Any Insight? Could this be Autism?

[Cheyenne_08]

My son is 11 months old and was born 9 weeks premature. He did fine after birth and spent 6.5 weeks in the NICU learning to eat. When he was 4 months old, he was not tracking and would stare off into space and not pay attention to people. It was as if he looked right through you. So, the ped ordered an EEG to see if he was having staring spell seizures. The EEG came back with normal brain activity. So, he was sent to a neurologist who told us that he has an abnormal auditory response and that is why he was not looking around. He said he could hear, but not adequatly. So, we did an MRI, another EEG, a BAER(hearing test) and TONS of blood work looking for dna mutations. The BAER came back that my son was hearing within normal limits (he was 7 months old by this point). You could YELL AND SCREAM my son's name and sometimes he would look at you and sometimes he wouldn't. It was as if he was completely lost in his own world sometimes, and you would swear he wa deaf. So, time went on and he was not changing his behavior so he was sent to see a Neuroogist at the University of Michigan. And that is where we are at this moment. He is 11 months old and does not talk. He squals and makes some noise, but he does not say mama, dada, baba or anything for that matter. He does not point, wave bye bye, clap, and has NO attention span. I can not read to him because he losses interest after a few seconds. He JUST started to eat snack type food (rice puffs) but he will not eat anything that is not dry....such as banana pieces or peaches.....he gets very upset when you try to feed him foods with textures. We have had so many doctors look at him and his ped says its not autism because he looks at people now and he smiles a lot. I have to say that he is a happy baby....BUT, the way he gets lost in his own world, the way it appears that he can't hear half the time, the way he is not interested in anything for very long and is not talking at all....I don't know what else it can be!!! Does any one have any experience with a child like this? Many doctors have asked me if there is any history of mental retardation in my family (there isn't) and one even went as far as to ask if it was possible that me and Ashtyn's father are related!!! He is NO way appears mentally handicap and to look at him you would never know he is delayed.

[qwertyuiop123]

Some kids believed to be autistic actually have celiac which i believe is auto immune, and affects digestion, which might explain why he will eat some foods but not others, and why his symptoms come and go. Have you tried a gluten free diet?

[mum2beagain]

BTW Cheyenne, Sensory integration problems are extremely common in children who were preemies so it is certainly worth looking at that too.

[mum2beagain]

https://videos.whiteblox.com/autismspeaks/secure/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fautismspeaks%2fsecure%2fplayer.aspx%3fsid%3d32765

Copy and paste into your browser, you have to register to watch the video's but they are very good, they show lots of different children with and without Autism and help you compare the differences in behaviour.

Have you asked any of his therapists what they think?

It probably is a bit too early for any kind of diagnosis, I know where we are they won't even test kids until they are 3 as all kids develop at different rates; I know I have said it to you a million times but try not to worry too much, it's very early and Ashtyn seems to have been coming on in leaps and bounds recently.

Incidently James had a fierce temper from about 2 1/2 until 3 1/2, but then things got so much better, we figured his "terrible two" stage was just delayed like everything else has been! He hardly ever has tantrums now; well no more than any other 4 year old!

[Cheyenne_08]

Thank you so much for your insight!!! Ashtyn is beginning to really show a "temper" and having tantrums. However, he is also really happy. So I have no idea what is going on with him. A friend of mine says he sounds A LOT like her son and he is autistic so that is what prompted me to start looking into it. I will look up the stuff you suggested! Thank you.

[Sally44]

I understand where your concerns are coming from, because the things you mention are autistic traits.  Have a look at the diagnostic criteria under DSM IV for autism and that will give you an idea of what kind of behaviours the professionals are looking for.
He is very young, and it is good that you have professionals already involved.  It is good that he is making eye contact and smiling.  Alot of higher functioning autistic children are able to do this.  Sometimes it is down to whether they show 'enough' of the behaviour of their peers frequently enough to take them outside of a diagnosis of autism.  Professionals usually look for defecits in the 'triad of impairments'.  These are language problems, social communication/interaction problems and lack of imagination leading to rigid thinking or needs for routines or rituals etc.
It is also possible for a child to have traits of a number of conditions eg. developmental delay and autism.
I think it is also useful for you to look at sensory integration problems.  If the senses are not 'wired up' and receiving/interpreting and responding to sensory stimuli correctly you will get behaviour such as 'appearing deaf' or sensitive to loud noises, sensitive to touch, sensitive to smells/textures/tastes of food etc.  If you google the name Olga Bogdashina it will bring up an article by her printed in the magazine Autism Today.  Read through this to see if any of it makes sense to you.  She is a reputable professional giving groundbreaking insight into the sensory and perceptual differences of people with autism and aspergers.  She also has a number of books published.
Alot, if not all, children with autism/aspergers tend to have tantrums.  These are best described as appearing 'over emotional' in relation to the trigger that started them, and the children find it very hard to get their feelings under control.  So they get overwhelmed by feelings out of proportion to the event and cannot 'recover' from it for some time.  This is not a case of just being naughty.  All parents of autistic/aspergers children will notice that their children are truely distraught/angry/upset because they behave as if they truely are devastated and these tantrums last a long time.

[Cheyenne_08]

I COMPLETELY forgot to mention that my son has been in developmental therapy since he was 2 months old and started occupational therapy 5 months ago. He also started physical therapy a few weeks ago. He did not sit alone until almost 10 months and he is JUST NOW learning to crawl. He just learned this week to stand in his crib and against furniture.