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Mental Health > Autism Forum > Possible autism ?
Start to understand this serious developmental disorder here. We review causes of autism, risk factors for development and other related health conditions...
Main symptoms of autism involve communication, behavior and social difficulties - but when do these appear? and what symptoms are truly caused by autism?...
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Q: Possible autism ?
asked by: Mr_Del on October 8th, 2008
Experienced User
I have an 11 year old son that was born with complications due to CMV (Cytomegalovirus). Because of this he has Deafness, Slight CP on left side, Grey matter brain damage and we suspect possibly some sort of autism.

He prefers to play by himself when with other kids. He will interact at times. When he plays with block he will sort them all by shape and color. Also line them all up in a straight line smallest to biggest. Playing cars means lining them up side by side so the front ends make a perfect line. When younger, while shopping, if he sees a display set up wrong he would lign it up and put the same items together. He still does that some times. His schedule has to be the same every day. If you tell him something will happen at a certain time he becomes a clock watcher and will annoy you when time come close. If the time passes and what ever was motioned does not happen he will through a fit. Everything he does has to be in a neat ordered fashion. His homework is always laid out the exact same way when he does it. Changing his routine brings on the risk of fit throwing. That is just some of it.

For the most part he is very friendly to strangers and there are not many people he dislikes. He will initiate interaction with strangers. When he decides he does not like someone he will through a fit when he knows he will have to be around that person. If things really get out of place or just dont go his way he will become violent. Throwing things, yelling and hitting. The communication barrier of ASL and english does present a problem when this happens. Thankfully technology has presented a way for us to communicate with him in those times. Once things do calm down it will be to him like nothing happened.

We do intend to seek medical if this is indeed not normal behavior for his age. I talk with his school to see if similar things happen there. I am told they do but not often. Mainly because school has structure and certain things happen at certain times. there is rarely deviation. At home with 3 siblings there will almost always be deviation from any structure we try to impose. All of his routine stuff is created and maintained by him. Sometimes he will try to get the siblings involved in what he is doing or pretending. Mostly he is doing his own thing.

I could keep going but dont want to make post to long. From what I have described what do you guys think. Does it sound like I may be dealing with some sort of autism?

Thanks

-Del
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anita44
replied on October 13th, 2008
New User
my son was diagnosed with autism there are different types u can check the autism
association website they have a lot of information u can also have the school and social services will provide u with someone to do an eval. start with the autism society they will point u in the right direction and resources needed for a diagnostic test.
good luck
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aflsh
replied on October 16th, 2008
Active User, very eHealthy
My psychiatrist said my son could not be autistic if he is social at all. If your son makes friends and eye contact, then he is not autistic.
However, I would get your son evaluated. There could be a learning disability. My son was diagnosed at age 2 with Receptive Language Disorder. He also had hearing problems.
Let us know how you are doing. Good luck.
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mommajessto2
replied on October 23rd, 2008
New User
My son who is 4 yrs old can be very social and loves to cuddle and hug people. He has Autism, ADHD and possible Bi Polar. He can make friends and he will play with them at times. I don't think that they can base Autism on being Social. My son was always a lover and he has been seen by alot of different Docs and Specialist who all agree he has Autism. I myself questioned the Social issue and they told me that every child is different just because some are not social and some are does not change the fact that they have Autism. I think if your at all having concerns I would ask for a Evaluation. We were lucky enough that a Hospital 1 1/2 hours from us did a 3 day Arena Assessment where 6 to 9 different doctors, therapist and professionals examine and interact with your child and the 3rd day they sit you down and everyone in the room explains their findings and give you a diagnosis or suggest further testing. It was the best way for me to understand what the findings were and I would do it again even though we had to drive 3 hours a day for the testing. I would try a Developmental Pediatrician or a Neurologist with Autism experience as a place to start.

My son never sorted objects by color or shape, he never had a meltdown if I changed his schedule. I think some of the things you are questioning are classic signs of Autism and I would get it checked. I am not a Doc so I can not say but somethings you listed are listed as signs of Autism. It will not hurt to get him Evaluated.
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Vilocon
replied on November 10th, 2008
New User
OCD
No, I doubt your son has autism. An autistic child wouldn't care about extreme neatness and wouldn't interact with society. And ASL is naturally very communicative in and of itself.

Your son has OCD, which explain his inability to deal with change and his extreme desire to make everything perfect. He has a extreme desire for control, which is why he throws fits so easily when things don't go his way.

When he does his homework, does he erase his work if it isn't handwritten perfectly? Does he double-check his answers many times? Does he care about what grade he gets to a huge degree?

OCD patients interact with people fine, but his desire for control may be the causation of his throwing a fit with people he doesn't like (which, in turn, would make this person go away).

This is not normal behavior for a child, and you should definitely NOT give in when he throws fits. That just gives your child control and this sort of behavior will set in stone soon. Obviously, an adult throwing fits isn't acceptable in society.

I'm not a doctor though, and I'm just a college freshman who only recently passed Intro to Psychology. Ask a real psychologist about it, and research treatment for OCD.

Also, good news is that OCD is much milder disorder than Autism. However, I do think that his brain/deafness/CMV has ALOT to do with it, but to which extent I'm not sure.
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jobethrj79
replied on December 2nd, 2008
New User
Maybe
It is possible. My son has PDD-NOS. It is also considered to be high-functioning autism. He interacts with people, but has a low threshold for things that deviate from what he expects. He can have very violent tantrums at times, and his play has always involved things being in a certain order with a very fixed fascination with animals and dinosaurs. A child psychologist/psychiatrist, or a developmental pediatrician, or even a developmental neurologist can be very helpful. There are many types of autism that have varying symptoms/characteristics, as well as other disorders that have similar characteristics. Good luck in your search for answers.
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