Is my son showing signs of PDD-NOS??

Melissa - posted on 12/14/2009

Hi Renee Thanks for responding To answer your questions...when i look into his eyes he actually thinks its a game and tries to put his forehead against mine so our eyes are really close then he laughs and pulls away. He does play with other children but at daycare there are a few issues of pushing & shoving with the other kids but he does have his little mates that he plays with every week and when i have friends over with their boys around the same age he always syays 'hello' to them & then gestures to them to come play. As for the verbal side of things.....he turned 3 in october and is only now just starting to put little sentences together before that just about everything was whinged for using the same little phrase 'armie' That was the word he used for everything until recently. His diet is very much the same everyday with a variety of fruits, yogurts & sandwiches but its very hard to get him to eat dinner and I end up giving him weet-bix every night just so he has eaten something!Unless we are having hot chips for dinner he wont eat what we're eating! With the tv shows he actually doesnt really like cartoons but prefers the cgi animated movies...the Disney pixar & Dreamworks movies for example. He is toilet trained but still wears a nappy overnight. He does on occassion walk on his toes but his brother is worse for that but then hubby tells me its a Wyvill family trait & they all do it & I have noticed other Wyvill kids do that too!lol We have a trampoline that he has jumped on ever since he could & he is a brilliant jumper.....he has been literally bouncing all over the place since he was giving me grief in my tummy!!haha Im honestly just grateful that I am getting some answers while im waiting to see someone because before i really though i just had a wild child that i couldnt control but now just understand that he just does things different to my others and im loving the new things im learning about him xx

Melissa - posted on 12/14/2009

Hi Alicia Yes I am confused because like you said...I thought autistic children were more disconnected also. So how long is the 'norm' for keeping eye contact? I'd have to get him while he's really tired to get more than 5-10 seconds of eye contact coz he's just too busy to stay still longer than that!lol

Alicia - posted on 12/14/2009

My son was very affectionate too. He also made eye contact but didn't maintain it. Try paying attention to how long he looks into your eyes. I saw the same autistic tendencies in my son as you are and felt the same confusion as what I knew of autism was children who were very disconnected. This isn't always the case. Try counting how many seconds he maintains eye contact. It suprised me when I did this how short his average was. I thought he did well in that area but when I really paid close attention and counted he never maintained contact for more than five seconds. The fact that your son is engaging with other children is fantastic. He can learn the social rules to keep from displaying negative behaviour but it's really hard to instill a desire to interact socially in a child who has no interest in social interaction.

Britt - posted on 12/12/2009

My two youngest children are dx on the Autism Spectrum. 7 year-old with ASD with Mixed Dev. Delays, and 5 year-old with PDD-NOS, & ADHD-NOS. Both have done fantastic with early & intensive intervention. (Developmental pediatrician, ABA, speech, OT, PT, biomedical intervention.....)

Jezi - posted on 12/11/2009

My son was diagnosed PDD-NOS four years ago and we still have trouble cleaning when he's home cause he doesn't like things moved lol. He didn't talk 'til preschool, signing time dvds helped us get communication open, and in 1st grade this year he is academically ahead of most of his class cause we've worked (at home and he had 3 yrs of preschool) with him early.

Melissa - posted on 12/11/2009

Thanks Dawn Tha daycare centre is working with me at the moment....they are great. While Im waiting to get an appointment to see a paedatrician they have made some suggestions and have also givin me some flash cards that they use with him and also some sign language which he is has picked up really well! Great to hear that other people are going through the same thing and we can support eachother on here :-))

Dawn - posted on 12/11/2009

he sounds just like my daughter. I hope you get an answer or some professional opinion soon, because if it is PDD-NOS then getting therapy started now will greatly help him in the future...especially come time for school!

Melissa - posted on 12/10/2009

Hi Renee Thanks for responding To answer your questions...when i look into his eyes he actually thinks its a game and tries to put his forehead against mine so our eyes are really close then he laughs and pulls away. He does play with other children but at daycare there are a few issues of pushing & shoving with the other kids but he does have his little mates that he plays with every week and when i have friends over with their boys around the same age he always syays 'hello' to them & then gestures to them to come play. As for the verbal side of things.....he turned 3 in october and is only now just starting to put little sentences together before that just about everything was whinged for using the same little phrase 'armie' That was the word he used for everything until recently. His diet is very much the same everyday with a variety of fruits, yogurts & sandwiches but its very hard to get him to eat dinner and I end up giving him weet-bix every night just so he has eaten something!Unless we are having hot chips for dinner he wont eat what we're eating! With the tv shows he actually doesnt really like cartoons but prefers the cgi animated movies...the Disney pixar & Dreamworks movies for example. He is toilet trained but still wears a nappy overnight. He does on occassion walk on his toes but his brother is worse for that but then hubby tells me its a Wyvill family trait & they all do it & I have noticed other Wyvill kids do that too!lol We have a trampoline that he has jumped on ever since he could & he is a brilliant jumper.....he has been literally bouncing all over the place since he was giving me grief in my tummy!!haha Im honestly just grateful that I am getting some answers while im waiting to see someone because before i really though i just had a wild child that i couldnt control but now just understand that he just does things different to my others and im loving the new things im learning about him xx

Dawn - posted on 12/09/2009

My daughter is the same exact way, and has PDD-NOS. I actually am working with the local school district and she is involved in Developmental Preschool through the district to get help and therapy for this and she also has ODD.

Renee - posted on 12/09/2009

The lining up things and then getting quite disturbed if they are moved is a deifnite sign towards the autism spectrum. I'm curious about the eye contact, when you actively look right into his eyes does he avert them? Does he play along side the other children or actively engage with the others? Is he verbal? My son is on the autism spectrum and is a very affectionate child so that may or may not be present. Remember it's not if your child meets every symptom just a certain number of them. Is he potty trained? How is his diet? Is he eating a variety of foods? Does he prefer TV shows with animated characters like Spongebob over TV shows with real people in them? Does he walk on his toes? I would try to let him jump on a trampoline if you can get a small one that might help him calm himself down. Jumping and or swinging help alot of kids with their pent up energy. In the meantime wait for the specialist to evaluate him and make a list of his behavriors.