What were your girls like at 15 months?

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

I have been a lurker for many months and have gained so much insight

from all that you share. I have a 14 month old little girl who has

concerned me from 6 wks, yes 6 wks. I knew something was off. She

wouldn't look at us, was late to smile and laugh, didn't seem to

know mom and dad, little vocalization, no mimicking, constipation,

etc...the list goes on.

So we started an at home Floortime approach and have seen slow but

very encouraging results. I will list her strength and her

weaknesses.

Strengths

-Shows us toys all the time

-Seems to be developing nice joint attention

-Mimics most of our gestures

-Appears to understand what we say- ie can you dance? go get your

ball, point to the doggie, can you tickle daddy?

-Follows my point.

-Points to indicate her wants and to show interest.

-Gestures- claps, waves, arms up to be picked up.

-Has a few signs- milk, doggie, eat, bath, again

-Has a few words or rather approximations? up, kaka(cookie or

cracker), two animal sounds- woo-woo for dog and ts-ts for snake.

Weaknesses

-Trouble latching on to breast at first, but we worked for a couple

weeks with nipple shield and got the hang of it

-No mama or dada

-No verbal mimicking- only if we say da,da,da forever might she

attempt it herself. No back and forth cooing as a tiny baby

-Limited sounds- no t,m,g,s etc.

-Eye contact was nonexistent for her first 9 months- but slowly

getting better

-Doesn't follow my gaze

-Severe constipation

-Rosy cheeks- almost like a mild rash

-Still has cradle cap

-Huge bloated belly

-Very serious baby-can be very smiley sometimes, but more often

pretty serious

-Little laughter- only when being tickled and not always

-Always on the go- can't sit still at all. We get through two or

three pages of a book before she's off again.

-Very short attention span. Does seem to be playing with toys

appropriately now, but that just recently started and she will do it

for literally 5 seconds.

-Crawled late 9 months and with alot of help from us

-Walked at 13 months and still seems so clumsy

-We are the ones always wooing her into our world.

-Doesn't like to cuddle.

-Never had stranger anxiety.

-Sometimes doesn't seem to recognize mom and dad until she hears our

voices.

I know that's a long list, but I just want to give an accurate

picture of her wonderful strengths and her worrisome weaknesses. I

know the gesturing and apparent pretend play are because we have

taught her these. Hand over hand style and lots of Floortime. I

know she is not picking up these up naturally.

I know each ASD child presents in their own unique way, but I'm just

int he info gathering phase.

-Would love your input on my daughter's strengths/weaknesses

-To hear about your precious girls and their progress and troubles.

-What worked for you children.

-when you first noticed something might be off.

-Anything else you think may be helpful.

Thanks in advance. You are truly a lovely, knowledgeable and

supportive bunch!

Sanna

[Guest guest]

Sanna, Mom's always know. I knew when Kezia was days old and it took till

she was seven and the diagnosis was practically written in neon on her

forehead to have her offically tested and diagnosed. Because she has

downsyndrome they attributed everything to that. But I knew in me heart

when she was an inant that she had autism as well. I mentioned it to

everyone until finally the school saw a rapid change and suggested I get her

tested. I could have kissed them because I had been begging but no one took

it seriously.

So... , don't have any self doubt about your observations and believe

what your heart is telling you. Get resources for her immediately. I am

not familiar with where to begin in the U.S. But I would guess your doctor

would be a place to start. If he tells you that you are a nervous first time

mother get a second opinion. Also I would find a parent group of children

with autism. They have walked the road and can advise you. If it turns out

to be a different diagnosis don't worry, All information overlaps and one

road can take you on the path to getting her and you some answers.

You will find us a pretty welcoming group here so don't be afraid to tell us

your ups and downs. We all learn from one another.

Getting our children figured out is an ongoing puzzle. But don't wait

because the earlier you begin the greater it is for her. Others here will

likely be much more informed to sort out some of the symptoms. I just want

to welcome you and I think you are a courageous mom to reach out to us.

-- What were your girls like at 15 months?

Hi all,

I have been a lurker for many months and have gained so much insight

from all that you share. I have a 14 month old little girl who has

concerned me from 6 wks, yes 6 wks. I knew something was off. She

wouldn't look at us, was late to smile and laugh, didn't seem to

know mom and dad, little vocalization, no mimicking, constipation,

etc...the list goes on.

So we started an at home Floortime approach and have seen slow but

very encouraging results. I will list her strength and her

weaknesses.

Strengths

-Shows us toys all the time

-Seems to be developing nice joint attention

-Mimics most of our gestures

-Appears to understand what we say- ie can you dance? go get your

ball, point to the doggie, can you tickle daddy?

-Follows my point.

-Points to indicate her wants and to show interest.

-Gestures- claps, waves, arms up to be picked up.

-Has a few signs- milk, doggie, eat, bath, again

-Has a few words or rather approximations? up, kaka(cookie or

cracker), two animal sounds- woo-woo for dog and ts-ts for snake.

Weaknesses

-Trouble latching on to breast at first, but we worked for a couple

weeks with nipple shield and got the hang of it

-No mama or dada

-No verbal mimicking- only if we say da,da,da forever might she

attempt it herself. No back and forth cooing as a tiny baby

-Limited sounds- no t,m,g,s etc.

-Eye contact was nonexistent for her first 9 months- but slowly

getting better

-Doesn't follow my gaze

-Severe constipation

-Rosy cheeks- almost like a mild rash

-Still has cradle cap

-Huge bloated belly

-Very serious baby-can be very smiley sometimes, but more often

pretty serious

-Little laughter- only when being tickled and not always

-Always on the go- can't sit still at all. We get through two or

three pages of a book before she's off again.

-Very short attention span. Does seem to be playing with toys

appropriately now, but that just recently started and she will do it

for literally 5 seconds.

