scared for my son!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cacks]

my 3 1/2 yr old son has no  speech and next 2 no understanding, he just about understands his own name!!
he constantly rocks and headbangs, and mayby has 4hrs broken sleep at night, always headbanging!!!!!!!
he is obsessed with hair and writing (books or subtitles on tv) or flicking pages of books across his face. i know he is very sensory, but could this be autism????

[Angela77]

My best advice would be to contact your local school district and ask them how to request an evaluation for special education.  Once you put your request in writing, they will have a timeline that they are legally bound to for evaluating your son.  It is important to have your son evaluated due to the behaviors he is presenting.

[RickDG]

Based on what you posted about him being nonverbal at 3 1/2 and having sensory issues, the way to find out what's going on is to have a neuropsych evaluation done.  I have two 4 1/2 year olds with autism and based on what you posted, I'd say your concerns are valid

[Sally44]

As he is also showing alot of sensory behaviour, I would also recommend you google the name Olga Bogdashina and read an article by her printed in Autism Today.  She also has a book called Sensory and Perceptual Differences in Autism and Aspergers.  This book has a caregivers questionnaire at the back that you can complete to get a sensory profile of your child.  This is very useful because it shows you where the main problems are, for example your child may have an undersensitive sense of proprioception so he rocks to 'feel' where he is.  I found this book very helpful because it explained the reason for the sensory behaviours and once you know that you can change their environment or give them supports to help them cope in different surroundings.

[Sally44]

I can't say if it is autism.  You've obviously got concerns, and as you say he is showing alot of sensory behaviour and he isn't talking yet.  I would recommend you go to your GP and ask for a assessment from a multi disciplinary team that has experience of diagnosing autism.  If it isn't that, he won't get a diagnosis and they would refer him elsewhere.  
Whatever is going on the sooner therapies are started the better the outcome.  As the child's brain is developing there are certain stages when certain skills are learnt.  If he is having input from professionals they will recognise this and will be working on skills as they emerge.  If skills are not learnt at certain stages of development it is harder for them to be learnt later on.  An example of this is feral children who have been bought up by animals.  If they have not acquired language by the age of 4 then they usually don't acquire it at all.  I am not saying this is the same in your case, but just giving an example of how some things are time limited.
Your child should be starting nursery soon, and I am sure you are aware yourself that he is going to need alot of support there and may not be able to go to a typical nursery.  Then the next stage is schooling, and you need to put your child's name down for a school about a year before they start.  If it turns out that your child needs a special school then places are always limited.  So I would recommend you start the process asap.
I know this is not what any mother wants to hear, but the truth is you need to know sooner rather than later.  My son is on the autistic spectrum, and although I did take him to doctors etc, they didn't pick him up until 6 months after he had started school.  It took a further 18 months after that to get a diagnosis, and it has taken a further year to get him into a mainstream school that also has specialist staff that have experience and expertise in autism.  He will be 8 in February, and although he is assessed as being higher than average intelligence he still isn't able to read/write etc and he also has difficulties with his speech.  So it has taken me 3.5 years to get to a stage where I am happy with his school environment.  So you do have to start the process now to have things in place for school.