Is this really a symptom of autism?

[adrianna22]

Ever since DS has been diagnosed with autism. My close friends with kids, who know about DS, have been worried about their own kids and always asking me questions.

For example, my friend who has a three year old child, who has delays in language and understanding, told me that the reason why she thinks her DS has autism, including the delays, was because every time she took DS shopping and say she got her DS something; when placing the items on the till, he would assume that the cashier has taken the item away that he wanted and he would start crying, obviously this would stop when he gets the item back? What example of an ASD symptom is this?

Also, when he wants to go off somewhere and someone gets him by the shoulder, he would just shrug his shoulders for them to get off and goes off anyway. My friend said that her DS should look at the person who's grabbing him by the shoulder and then shrug the person off to make it intentional.

Is that too a symptom of autism? I couldn't really answer her question, but just told her to get him referred.

The getting upset at the shops is social delay and possibly language related. Not understanding the finer points of life and reading the tiny, invisible signals which the rest of us take for granted and also possibly a sign of his problems with receptive language.

It's all very well telling a child "It's ok...we have to pay first." but if the child can't understand what that means, then he'll get upset.

That's what I think but I'm not an expert...I have a DD who is potentially on the spectrum but who isn't have huge problems at the moment and had excellent language development (too good possibly).

Delays in language are not unique to ASD - and you can have ASD without a language delay.
If she thinks he is behind in multiple domains then she should get a referral to a developmental paed.

However none of the items you listed are down on the clinical diagnosis list for ASD.

I too would say both of those things are perfectly typical behaviour for many a three yr old. Neither say 'autism' to me.

The conveyor belt thing is related to the typical stage babies/toddlers go through from about 9 months, when they start to realise that something is still there even though they can't see it. That's why 1 year olds tend to lob everything off the highchair at meal time. They're not trying to annoy their parent, they're just starting to realise that the object is still there even though they can't see it.

I think a three year old generally wouldn't get beside themselves if the person lifts the item off the conveyor, but if they then take it behind the scanner, out of sight, it might seem to them that the cashier is taking it away. I think also, it depends how far into their third year they are - a month can make a huge difference at this age.

The shoulder thing I can understand, I think. She is saying that the child should be wondering who/what is grabbing him and looking to see who it is. That could well be just because he is seeing it as interrupting his very important task.

All of these things are fine on their own, it's only when they form a pattern that makes engagement with the world around them difficult that it's a problem, surely.

Thanks guys for your replies, I can always count on you. Her DS is over three and half,for now he does have a diagnosis of receptive disorder?

I think that's the name. He does have a serious delay in his understanding, But hoping as he gets older he may get further tests, to get a clearer test..so it could be autism, but experts are not worried at the moment.