-Crawled late 9 months and with alot of help from us

-Walked at 13 months and still seems so clumsy

-We are the ones always wooing her into our world.

-Doesn't like to cuddle.

-Never had stranger anxiety.

-Sometimes doesn't seem to recognize mom and dad until she hears our

voices.

I know that's a long list, but I just want to give an accurate

picture of her wonderful strengths and her worrisome weaknesses. I

know the gesturing and apparent pretend play are because we have

taught her these. Hand over hand style and lots of Floortime. I

know she is not picking up these up naturally.

I know each ASD child presents in their own unique way, but I'm just

int he info gathering phase.

-Would love your input on my daughter's strengths/weaknesses

-To hear about your precious girls and their progress and troubles.

-What worked for you children.

-when you first noticed something might be off.

-Anything else you think may be helpful.

Thanks in advance. You are truly a lovely, knowledgeable and

supportive bunch!

Sanna

[Guest guest]

You seem to have a good start...

 

My neice who is asd, also was late in talking and very delayed in actually

speaking whole words, most often droping the end of words, like for ball it was

ba. ect...

 

She also did not play appropriately with toys. Could not do a puzzle until age

3, you know the kind with 3 or 4 farm animals, could not put blocks into a

container with different shapes with different blocks...ect...

 

She also was VERY clumsy, often falling onto things she was attempting to

manuver or play with.

 

To get her talking more we started with rolled up paper or magazines and an

empty paper towel holder...we would first make sounds, things she already knew.

 

She called everything dada, EVERYTHING. So we began with dada. Then we would

make sounds and make music out of the sounds. It was a game she loved to play.

Then we added actual words.

 

Baby sign language. She had only a few basic and they were all her own. More was

appropriate to more, but please was the sign for milk, ect. We just used what

she adapted to. The words followed later, sometimes much later.

 

At 15 months she still could not chew her food. Almost choked in foods not cut

small enough to be soaked with slobber before swallowing nearly whole.

 

Over time she over came this as well

 

There is much mimicry and persistance involved in teaching her new things. But

learning to adapt to her styles of learning and her attention span really helped

to get her going in the right direction.

 

As an adult on the spectrum, I know how difficult it is to " stay in reality. "

Often times I find myself in my own world. Getting any child to come out of this

protective comfort zone, as you know, takes a very persistant approach.

 

My neice would not pay attention to faces, words, or even television.

Stimulating her was a battle as too much would cause a screaming, kicking,

hitting, bitting, ect...meltdown.

 

I had full length mirrors in every room, we used to dance in the mirror where

she was more comfortable looking at people and their faces. It is here she would

make eye contact. I guess not having the pysical confrontation of a person was

less stressfull.

 

Your floor time sounds inspiring. I would recommend keeping things as basic as

possible. When you are introducing new words, develop key phrases she already

knows and add only one word at a time. Play sound games, where you use the

phonics involved in different sages before bringing it all together.

 

I know of a boy on the spectrum that can only speak in syllabuls, sounding our

each letter of the word, it is the only way he can talk. For instance, hi is

hhhh i; you is ya oo uh, and bike is ba ih k! eh. It may be difficult to

understand, but he does manage to reach out of his world into this one in his

own unique way.

 

Much like the speech of Sondra, it is a way that some people adapt to a language

that can be as alien to us as our lack of it is to you.

 

Gaining better spacial perspective of the world around her will help your child

to be less clumsy. I was put into ballet when I was 6 because I was left side of

my body week, clumsy, and a toe walker with an inability to even stand

flatfooted. It did wonders for my balance.

http://speakup.today.com

Subject: What were your girls like at 15 months?

To: Autism_in_Girls_and_Women

Date: Monday, February 9, 2009, 3:11 PM

Hi all,

I have been a lurker for many months and have gained so much insight

from all that you share. I have a 14 month old little girl who has

concerned me from 6 wks, yes 6 wks. I knew something was off. She

wouldn't look at us, was late to smile and laugh, didn't seem to

know mom and dad, little vocalization, no mimicking, constipation,

etc...the list goes on.

So we started an at home Floortime approach and have seen slow but

very encouraging results. I will list her strength and her

weaknesses.

Strengths

-Shows us toys all the time

-Seems to be developing nice joint attention

-Mimics most of our gestures

-Appears to understand what we say- ie can you dance? go get your

ball, point to the doggie, can you tickle daddy?

-Follows my point.

-Points to indicate her wants and to show interest.

-Gestures- claps, waves, arms up to be picked up.

-Has a few signs- milk, doggie, eat, bath, again

-Has a few words or rather approximations? up, kaka(cookie or

cracker), two animal sounds- woo-woo for dog and ts-ts for snake.

Weaknesses

-Trouble latching on to breast at first, but we worked for a couple

weeks with nipple shield and got the hang of it

-No mama or dada

-No verbal mimicking- only if we say da,da,da forever might she

attempt it herself. No back and forth cooing as a tiny baby

-Limited sounds- no t,m,g,s etc.

-Eye contact was nonexistent for her first 9 months- but slowly

getting better

-Doesn't follow my gaze

-Severe constipation

-Rosy cheeks- almost like a mild rash

-Still has cradle cap

-Huge bloated belly

-Very serious baby-can be very smiley sometimes, but more often

pretty serious

-Little laughter- only when being tickled and not always

-Always on the go- can't sit still at all. We get through two or

three pages of a book before she's off again.

-Very short attention span. Does seem to be playing with toys

appropriately now, but that just recently started and she will do it

for literally 5 seconds.

-Crawled late 9 months and with alot of help from us

-Walked at 13 months and still seems so clumsy

-We are the ones always wooing her into our world.

-Doesn't like to cuddle.

-Never had stranger anxiety.

