  You could put blocks in this wheel in the center and music would play.  He would spin that wheel so fast sometimes he would get his fingers pinched.  Anything that could spin, Dane would spin it.  He would sit and examine what kinds of spins were resulting in.  This came to saucers and spoons as well.  Nothing else mattered.

I taught him how the light switch worked when he was little.  It wasn't long until he had to always flip switches.  Cries of anger and tantrums broke out unless he could turn the light on and off before leaving the room.  We would visit friends and family and he would search the house for switches and flip every one.  That was his main concern.  Everyone in the room did not exist to him.

Many of these routines were going on.  He started lining up blocks and matchbox cars.  If you moved one out of line, you broke his routine.  He threw a fit.  Still, I did not know what was going on.  "This is all part of being a kid.  He will outgrow these weird routines."  So I thought.

My denial seeing certain signs of autism and still not wanting to think anything was wrong.  Birth to Three would use the term; (Red Flags).  The doctor said it's a possibility of autism.

I was seeing billboards that had a young girl on it that said. "Autism Speaks.  1 out of 100 children are diagnosed with autism every day!"  I would look at that billboard everyday for a year before turning on the road to go to my house.  Still, I would shake my head and say, "No, that's not my son.  He's fine."  Funny how life was telling me but I just looked away.  After he was tested, that sign turned into an Army sign.  Just that fast.  Strange?

If I could turn back the clock 1 year sooner to have him tested I would.  It is a very long wait and have your child in line for testing.  We had it set up the first time.  They said it was a long wait.  Over a year. One week later they called and said they had an opening.  I couldn't believe this.  "Yeah, long wait.  We can get him in next week?  This is some ploy to scare us into getting him tested.  The hospital just wants our money!"  We let it go.  We were seeing improvements with Dane.

Time went by and he regressed.  This is after my daughter Allyson was born.  "He wants to be the baby."  I thought.  Still denying anything wrong.

When Dane started school, the teachers recommend we have him tested.  That was the final moment for me to make my mind known that there are symptoms of autism.  "We have to get him tested."  We made the call.

Again the hospital said.  "It's a long list."  History repeated itself and we were luckily able to get him tested.  This still boggles my mind.  If there is such a long list of those to be tested, how were we lucky enough to get in within a couple weeks!  Is that the scare tactic to get your child tested?  Or, was it fate that helped us?

I just hope that if you have concerns over your child to not wait and see.  This took a year off of early intervention and therapy that could have helped my son.  Do not make the same mistake I did.  Get your child tested ASAP!

"AUTISM AND SPEECH DELAY"

Our child didn't start speaking till he was about 4.  From what I can remember he liked the word, "Fan."  It is easy to see why.  He is emotionally attached to fans.  I don't know why and I may never understand his attachment to fans.  He will turn on the ceiling fan and bring out every other fan we have available in the house and turn them on.

The Birth to 3 program would stop by my house 2 days a week for 45 minutes.  One was a occupational therapist and the other a speech therapist.  I had to deal most with the speech therapist.  The main goal of this session was to speak slow to commands and use 2-4 word sentences.  You cannot tell an autistic child; "Hey, go to your closet, get your pants and shirt on, it's time to go."  You have to cut it short and speak slow.  Tell them "Pants on, shirt on."   You may have to even cut it shorter than that and do one step commands.  Autistic people, especially children, have trouble multi-tasking.

Our son is doing especially well right now.  I think his little sister is doing much to help him.  She is 3 and he is 5.  I also think that having him in preschool and having daycare 2 days a week around children his own age helps.

For the most part, speak slow, short sentences across to your child to help them comprehend.  Getting him or her especially involved with children their own age I would recommend to help them learn how to do things more independently.