My 21 month old is most likely autistic, can I hear from parents or folks who have or know autistic toddler?

My beautiful baby boy is 21 months. He was a happy, healthy infant who met all his milestones. As far back as October, he had 12 word vocabulary. Now he says no words, no more mama or dada. He does not respond to his name at all. He stares at wheels on toy cars and just spins them. He takes all our shoes and lines them up. I took him to ped and she ordered hearing tests, came back normal. I had Early Intervention team here and he was evaluated for 2 hours and scored very low - 6 months speech - 6 months fine motor - 8 months - emotional and 11 months for something else. We have neuro appt. and more evals but they think it is autism. I am heartbroken. Husband is ignoring this and says "it will pass and I am creating drama". Can you please tell me about your children and how this progresses and how they are doing. I feel very alone here. Thank you.My 21 month old is most likely autistic, can I hear from parents or folks who have or know autistic toddler?
Your husband will come around, give him time.



Your son will teach you something new every single day, you just have to listen to him. The evaluations don't always pick up on the true child. My son's (2 years 8 months) latest evals score his self help skills in the 0.4th percentile, yet non of his evals state that he fixed the sound on my computer twice, or that he can do puzzles faster than me. So I'll be changing diapers for quite a while, but that's not the worst thing that could happen.



These kids are amazing, they see the finer details in life, and can be very content with what is right in front of them.



Let him show you how he wants to communicate, and don't force it. Lovingly encourage him. Keep routines predictable and consistent so he knows what to expect. Don't force eye contact. Recent studies have shown that even typical children have a hard time looking AND listening. When he's not looking at you, he could be listening very intently.



And remember he still is a beautiful, happy, healthy child, who just views the world different, he is still your son. Your son didn't go anywhere. He still needs your love.



Desiree



Ps. Get him a simon says sit n spin...My 21 month old is most likely autistic, can I hear from parents or folks who have or know autistic toddler?
Well make sure that you keep up with EI they do some great work at getting kids where they should be. As far as him being autistic for the time being until you get some better coarse of action focus on his strong points he like to line shoes up then give him things to line up. I have also herd that pets are a good thing , like a dog. As for your husband just let him be he will eventually come around and figure out that there really is a problem he is probably just in denial.~~ I wish you the best of luckMy 21 month old is most likely autistic, can I hear from parents or folks who have or know autistic toddler?
OK...FIRSTLY AND MOST IMPORTANTLY...YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!



our six year old son, Thomas, has sever autism. he is still in nappies, has very little self help skills, has NO sense of danger and very poor communication.

he is the most loving, innocent, giving little man who we love devotedly. I'd be lying if i said that 'life was easy' and most days are a constant blur......but he gives us so much joy with the small things he achieves and NO two days are the same!!



are other son Joshua has just turned three. he is in the middle of a pediatric assessment but as with your son, it looks as though he is also autistic. he is far more higher functioning than Thomas but the traits are still there.



you are all at the hardest stage at the moment and over the next few months you and your husband will go through every negative emotion possible.....hate, anger, blame,isolation,depression, hurt...............this WILL pass. although it won't ever go away it will get easier once you know what your dealing with.

we found the biggest lesson to us was to 're-ajust the goal posts' and make the most of every small thing our sons achieve.......resently thomas learnt to blow his nose...might not sound alot but to us it was HUGE!!



my husband is still coming to terms with Thomas being autistic (diagnosed 3 years ago) and he finds it hard at the moment to talk about Joshua. i believe that as women we DO cope better in these situations and we just 'have to get on with it'. men i think find it harder to talk about and often just hope that it'll all go away!!

give your husband time, get some books about autism and get reading. understanding the autistic spectrum will help you and your son. leave the books out but don't pressure your hubby to read them. (my hubby has never read a book about autism and we used to argue constantly about this until he admitted that it was too painful)



take each day as it comes and try not to worry about the future. cry and scream if you want to and talk to people about how you feel. having an autistic child isn't a life sentance, and you WILL cope even when everything seems just too much!!



good luck and if you need to ever talk then my email is open.
I'm not a mother of an autistic child but I work with children with autism. Don't be heartbroken. A autistic child is as beautiful as any other child. Early Intervention is the best and you shouldn't ignore it. The earlier you get it, the better the results will be. I've seen a couple 2 yr olds come in and now I can't even tell that they have autism. One boy is now 3 1/2 and his development seems exactly like my son who is also three and a half. They progress really good when they start early. I've seen older children come in and they progress pretty well but it's nothing compared to the younger ones.