-Sometimes doesn't seem to recognize mom and dad until she hears our

voices.

I know that's a long list, but I just want to give an accurate

picture of her wonderful strengths and her worrisome weaknesses. I

know the gesturing and apparent pretend play are because we have

taught her these. Hand over hand style and lots of Floortime. I

know she is not picking up these up naturally.

I know each ASD child presents in their own unique way, but I'm just

int he info gathering phase.

-Would love your input on my daughter's strengths/weaknesse s

-To hear about your precious girls and their progress and troubles.

-What worked for you children.

-when you first noticed something might be off.

-Anything else you think may be helpful.

Thanks in advance. You are truly a lovely, knowledgeable and

supportive bunch!

Sanna

[Guest guest]

Sanna,

You are very observant of your little girl, and I can tell you care a

about her very much. I would trust your gut instincts on this. It

definitely sounds like you are heading in the right direction. I

would talk to your pediatrician and see about getting her tested.

When my daughter was 15 months, we already knew she had some mild

delays in speech and gross motor skills. Then, we started thinking

she might have a hearing problem because she wasn't responding to us

the way she should have been. So, our pediatrician set it up for us

to see an audiologist. Her hearing came back within normal limits. As

time went by, and her speech was not improving, we decided to join a

state early intervention program that provided speech and later

Occupational Therapy for her. When she was 2 1/2, she was finally

seen by a Developmental Pediatrician and was diagnosed with mild to

moderate autism. She is now 10, and we have seen some good progress

in her over the years, although she still has a long way to go. The

key is to stay connected with your daughter and to get as much early

intervention as you possibly can.

As someone else mentioned, you may want to find a support group to

attend, if you can. Check with the Autism Society of America and see

if there are any chapters in your area.

God bless,

Vicky in IL

[Guest guest]

Sanna,

You are very observant of your little girl, and I can tell you care a

about her very much. I would trust your gut instincts on this. It

definitely sounds like you are heading in the right direction. I

would talk to your pediatrician and see about getting her tested.

When my daughter was 15 months, we already knew she had some mild

delays in speech and gross motor skills. Then, we started thinking

she might have a hearing problem because she wasn't responding to us

the way she should have been. So, our pediatrician set it up for us

to see an audiologist. Her hearing came back within normal limits. As

time went by, and her speech was not improving, we decided to join a

state early intervention program that provided speech and later

Occupational Therapy for her. When she was 2 1/2, she was finally

seen by a Developmental Pediatrician and was diagnosed with mild to

moderate autism. She is now 10, and we have seen some good progress

in her over the years, although she still has a long way to go. The

key is to stay connected with your daughter and to get as much early

intervention as you possibly can.

As someone else mentioned, you may want to find a support group to

attend, if you can. Check with the Autism Society of America and see

if there are any chapters in your area.

God bless,

Vicky in IL

[Guest guest]

Hi Vicki,

Thanks for your response and support. Glad to hear your daughter is

doing well. Can you remember what her communication was like at 15

months? Was she saying words? Gesturing? How did her speech

develop? Is she happy or content? What are do you think her future

holds? Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks again.

-- In Autism_in_Girls_and_Women , " davick92 "

wrote:

>

> Sanna,

>

> You are very observant of your little girl, and I can tell you

care a

> about her very much. I would trust your gut instincts on this. It

> definitely sounds like you are heading in the right direction. I

> would talk to your pediatrician and see about getting her tested.

>

> When my daughter was 15 months, we already knew she had some mild

> delays in speech and gross motor skills. Then, we started thinking

> she might have a hearing problem because she wasn't responding to

us

> the way she should have been. So, our pediatrician set it up for

us

> to see an audiologist. Her hearing came back within normal limits.

As

> time went by, and her speech was not improving, we decided to join

a

> state early intervention program that provided speech and later

> Occupational Therapy for her. When she was 2 1/2, she was finally

> seen by a Developmental Pediatrician and was diagnosed with mild

to

> moderate autism. She is now 10, and we have seen some good

progress

> in her over the years, although she still has a long way to go.

The

> key is to stay connected with your daughter and to get as much

early

> intervention as you possibly can.

>

> As someone else mentioned, you may want to find a support group to

> attend, if you can. Check with the Autism Society of America and

see

> if there are any chapters in your area.

>

> God bless,

> Vicky in IL

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for your reply and your advice. It's great to hear from

people who've been there and done that. Can you remember what

specifics led you to believe in infancy your daughter had autism?

How is she doing now? It must have been tricky with the dual

diagnosis.

Sanna

>

> Sanna, Mom's always know. I knew when Kezia was days old and it

took till

> she was seven and the diagnosis was practically written in neon on

her

> forehead to have her offically tested and diagnosed. Because she

has

> downsyndrome they attributed everything to that. But I knew in me

heart

> when she was an inant that she had autism as well. I mentioned it

to

> everyone until finally the school saw a rapid change and suggested

I get her

> tested. I could have kissed them because I had been begging but

no one took

> it seriously.

> So... , don't have any self doubt about your observations and

believe

> what your heart is telling you. Get resources for her

immediately. I am

> not familiar with where to begin in the U.S. But I would guess

your doctor

> would be a place to start. If he tells you that you are a nervous

first time

> mother get a second opinion. Also I would find a parent group of

children

> with autism. They have walked the road and can advise you. If it

turns out

> to be a different diagnosis don't worry, All information overlaps

and one

> road can take you on the path to getting her and you some

answers.

> You will find us a pretty welcoming group here so don't be afraid

to tell us

> your ups and downs. We all learn from one another.

> Getting our children figured out is an ongoing puzzle. But don't

wait

> because the earlier you begin the greater it is for her. Others

here will

> likely be much more informed to sort out some of the symptoms. I

just want

> to welcome you and I think you are a courageous mom to reach out

to us.

