Hello
We are very worried about our 22 month old son, Daniel. He is showing signs of what we fear might be autism. Please find below a description of his symptoms, and links to some short videos of him in various situations that we took this weekend.
Does anybody have any insight into what this could be, and what we might be able to do about it? We have heard that Cranio-sacral osteopathy has been helpful to some children. Does anybody have any experience of this, or know a practitioner who has really helped in a similar situation? We are also hearing about various miracle-clinics in different parts of the world which claim to have a great success rate in curing autism. Does anybody have any thoughts about these? Or any other ideas for what we could do?
Here is a little background:
Speaking/Understanding - No real words yet. Seems to understand "bye" better than any other word. Can repeat "no" (without seeming to understand its meaning) and a few other sounds, and has a range of animal noises. But has not picked up any words. More worryingly, he doesn't seem to understand simple instructions, or even his name. Several months ago, he showed signs of understanding some simple things like "open", "close", "round and round", etc. Now when he does pick up a sound, he doesn't seem interested in repeating it and learning it.
Communication -
Relationships with Others - He used to be so interested in other people, for example doing everything to get their attention in public and we were unable to distract him. Now, he shows no interest in them, even when they are very interested in him. He used to be interested in other children, but now either ignores them, or even seem frightened or numb/frozen if they come too close to him.
Relationships with Parents - He used to be happy to look us in the eye and smile, but this rarely happens now, unless, occasionally, it is part of a game he decides he wants to play. Still likes to play peek-a-boo, but perhaps he is interacting with the game rather than with the person playing with him (see videos of him playing with no eye-contact). He rarely looks to us to play any more, though he does like to be near us - if he is playing alone in a room, and we move to another room, he will bring his toys and start playing there. In the evenings, he is often more animated, and sometimes even takes our hands to put us in the same place, and is more playful. He doesn't often like to be held, but can relax on our arm, and goes to sleep on our shoulder during the day. He rarely points, and when he does, it is to show us what he wants, rather than to share something with us. He can come alive when new people visit the house, getting everyone to sit on the sofa and "performing" happily to them for a while (see video). Sometimes he does this with us as well, but more often does not connect and even seems uncomfortable hearing his name (no reaction at all, and more determined passivity, see videos below).
Interest - It is as if he has lost interest in everything in recent months - communication, games, etc. It is as if something has been "switched off". His eyes used to shine all the time - now it is only occasionally, when he is in a mood to play like before. He also seems to have less energy than before, and rather than endless play, he lies on his tummy on the floor quite a lot of the time - sometimes doing nothing, sometimes rolling his favourite cars backwards and forwards..
Sleep - Never easy for him, but not so bad now. Slept easily for first week, but after that, took a lot of work to help him to sleep.
Eating - Has always eaten well, but not really been interested enough to stop what he is doing and eat. Sometimes we manage to feed him while he's doing other things, but more often, is it only in front his favourite cartoons that he will eat. Started being interested in what we were eating at around 4 months, and started chewing and swallowing small pieces of solid food at around 10 months, but lost this interest/ability at around 16 months. Now, sometimes chews and then let's it fall out of his mouth. Only really swallows pureed food, and often rejects a mouthful if there is a piece of solid food in it. He has always had a very healthy diet of fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, pulses and dairy, with no salt or sugar or preservatives.
Walking - Started crawling at around 7 months and walking at around 1 year. Running from around 15-16 months.
Other - Fairly often, he holds his head behind his ears, especially his right ear. Recently, he has started getting more easily frustrated with his toys, and can sometimes hit his own head or face when very frustrated (though not very hard). When on holiday in India in December, he had a big bang to the back of his head. His reaction to this was minor, but it was after this that the symptoms started to appear more strongly.
Birth - Slightly early (2.5 weeks), waters broke and contractions began, but not enough dilation after 2 and a half days. Induced with a syntocinon drip. Labour was 11 hours, and he came out face up rather than face down.
Here are the videos. The last one is a few weeks old, but still typical. The rest were all taken between Saturday and Monday this week. We have not been able to capture an example of every type of behaviour mentioned above, but they do show him in a range of situations:
1 - Not responding to name (but interacting briefly with his grandmother) - docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1CfV9iJChZMZTVlYTk0ZTYtMzcwMy00YTVhLThkM2UtMzFlMGZkMTg2NWE3&sort=name&layout=list&num=50
2 - Playing without eye-contact - docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1CfV9iJChZMOGJjMGQyYzYtNzRjYS00NTU1LTk5MzctNjI2NDliYzA1YTQ2&sort=name&layout=list&num=50
3 - More interactive- docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1CfV9iJChZMZGU1Y2NkNmUtZGE4ZC00ZDNiLTg2NGYtZWEwYmYzNWNmY2I4&sort=name&layout=list&num=50
4 - Very distressed and unable to sleep after frustration with toy - docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1CfV9iJChZMOWEwOWZiM2MtYmNjNC00NGI2LTg4OGItNDk0MWYxNmE4ZGU0&sort=name&layout=list&num=50
5 - Morning Play - docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1CfV9iJChZMNDk2ODc0YjYtMGRmNS00YTFiLWI2YTMtZmVmM2JkMjMyNzE5&sort=name&layout=list&num=50
6 - With book, ignoring Mummy - docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1CfV9iJChZMMWEwODIyMTEtYzliNy00MTI4LWI2YjctZGJkYzA5YTc2MWNl&sort=name&layout=list&num=50
7 - Playing with and talking to birds in the park - docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1CfV9iJChZMNDExMDNkMWQtZDA5MC00ZDY0LTg5NWMtMTk3YmI3OTcyOTFl&sort=name&layout=list&num=50
8 - Lying on floor - docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1CfV9iJChZMODNmNGE0YTAtMDNkYi00NTIzLWJjMmQtZDdiZjVjNzg2MWQw&sort=name&layout=list&num=50
9 - More open, with visitors (older video) - docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1CfV9iJChZMMTYwYmIxMjUtYWIxOC00NTM4LTgzMjQtY2JkMDQ1NjAzOTIw&sort=name&layout=list&num=50
We very much look forward to hearing from you.
Best Wishes
Guy & Oksana (Daniel's parents)