Characteristics a Child May Display with Autism

I recently had an article published on Associated Content about my son having autism. I wanted to do a follow-up and talk about the signs and symptoms, and what it was like for me before he was diagnosed with autism.

I gave birth to my son almost 10 years ago. He was a normal and healthy baby. As he grew older and began reaching 1 to 1 ½ years of age I began noticing some differences in him. He just seemed really rambunctious and there were days that I felt like pulling my hair out. Tyler would be into everything. I couldn't take an eye off of him for more than five minutes it seemed, without him being into something. I thought at first he was ADHD. Another thing that I began to notice about him was that he was not answering me when I would call his name. He would sit with this blank stare and act like I was not talking to him. I started to wonder if maybe he was hearing impaired. He also had a very hard time interacting with children and other adults. If we went to a social gathering Tyler would go crawl under the table and sit there, and that is where I would find him.

After this realization hit me that maybe he was deaf, I scheduled him for a doctor's appointment. His pediatrician set him up an appointment to have his hearing checked. Because Tyler was so young when having this done, he was about 3; I had to sit with him in a room. The room was set up to have all these different sounds coming from different sections of the room. If he looked at the part of the room, from where the sound was coming from, then chances were he was not hearing impaired. Now if anyone has ever had this test done the noises aren't that loud. When they started the test he would look at where the sounds were coming from but then started screaming and crying and holding his ears. The test had to be stopped. In the end it was discovered that he was not hearing impaired.

By the time all of this was realized I was at my wits end. Every day was hard because I constantly had to watch him, and then it would get frustrating for me in trying to talk to him and not getting a response. I was also noticing that when we would go out and it was crowded and noisy, he would hold his ears and say it's to loud. I could not understand what was wrong with him. I took him back to his pediatrician and talked with him again about my son's symptoms. He listened and then told me the words I would never forget, "I think your son may have autism." I had heard of autism but wasn't sure exactly what it was. After his doctor's appointment I began researching autism. Many of the characteristics listed of autism; well my son had them. I was relieved because now I had a cause for his behavior.

After my son entered Pre-K he was evaluated by Sheila Wagner at Emory University, she is over the research at Emory University for autism. In her findings she found my son to be a high functioning autistic child. He has a form of autism called Asperburger's Syndrome. The symptoms he displayed of being ADHD were also signs of being autistic. He was then put on medication to help him with focusing, concentration, and to help calm him down from being so hyper.

There are signs that a parent should look out for if they feel their child might be autistic. Some of the signs are difficulties in a social setting, problems with communicating verbally or nonverbally, not responding when you call your child's name repeatedly, and having obsessive interests. I know my son has many of these behaviors and has several obsessions like water and anything that deals with computer and electronics.

My son was diagnosed with autism almost 8 years ago. He is a bright, funny, and loving little boy. With research and help from doctors, along with medication, my son is able to live a "normal" life.