> -- What were your girls like at

15 months?

>

> Hi all,

>

> I have been a lurker for many months and have gained so much

insight

> from all that you share. I have a 14 month old little girl who has

> concerned me from 6 wks, yes 6 wks. I knew something was off. She

> wouldn't look at us, was late to smile and laugh, didn't seem to

> know mom and dad, little vocalization, no mimicking, constipation,

> etc...the list goes on.

>

> So we started an at home Floortime approach and have seen slow but

> very encouraging results. I will list her strength and her

> weaknesses.

>

> Strengths

> -Shows us toys all the time

> -Seems to be developing nice joint attention

> -Mimics most of our gestures

> -Appears to understand what we say- ie can you dance? go get your

> ball, point to the doggie, can you tickle daddy?

> -Follows my point.

> -Points to indicate her wants and to show interest.

> -Gestures- claps, waves, arms up to be picked up.

> -Has a few signs- milk, doggie, eat, bath, again

> -Has a few words or rather approximations? up, kaka(cookie or

> cracker), two animal sounds- woo-woo for dog and ts-ts for snake.

>

> Weaknesses

> -Trouble latching on to breast at first, but we worked for a

couple

> weeks with nipple shield and got the hang of it

> -No mama or dada

> -No verbal mimicking- only if we say da,da,da forever might she

> attempt it herself. No back and forth cooing as a tiny baby

> -Limited sounds- no t,m,g,s etc.

> -Eye contact was nonexistent for her first 9 months- but slowly

> getting better

> -Doesn't follow my gaze

> -Severe constipation

> -Rosy cheeks- almost like a mild rash

> -Still has cradle cap

> -Huge bloated belly

> -Very serious baby-can be very smiley sometimes, but more often

> pretty serious

> -Little laughter- only when being tickled and not always

> -Always on the go- can't sit still at all. We get through two or

> three pages of a book before she's off again.

> -Very short attention span. Does seem to be playing with toys

> appropriately now, but that just recently started and she will do

it

> for literally 5 seconds.

> -Crawled late 9 months and with alot of help from us

> -Walked at 13 months and still seems so clumsy

> -We are the ones always wooing her into our world.

> -Doesn't like to cuddle.

> -Never had stranger anxiety.

> -Sometimes doesn't seem to recognize mom and dad until she hears

our

> voices.

>

> I know that's a long list, but I just want to give an accurate

> picture of her wonderful strengths and her worrisome weaknesses. I

> know the gesturing and apparent pretend play are because we have

> taught her these. Hand over hand style and lots of Floortime. I

> know she is not picking up these up naturally.

>

> I know each ASD child presents in their own unique way, but I'm

just

> int he info gathering phase.

> -Would love your input on my daughter's strengths/weaknesses

> -To hear about your precious girls and their progress and troubles.

> -What worked for you children.

> -when you first noticed something might be off.

> -Anything else you think may be helpful.

>

> Thanks in advance. You are truly a lovely, knowledgeable and

> supportive bunch!

>

> Sanna

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for your reply and your advice. It's great to hear from

people who've been there and done that. Can you remember what

specifics led you to believe in infancy your daughter had autism?

How is she doing now? It must have been tricky with the dual

diagnosis.

Sanna

>

> Sanna, Mom's always know. I knew when Kezia was days old and it

took till

> she was seven and the diagnosis was practically written in neon on

her

> forehead to have her offically tested and diagnosed. Because she

has

> downsyndrome they attributed everything to that. But I knew in me

heart

> when she was an inant that she had autism as well. I mentioned it

to

> everyone until finally the school saw a rapid change and suggested

I get her

> tested. I could have kissed them because I had been begging but

no one took

> it seriously.

> So... , don't have any self doubt about your observations and

believe

> what your heart is telling you. Get resources for her

immediately. I am

> not familiar with where to begin in the U.S. But I would guess

your doctor

> would be a place to start. If he tells you that you are a nervous

first time

> mother get a second opinion. Also I would find a parent group of

children

> with autism. They have walked the road and can advise you. If it

turns out

> to be a different diagnosis don't worry, All information overlaps

and one

> road can take you on the path to getting her and you some

answers.

> You will find us a pretty welcoming group here so don't be afraid

to tell us

> your ups and downs. We all learn from one another.

> Getting our children figured out is an ongoing puzzle. But don't

wait

> because the earlier you begin the greater it is for her. Others

here will

> likely be much more informed to sort out some of the symptoms. I

just want

> to welcome you and I think you are a courageous mom to reach out

to us.

> -- What were your girls like at

15 months?

>

> Hi all,

>

> I have been a lurker for many months and have gained so much

insight

> from all that you share. I have a 14 month old little girl who has

> concerned me from 6 wks, yes 6 wks. I knew something was off. She

> wouldn't look at us, was late to smile and laugh, didn't seem to

> know mom and dad, little vocalization, no mimicking, constipation,

> etc...the list goes on.

>

> So we started an at home Floortime approach and have seen slow but

> very encouraging results. I will list her strength and her

> weaknesses.

>

> Strengths

> -Shows us toys all the time

> -Seems to be developing nice joint attention

> -Mimics most of our gestures

> -Appears to understand what we say- ie can you dance? go get your

> ball, point to the doggie, can you tickle daddy?

> -Follows my point.

> -Points to indicate her wants and to show interest.

> -Gestures- claps, waves, arms up to be picked up.

> -Has a few signs- milk, doggie, eat, bath, again

> -Has a few words or rather approximations? up, kaka(cookie or

> cracker), two animal sounds- woo-woo for dog and ts-ts for snake.

