What an artist!

This is my son's drawing of his favorite toy, TJ Bearytales (below). The boy is only 3 years, 10 months old...

Lead Scare

I think my son was autistic from birth. I don't believe in the vaccine-causes-autism theory. But I have to admit, the lead recalls that have affected some of my son's toys scared me enough to call my son's pediatrician and request a lead test. My son was always big on toy-chewing. The doctor agreed right away, it doesn't hurt to be on the safe side.

But then, what if he's lead-poisoned? Not only that will make me very worried about his health, but also - argh - my son will have to be treated with chelation. If that's the case, I hope there will be bona-fide doctors that can provide this treatment, and we won't need to rely on some creepy DAN doc.

Awareness - not just about severe autism

Recently after ABC's The View and MTV's True Life shows focusing on autism, I've been hearing a lot of parents complaining that the media is not showing more severe cases, with kids displaying more extreme behaviors. "They have to show what real autism is", said the mother of a non-verbal teenager that I know. However, I think the problem is quite the opposite. Before I had my own child diagnosed with autism, this is what I had learnt from reading newspapers and magazine articles, and watching movies and TV shows: autistics will not give you eye contact, do not show affection, rock their bodies and flap hands, hit their heads on the wall on purpose, and have little or no language. So when my child showed NONE of those characteristics, but yet had a very strange pattern of language development (echolalia), and did not point to show and make comments about his interests, I thought he had some kind of speech delay, and an independent personality, but autism was the farthest thing from my mind. "He gives me great eye contact, he hugs and kisses people all the time, he doesn't bang his head, he turns to us when we call his name, he doesn't get overwhelmed in crowded or loud places, there's no way he's autistic!" I thought to myself, after reading a few articles about the disorder. As a matter of fact, one speech therapist saw my son at 2 1/2 years old - when I was worried that he still didn't talk in sentences or answered to questions - and she thought he was a neurotypical that would just turn out to be a late talker.

It took a chance encounter with an elementary school teacher a couple of months later to open our eyes to our son's autism. He was a friend of a friend who happened to show up at our house, and expressed his concern to my husband when he noticed my son's repetitive play, scripted language, and aloof manner. That same week, the teachers at his preschool told us that while our son was very sweet and well behaved, and extremely smart with academics, he was always playing by himself and not engaging enough in communication with the teachers, and had a significant language delay. They didn't know what his problem was, but they urged us to seek an evaluation. We asked the pediatrician for an urgent referral, and meanwhile started researching feverishly on the internet. On the more informational websites, we could confirm that my son's autism should have been obvious all along, with the narrow interests, lining up of toys, echolalia and scripted language, hyperactivity, perseverative and repetitive behaviors, etc. Even his uncanny ability to read letters and numbers at 2 years old was very common in autistic kids! We didn't need to wait to hear the official diagnosis a month later; we knew right then he had autism.

Unfortunately, the more comprehensive lists of symptoms can only be found on websites that are read mostly by people who already suspect their child is autistic. Those symptoms are not common knowledge and very rarely the TV shows and magazines will talk much about the most subtle signs. The stereotypical image of autism IS the severe end of the spectrum, and very few people in the world know what moderate to high functioning autism looks like. And that's precisely the reason why so many children are falling through the cracks and not receiving the early intervention that they need in order to develop to their full potential. If I'd known more about all symptoms of autism, I'd have been able to diagnose my son as early as 12 or 18 months old! Instead, by the time we found out, he was almost 3; by the time bureacracy allowed, he only started receiving special education for autism at 3 years, 2 months of age.

The fact that some kids are not obviously autistic to their families and peers will also make these children vulnerable to abuse. Parents will think they are defiant or inconsiderate; peers will call them dumb or crazy. So, as we're almost at the end of Autism Awareness month, I hope that more and more people are learning that autism is a spectrum where even the most "high functioning" individuals will have to face extreme difficulties and challenges, and will need a lot of support and understanding. I hope that more educators and therapists will be able to spot the early signs of autism so our children will have more time to "catch up" on their development.

Show me a garden bursting into life

My 3-year-old son always loved music, especially from his children's CDs and videos, but he never seemed interested in pop-rock songs I listen to on the radio (we do a lot of driving together). The other day he surprised me by protesting with a loud grunt when I changed the dial from a station that was playing the ballad "Chasing Cars", by the Irish band Snow Patrol (see video below). I switched back to that song and he was all happy again. He'd heard that song in the car with me probably about 5 times in several months, but it was enough to make an impression on him. He seems to like atmospheric, melancholic melodies. When we got home, I downloaded the song in iTunes and played it loud from the computer. He came running and smiling from the other side of our house, as soon as he heard the first chords. And started dancing and jumping on the bed. When the song was over, he said to me: "Wanna play it again?"

Good motor skills = Better outcomes?

To be honest with you, at this point I'm not sure if I'll commit to this blog or not. I created this blog mainly so I can comment on other people's blogs that only allow Blogger or Google posters (can't they learn how to change the template?). Today however I have come across a very interesting study from the University of Connecticut that suggests what types of autistic kids have a better chance to become higher functioning and even lose the diagnosis:

Abstract: A diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is usually taken to be permanent. In this study, 13 two-year-old children with ASD lost the diagnosis by age 4, at which time they scored within the normal range on standardized measures of cognitive and adaptive functioning. No differences were found in symptom severity, socialization, or communication between children who lost the ASD diagnosis and children who did not, but children with PDD-NOS were significantly more likely than those with full autistic disorder to move off the spectrum. The clearest distinguishing factor was motor skills at age 2. Results support the idea that some toddlers with ASD can lose their diagnosis and suggest that this is difficult to predict.