Is it possible...

[trinityroyal]

...to start seeing autism spectrum traits in a not quite 3-month-old baby?

I know...it sounds ridiculous at first glance, but I swear I'm seeing some spectrum-ish traits in my little baby boy.

I'm noticing a lot of little things, such as the following:
- transitions-- for example, freaking out when on the point of sleeping, even though he sleeps well, and then freaking out again when going from sleeping to waking
- sketchy eye contact and eye tracking, in contrast to his sister, little "high beam eyes"
- high pitched screams instead of normal baby crying
- extreme sensitivity to texture--if Baby B is freaking out, I take off his clothes and lay him on an ultra-soft blanket, then slide him back and forth. This settles him right down. The cuddle-and-pat thing doesn't work for him, as it does for his sister

I know that all of this stuff is within the realm of normal baby development, bit with a houseful of Aspies (myself included), and also having his twin sister as a developmental comparison, it makes things jump out at me a bit more. His "things" are identical to the things I noticed with Little easy child.

I know that it's WAY too early for a diagnosis of any sort, but what do you all think. Do I perhaps have another Aspie to add to my collection, or just an eccentric little baby boy?

 

[AnnieO]

Trinity, sweetheart, you could be right... But... Just enjoy him for a while. Don't freak just yet. I'm no doctor or psychologist but it seems to me that you as Mom know best what to do.


HUGS!!!

 

[trinityroyal]

Thanks Step. Actually, I'm not freaking at all, just not certain of my perceptions.

 

[SRL]

...to start seeing autism spectrum traits in a not quite 3-month-old baby?

I know...it sounds ridiculous at first glance, but I swear I'm seeing some spectrum-ish traits in my little baby boy.

I'm noticing a lot of little things, such as the following:
- transitions-- for example, freaking out when on the point of sleeping, even though he sleeps well, and then freaking out again when going from sleeping to waking
- sketchy eye contact and eye tracking, in contrast to his sister, little "high beam eyes"
- high pitched screams instead of normal baby crying
- extreme sensitivity to texture--if Baby B is freaking out, I take off his clothes and lay him on an ultra-soft blanket, then slide him back and forth. This settles him right down. The cuddle-and-pat thing doesn't work for him, as it does for his sister

I know that all of this stuff is within the realm of normal baby development, bit with a houseful of Aspies (myself included), and also having his twin sister as a developmental comparison, it makes things jump out at me a bit more. His "things" are identical to the things I noticed with Little easy child.

I know that it's WAY too early for a diagnosis of any sort, but what do you all think. Do I perhaps have another Aspie to add to my collection, or just an eccentric little baby boy?

Hi Trinity,

I have known of parents who have noticed differences in their infants from early on, but rarely did the parents know what they were looking at at the time.

I agree with Step2two that this is the time to enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! but I expect any of us in your shoes couldn't help but take notice.

The areas of infant research I usually run into are along the lines below. Often there is a recognition that parents often recognize signs early on:

Accelerated head circumference:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/574991?src=mp&spon=9&uac=93725FY

Play Behaviors, spinning, rotating, exploring in unusual ways:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081106153540.htm

I keep bumping into stuff about visual processing:
http://babylab.ucsd.edu/

 

[trinityroyal]

Thanks SRL. Very interesting articles. I will keep an eye out for those signs and keep observing them. I guess this is one of the blessings of having other Aspies in the family. I know what the signs are, and we've already got accommodations in place for the older ones, so the younger ones can just follow suit as needed.

 

[SRL]

One more I thought of for you: there was an interesting study done in 1994 that has been getting a lot of follow-up attention in the literature recently. Researchers did a study with small groups of children with Autism and those without an Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) diagnosis in which they examined videos of their first birthday parties to see if the children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) were identifiable by age one. By using a specific set of behavioral markers (gaze, social interaction, etc) the specialist was able to identify the children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) with high reliability.

It's interesting--obviously much more could be done with earlier identification but there's still such a huge gap between what COULD be done, what parents observe, and pediatrician's responsiveness to parental concerns. I've seen the average age range for Autism diagnosis is 3.1 years, for Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified 3.9 (but the number 5.5 often shows up with that) and age 11 for Asperger's Syndrome. Yet most of the time parents are reporting concerns to their pediatricians before their children's second birthday. A study in 2000 showed that half the time parents reported their doctors hadn't responded to concerns and it was other parents, teachers, etc. who pointed them in the direction of getting help.

Clearly there is still work to be done in this area!

Hug the little darlin's for me, will you? I saw the photos on WC--sure are cuties!

 

[trinityroyal]

Thanks SRL. That research is very interesting. Makes me think about Little easy child's first birthday party. In a room crowded with children and adults, all whom he knew very well, he just rode through the party on his little fire engine and didn't really interact with anybody. Same thing at Christmas...he spent the entire day walking around in a rectangular pattern...

I will definitely keep an eye on little Baby B, since he's showing so many of the same early development patterns as Little easy child.

 

[BusynMember]

I didn't know my son until he was two and a bit, but we have his history. They say he was a child who "screamed." His foster mom, whom I talked to, said he'd make the weirdest high pitched noises.