>

> Weaknesses

> -Trouble latching on to breast at first, but we worked for a

couple

> weeks with nipple shield and got the hang of it

> -No mama or dada

> -No verbal mimicking- only if we say da,da,da forever might she

> attempt it herself. No back and forth cooing as a tiny baby

> -Limited sounds- no t,m,g,s etc.

> -Eye contact was nonexistent for her first 9 months- but slowly

> getting better

> -Doesn't follow my gaze

> -Severe constipation

> -Rosy cheeks- almost like a mild rash

> -Still has cradle cap

> -Huge bloated belly

> -Very serious baby-can be very smiley sometimes, but more often

> pretty serious

> -Little laughter- only when being tickled and not always

> -Always on the go- can't sit still at all. We get through two or

> three pages of a book before she's off again.

> -Very short attention span. Does seem to be playing with toys

> appropriately now, but that just recently started and she will do

it

> for literally 5 seconds.

> -Crawled late 9 months and with alot of help from us

> -Walked at 13 months and still seems so clumsy

> -We are the ones always wooing her into our world.

> -Doesn't like to cuddle.

> -Never had stranger anxiety.

> -Sometimes doesn't seem to recognize mom and dad until she hears

our

> voices.

>

> I know that's a long list, but I just want to give an accurate

> picture of her wonderful strengths and her worrisome weaknesses. I

> know the gesturing and apparent pretend play are because we have

> taught her these. Hand over hand style and lots of Floortime. I

> know she is not picking up these up naturally.

>

> I know each ASD child presents in their own unique way, but I'm

just

> int he info gathering phase.

> -Would love your input on my daughter's strengths/weaknesses

> -To hear about your precious girls and their progress and troubles.

> -What worked for you children.

> -when you first noticed something might be off.

> -Anything else you think may be helpful.

>

> Thanks in advance. You are truly a lovely, knowledgeable and

> supportive bunch!

>

> Sanna

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Sanna,

That was such a long time ago, it is hard to remember the specifics.

All I know is that her speech was very delayed, and she was not saying

mommy and daddy. I do remember that she would learn a new word and then

forget it a few days or weeks later. Up until she was about a year old,

she was always a very good baby, very happy and smiling a lot. She

loved music, and loved looking at picture books. After the one-year

mark, she began having more difficult behaviors - blowing raspberries

at us, throwing tantrums, etc. At first, we just figured it was a stage

that most children go through. But, when she didn't improve, we started

realizing there was something different about her.

As far as her future, at this point it is too early to really know. I

have this feeling that she will always need to have some help, and I

doubt she would ever be able to live on her own. But, only time will

tell. We are just taking things one day at a time, and will wait and

see how things develop.

-Vicky

>

> Hi Vicki,

>

> Thanks for your response and support. Glad to hear your daughter is

> doing well. Can you remember what her communication was like at 15

> months? Was she saying words? Gesturing? How did her speech

> develop? Is she happy or content? What are do you think her future

> holds? Sorry for all the questions.

>

> Thanks again.

>

[Guest guest]

Sanna,

That was such a long time ago, it is hard to remember the specifics.

All I know is that her speech was very delayed, and she was not saying

mommy and daddy. I do remember that she would learn a new word and then

forget it a few days or weeks later. Up until she was about a year old,

she was always a very good baby, very happy and smiling a lot. She

loved music, and loved looking at picture books. After the one-year

mark, she began having more difficult behaviors - blowing raspberries

at us, throwing tantrums, etc. At first, we just figured it was a stage

that most children go through. But, when she didn't improve, we started

realizing there was something different about her.

As far as her future, at this point it is too early to really know. I

have this feeling that she will always need to have some help, and I

doubt she would ever be able to live on her own. But, only time will

tell. We are just taking things one day at a time, and will wait and

see how things develop.

-Vicky

>

> Hi Vicki,

>

> Thanks for your response and support. Glad to hear your daughter is

> doing well. Can you remember what her communication was like at 15

> months? Was she saying words? Gesturing? How did her speech

> develop? Is she happy or content? What are do you think her future

> holds? Sorry for all the questions.

>

> Thanks again.

>

[Guest guest]

I haven't replied becuase my daughter regressed at 9 mos from a hep B

shot. At that time she had several appropriate babbles and was pulling

up & cruising around furniture. At 15 mos she was completely silent.

No babble, no walking, she pretty much laid on her back all day long.

But the doctor kept telling me she was okay.

I would encourage you to consider starting gfcf diet as soon as

possible. Might not do anything but at her age if you could get

biomedical interventions going now, you have a far better outcome

potential. You mentioned the rash and bloated belly. Treat those and I

bet you will see big behavioral/cognitive gains. It's hard for a tiny

tot to be her best with moving, laughing, and interacting if she's in

pain.

HTH,

Debi

In Autism_in_Girls_and_Women , " sannoliver "

[Guest guest]

I haven't replied becuase my daughter regressed at 9 mos from a hep B

shot. At that time she had several appropriate babbles and was pulling

up & cruising around furniture. At 15 mos she was completely silent.

No babble, no walking, she pretty much laid on her back all day long.

But the doctor kept telling me she was okay.

I would encourage you to consider starting gfcf diet as soon as

possible. Might not do anything but at her age if you could get

biomedical interventions going now, you have a far better outcome

potential. You mentioned the rash and bloated belly. Treat those and I

bet you will see big behavioral/cognitive gains. It's hard for a tiny

tot to be her best with moving, laughing, and interacting if she's in

pain.

HTH,

Debi

In Autism_in_Girls_and_Women , " sannoliver "

[Guest guest]

Hi Sanna!

