I think somethings not quiet right with him....

[Mothernature]

Our nephew was 2 before christmas, he had a fit which resulted in his mother giving him the kiss of life, he had ben unwell for a while, his temperature was elevated causing him to convulse.

He has since had a brain scan and other tests, his mother is reluctant to discuss what the results were, but he has tendancies that make me think he may have something wrong with him, I would welcome any comments on his following traits.

1. He's got a 'thing' for doors he has to open and close them at least 50 times before he can settle.
2. He will not play they way other children do, he get very upset straight away if he cannot do something the way he wants.
3. He will not be cuddled at all, he hates physical contact with people.
4. No eye contact.
5. Very limited verbal communication.
6. The words he can say are always monotone and repeats what your last words were.
7. He has a thing with his fingers, they are always straight out and he sort of flicks them against one another.
8. He has to carry around his 'boys' at the last count 5 big teddies/cuddly toys.
9. Eats very little and cannot sit still long enough to eat properly.
10. Throws terrific tantrums.

Am I being over sensitive or do you think these are early signs of something else.

I think there is definitely an increased tendency towards seizures if not full epilepsy and I'm pretty sure that a relatively high number of children with ASD develop this at around age 10 or so. Therefore it has to be considered with any change of behaviour like you describe. I remember being asked about momentary absences and thought well how could we tell? He's often like that! I would try to see the Paed again and there might be something on the NAS website or phone them for info.

I'm with Merlot here. Many syndromes overlap and he is is being seen by professionals they may be thinking of further testing and observation over a period of time.

An illness can set a child back and perhaps his development is delayed due to this.

I have a ds with autism. I also have another ds who is 3 and has many strong asd traits however he is not believed to be on the spectrum and is currently classed as developmentally delayed.

Is he due to start nursery soon?
Has he been referred for speech therapy?

If his mum is reluctant to discuss him it is best just to be there for her but keep observing him.

Jaysmum - I can't believe the GP told you not to worry about it!! Sounds very much like a seizure to me. I am very sensitive to this as my DD2 was 'fine' until after she developed seizures (at 8 months) which were fairly subtle and did not seem to cause any anxiety or pain. Unfortunately it took time for her to be seen by a specialist and now some folks are saying she may have always been susceptible to autism but the seizures really brought it on (especially the time it took to be seen properly by a specialist). It was the damage that the seizures caused which probably made the difference. I don't want to alarm you in any way but with my personal experience I would definitely try to get EEG scans and persist with this investigation.

Mothernature - so much of what you have said about your nephew rings true about my daughter who is going to be 4 in March.
-She definitely has her own way of doing things and it takes a lot of effort to try something differently.
-she sometimes hates physical contact (i.e. no cuddles), other times will love a backscratch.
-eye contact was almost non-existent until she was about 3 and a half - still sometimes an effort to get in but not nearly as hard as it used to be.
-She only started saying anything at all this last July and now is doing fairly well (like leaving school, she is the first one to say bye bye and she is initiating a lot more communication - the school has really noticed a difference even after only three weeks off).
-In some ways she is still quite monotone and saying things 'matter-of-factly' rather than conversating IYSWIM. (like on the weekend we were planning to go out, getting shoes and coats on etc and she says "byebye, shopping, lolly, (sweets) donal (McDonalds)" She knew what she was going to do and she was setting it out in her mind (and making sure everyone else knew too!)
-DD is the original 'bag lady'. She has 2 or 3 of those recyclable Tesco/Waitrose bags. She fills them up with all kinds of things - toys, drink bottles, biscuits, pringles, pieces of paper, McDonalds toys, pictures she has drawn, flags, umbrellas, balloons - you name it, it is probably in there. When she goes upstairs the lot has to come too and when she comes back down it all comes too. Every now and then I have to do a discreet 'clean out' or it would just get ridiculous.

It must be hard for your sister/SIL - I know for a long time we were in denial. The autism diagnosis was 'clouded' by the seizures and the global developmental delay she suffered as a result. Unfortunately maybe if we had obtained more positive intervention earlier on she may be a little more progressed by now but some things just happen for a reason. We are in a good place with her right now, she is in mainstream nursery (with support) and doing well. Be there for your nephew and his Mum but it all may be hard for her to deal with right now.
I hope I haven't rambled too much...

OMG - sorry long post - you all keep me up too late - goodnight!!

mothernature, just caught up with this. The only thing I would say is that when I was going through the whole diagnostic process some of my very well-meaning friends would unwittingly upset me. I was so stressed I felt as if I couldn't breathe, let alone discuss anything. I am the most talkative person I know (I drive people mad) but the best support I got was from friends who would just 'be' with me (for a coffee or whatever) and not want to talk about DD's potential problems. And they wouldn't say, 'it's going to be OK' (because they don't know that) and 'I've looked X syndrome up on the net and it's really quite mild'!

Thank you all of you I am going to print this off and pass on to sil when I think she is ready...I may leave it a while as she is not forthcoming at the moment, but this has helped me understand a little more about things in general...your all so lovely, thank you. xx