First and foremost, let me just say that I am so impressed with your

ability to focus and embrace all of your daughter's strengths and

weaknesses. With Ava, I was in denial for a very long time... I knew

that she was a little different but Ava is not your usual case. She

was born with Gastroschisis, which is a rare congenital birth defect

that is prediagnosed (I was diagnosed at 20 weeks preg) leading to a

very sensitive and high risk pregnancy. Gastroschisis meant that

there was an opening in her abdomen and as she grew in utero, she was

going to push out all of her intestines and perhaps some of her

organs. Surgery was only the beginning... and she was 7 minutes old

when she was rushed into very major surgery. They managed to replace

her intestines, her stomach and her ovaries without even leaving a

scar. We knew that it was all going to come down to recovery... and

once Ava recovered (she was released at 7 weeks), the doctors assured

me that there is very little chance she could develop any other

problems or issues. So it is because of this that I suppose I

suppressed the little voice inside of me telling me that my daughter

was different. I would see videos of other kids and they seemed so

much more conversationally competent... so much more apt to run and

jump. Ava has always walked such a fine line with ASD that it only

made my denial so much worse. Ava could say " mommy " and " daddy " but

she rarely chose to. Her word choices were things like " hi " . She

loved to say hi to everything and that's actually how we got her to

learn the names of things in the house. She only crawled for about a

week before she started walking. When she started to walk, we knew

that she could do it, but she seemed afraid or reluctant. It took

her a very long time to get her confidence about her to want to do

it. She rarely had stranger anxiety. She began to stack her little

pieces of cheese into perfect stacks. She liked to line up the

refrigerator magnets. But she never showed a compulsion to do these

types of things, for example, if I would playfully knock down her

stack or disarrange her magnets, she would laugh and clap. She loved

her books and could never get enough of hearing them. She was a

happy baby... never cried out in the morning. She liked to cuddle,

but it was almost like she didn't understand what it was for. She

perfected my intonations, so she started to say everything exactly

like I said it. She had chronic constipation / diarrhea, but that is

also a side effect of having primary closure surgery for

Gastroschisis. She walked on her tippy toes a lot... I thought that

was just her. When I began to try to introduce the potty, I just got

blank stares and it wasn't until she was almost 3 that she actually

began to understand what it was for and why we were doing it. In

retrospect, I feel very guilty for not having made myself see what

was right in front of me and perhaps I could have gotten Ava more

help before she was 3 years old.

You are on the right track, Sanna. I think one of the hardest steps

for me has been coming to terms with what I have always sort of

known. And you have already done so much better than that.

Best wishes and love to you and yours!

Christie

>

> Hi all,

>

> I have been a lurker for many months and have gained so much

insight

> from all that you share. I have a 14 month old little girl who has

> concerned me from 6 wks, yes 6 wks. I knew something was off. She

> wouldn't look at us, was late to smile and laugh, didn't seem to

> know mom and dad, little vocalization, no mimicking, constipation,

> etc...the list goes on.

>

> So we started an at home Floortime approach and have seen slow but

> very encouraging results. I will list her strength and her

> weaknesses.

>

> Strengths

> -Shows us toys all the time

> -Seems to be developing nice joint attention

> -Mimics most of our gestures

> -Appears to understand what we say- ie can you dance? go get

your

> ball, point to the doggie, can you tickle daddy?

> -Follows my point.

> -Points to indicate her wants and to show interest.

> -Gestures- claps, waves, arms up to be picked up.

> -Has a few signs- milk, doggie, eat, bath, again

> -Has a few words or rather approximations? up, kaka(cookie or

> cracker), two animal sounds- woo-woo for dog and ts-ts for snake.

>

>

> Weaknesses

> -Trouble latching on to breast at first, but we worked for a couple

> weeks with nipple shield and got the hang of it

> -No mama or dada

> -No verbal mimicking- only if we say da,da,da forever might she

> attempt it herself. No back and forth cooing as a tiny baby

> -Limited sounds- no t,m,g,s etc.

> -Eye contact was nonexistent for her first 9 months- but slowly

> getting better

> -Doesn't follow my gaze

> -Severe constipation

> -Rosy cheeks- almost like a mild rash

> -Still has cradle cap

> -Huge bloated belly

> -Very serious baby-can be very smiley sometimes, but more often

> pretty serious

> -Little laughter- only when being tickled and not always

> -Always on the go- can't sit still at all. We get through two or

> three pages of a book before she's off again.

> -Very short attention span. Does seem to be playing with toys

> appropriately now, but that just recently started and she will do

it

> for literally 5 seconds.

> -Crawled late 9 months and with alot of help from us

> -Walked at 13 months and still seems so clumsy

> -We are the ones always wooing her into our world.

> -Doesn't like to cuddle.

> -Never had stranger anxiety.

> -Sometimes doesn't seem to recognize mom and dad until she hears

our

> voices.

>

> I know that's a long list, but I just want to give an accurate

> picture of her wonderful strengths and her worrisome weaknesses. I

> know the gesturing and apparent pretend play are because we have

> taught her these. Hand over hand style and lots of Floortime. I

> know she is not picking up these up naturally.

>

> I know each ASD child presents in their own unique way, but I'm

just

> int he info gathering phase.

> -Would love your input on my daughter's strengths/weaknesses

> -To hear about your precious girls and their progress and troubles.

> -What worked for you children.

> -when you first noticed something might be off.

> -Anything else you think may be helpful.

>

> Thanks in advance. You are truly a lovely, knowledgeable and

> supportive bunch!

>

> Sanna

>

[Guest guest]

You know, it was just mom's instinct for the most part. Kezia was in infant

stim, occupational therapy, physio etc form the first week because she had

down syndrome and of course we knew she needed loads of intervention from

day one. But I just knew it was more than that and I don't really know why

She would look up at nothing and smile and gurgle as if she was seeing

angels and chatting to them. She did not look toward our voice. Then we

found out she was not hearing and at 12 months we had ear tubes put in and

for the first time when I said her name she looked over and gave me the

biggest biggest grin. After that she developed quite well.

We put her in a daycare center at two because we wanted her to socialize

and learn from other children. They continued the extra therapies that

stopped at the age of two through the infant stim program. She did really

really well. Learned to dress herself, sang hundreds of songs perfectly

with the clearest most angelic voice. She learned all her letters by the

time she entered junior kindergarten. She never got the hang of language

and only spoke with nouns. She referred to everyone by name but could never

ask questions or understand abstract words like " his, put, ,basically she

could only name objects and never use pronouns adverbs etc. Everything was

one or two words. She could name colors because that was concrete as were

shapes and letters but the nuances of communication did not develop. She

could not make sense of " under, over, small, big etc. Never did ask any

questions. When my son was under one year he would crave knowledge and

point to everything asking " DA " which soon became " wha's DA? To what's that.

The progression of language seemed slow but he had a thirst for words and

by two he was so so fluent it seemed that all his Da " s miraculously got

sorted in his brain and out came huge intact sentences. This is the typical

child's development. Often with children who are on the spectrum of autism

they do not point at objects and ask " what's that? " This is one of the

indicators at fifteen months that you could look for. Is she trying to ask

questions.

Kezia showed great empathy and concern for the other children at daycare.

The teachers would tell us that she alone could comfort babies and other

toddlers. She would see a crying child run and get a Kleenex, wipe their

nose give them a kiss and say Crying all done. They would get a hug form

her and go and play. So she was able to display affection and empathy.

Around 4 Kezia began to change her play. She began to line up all her

groovy girl dolls against the walls and all her books along the baseboards,

neatly stood up. I thought it cute at first until it became repetitious and

when I picked them up they would appear again in the same place. That

really confirmed to me that we were seeing real indicators of autistic

behaviors. She lost all make believe play and stopped using her toys other

than to line them up.

She was immunized in grade one. Whether or not it progressed autism is not

clear because she was showing this tendency but after the shot it was a

rapid series of losses. She had been taking Cello lessons like her brother

but suddenly would start screaming like she was being burned when she went

to concerts she had once loved and participated with the big kids in the

little cello orchestra. Now we could not take her into malls where music

played or other noisy places. She lost her toilet training, her ability to

dress herself, could no longer read, feeding herself was difficult as she

lost the fine motor skills which had come at such a cost to her anyway

because of the down syndrome and poor motor skills. Her gait became stiff

and she stamped one foot at every step( ritualistic) she of course lost eye

contact and acted " deaf " because language was no longer being processed, she

began to have little seizure type tics, facial squishy squints, grunting

sounds, stripped her clothing. Sensory issues galore. She cannot function

without dangling a stringed object.

But while that sounds bleak, She has a spirit that shines. She is

playful, fun, loving, laughs readily, teases, still sings and dances, hugs

mightily and pretty much communicates all that she needs. She is delightful

and beloved andwhile I only want her to have the best in life. She herself

is the best in life.

So dear Sanna, I hope I have not overwhelmed you. I take your question

seriously because I have been at the place of wanting desperately to hear

others voices to help me sort things out. I know you must be feeling lots

of grief, some fear and overwhelming hope and passionate love for your baby

girl. These are the passions which will take you far as you mother her.

Trust me, no matter the challenges, the journey you take as her mommy will

bring with it astonishing joy and pride in her and yourself. And there

will be hours of tears. You must gather people who can support you and

nurture them and yourself. You will find some incredible mentors and

friends along the road.

Mostly, trust yourself to know your own child. Every child is individual

and you must be discerning, analytical of information, and also spontaneous.

I am rooting for you! Be gentle with yourself and find something in those

hard days to celebrate and something to make yourself and another smile.

-- What were your girls like at

15 months?

>

> Hi all,

>

> I have been a lurker for many months and have gained so much

insight

> from all that you share. I have a 14 month old little girl who has

> concerned me from 6 wks, yes 6 wks. I knew something was off. She

> wouldn't look at us, was late to smile and laugh, didn't seem to

> know mom and dad, little vocalization, no mimicking, constipation,

> etc...the list goes on.

>

> So we started an at home Floortime approach and have seen slow but

> very encouraging results. I will list her strength and her

> weaknesses.

>

> Strengths

> -Shows us toys all the time

> -Seems to be developing nice joint attention

> -Mimics most of our gestures

> -Appears to understand what we say- ie can you dance? go get your

> ball, point to the doggie, can you tickle daddy?

> -Follows my point.

> -Points to indicate her wants and to show interest.

> -Gestures- claps, waves, arms up to be picked up.

> -Has a few signs- milk, doggie, eat, bath, again

> -Has a few words or rather approximations? up, kaka(cookie or

> cracker), two animal sounds- woo-woo for dog and ts-ts for snake.

>

> Weaknesses

> -Trouble latching on to breast at first, but we worked for a

couple

> weeks with nipple shield and got the hang of it

> -No mama or dada

> -No verbal mimicking- only if we say da,da,da forever might she

> attempt it herself. No back and forth cooing as a tiny baby

> -Limited sounds- no t,m,g,s etc.

> -Eye contact was nonexistent for her first 9 months- but slowly

> getting better

> -Doesn't follow my gaze

> -Severe constipation

> -Rosy cheeks- almost like a mild rash

> -Still has cradle cap

> -Huge bloated belly

> -Very serious baby-can be very smiley sometimes, but more often

> pretty serious

> -Little laughter- only when being tickled and not always

> -Always on the go- can't sit still at all. We get through two or

> three pages of a book before she's off again.

> -Very short attention span. Does seem to be playing with toys

> appropriately now, but that just recently started and she will do

it

> for literally 5 seconds.

> -Crawled late 9 months and with alot of help from us

> -Walked at 13 months and still seems so clumsy

> -We are the ones always wooing her into our world.

> -Doesn't like to cuddle.

> -Never had stranger anxiety.

> -Sometimes doesn't seem to recognize mom and dad until she hears

our

> voices.

>

> I know that's a long list, but I just want to give an accurate

> picture of her wonderful strengths and her worrisome weaknesses. I

> know the gesturing and apparent pretend play are because we have

> taught her these. Hand over hand style and lots of Floortime. I

> know she is not picking up these up naturally.

>

> I know each ASD child presents in their own unique way, but I'm

just

> int he info gathering phase.

> -Would love your input on my daughter's strengths/weaknesses

> -To hear about your precious girls and their progress and troubles.

> -What worked for you children.

> -when you first noticed something might be off.

> -Anything else you think may be helpful.

>

> Thanks in advance. You are truly a lovely, knowledgeable and

> supportive bunch!

>

> Sanna

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

You know, it was just mom's instinct for the most part. Kezia was in infant

stim, occupational therapy, physio etc form the first week because she had

down syndrome and of course we knew she needed loads of intervention from

day one. But I just knew it was more than that and I don't really know why

She would look up at nothing and smile and gurgle as if she was seeing

angels and chatting to them. She did not look toward our voice. Then we

found out she was not hearing and at 12 months we had ear tubes put in and

for the first time when I said her name she looked over and gave me the

biggest biggest grin. After that she developed quite well.

We put her in a daycare center at two because we wanted her to socialize

and learn from other children. They continued the extra therapies that

stopped at the age of two through the infant stim program. She did really

really well. Learned to dress herself, sang hundreds of songs perfectly

with the clearest most angelic voice. She learned all her letters by the

time she entered junior kindergarten. She never got the hang of language

and only spoke with nouns. She referred to everyone by name but could never

ask questions or understand abstract words like " his, put, ,basically she

could only name objects and never use pronouns adverbs etc. Everything was

one or two words. She could name colors because that was concrete as were

shapes and letters but the nuances of communication did not develop. She

could not make sense of " under, over, small, big etc. Never did ask any

questions. When my son was under one year he would crave knowledge and

point to everything asking " DA " which soon became " wha's DA? To what's that.

The progression of language seemed slow but he had a thirst for words and

by two he was so so fluent it seemed that all his Da " s miraculously got

sorted in his brain and out came huge intact sentences. This is the typical

child's development. Often with children who are on the spectrum of autism

they do not point at objects and ask " what's that? " This is one of the

indicators at fifteen months that you could look for. Is she trying to ask

questions.

Kezia showed great empathy and concern for the other children at daycare.

The teachers would tell us that she alone could comfort babies and other

toddlers. She would see a crying child run and get a Kleenex, wipe their

nose give them a kiss and say Crying all done. They would get a hug form

her and go and play. So she was able to display affection and empathy.

Around 4 Kezia began to change her play. She began to line up all her

groovy girl dolls against the walls and all her books along the baseboards,

neatly stood up. I thought it cute at first until it became repetitious and

when I picked them up they would appear again in the same place. That

really confirmed to me that we were seeing real indicators of autistic

behaviors. She lost all make believe play and stopped using her toys other

than to line them up.

She was immunized in grade one. Whether or not it progressed autism is not

clear because she was showing this tendency but after the shot it was a

rapid series of losses. She had been taking Cello lessons like her brother

but suddenly would start screaming like she was being burned when she went

to concerts she had once loved and participated with the big kids in the

little cello orchestra. Now we could not take her into malls where music

played or other noisy places. She lost her toilet training, her ability to

dress herself, could no longer read, feeding herself was difficult as she

lost the fine motor skills which had come at such a cost to her anyway

because of the down syndrome and poor motor skills. Her gait became stiff

and she stamped one foot at every step( ritualistic) she of course lost eye

contact and acted " deaf " because language was no longer being processed, she

began to have little seizure type tics, facial squishy squints, grunting

sounds, stripped her clothing. Sensory issues galore. She cannot function

without dangling a stringed object.

But while that sounds bleak, She has a spirit that shines. She is

playful, fun, loving, laughs readily, teases, still sings and dances, hugs

mightily and pretty much communicates all that she needs. She is delightful

and beloved andwhile I only want her to have the best in life. She herself

is the best in life.

So dear Sanna, I hope I have not overwhelmed you. I take your question

seriously because I have been at the place of wanting desperately to hear

others voices to help me sort things out. I know you must be feeling lots

of grief, some fear and overwhelming hope and passionate love for your baby

girl. These are the passions which will take you far as you mother her.

Trust me, no matter the challenges, the journey you take as her mommy will

bring with it astonishing joy and pride in her and yourself. And there

will be hours of tears. You must gather people who can support you and

nurture them and yourself. You will find some incredible mentors and

friends along the road.

Mostly, trust yourself to know your own child. Every child is individual

and you must be discerning, analytical of information, and also spontaneous.

I am rooting for you! Be gentle with yourself and find something in those

hard days to celebrate and something to make yourself and another smile.

-- What were your girls like at

15 months?

>

> Hi all,

>

> I have been a lurker for many months and have gained so much

insight

> from all that you share. I have a 14 month old little girl who has

> concerned me from 6 wks, yes 6 wks. I knew something was off. She

> wouldn't look at us, was late to smile and laugh, didn't seem to

> know mom and dad, little vocalization, no mimicking, constipation,

> etc...the list goes on.

>

> So we started an at home Floortime approach and have seen slow but

> very encouraging results. I will list her strength and her

> weaknesses.

>

> Strengths

> -Shows us toys all the time

> -Seems to be developing nice joint attention

> -Mimics most of our gestures

> -Appears to understand what we say- ie can you dance? go get your

> ball, point to the doggie, can you tickle daddy?

> -Follows my point.

> -Points to indicate her wants and to show interest.

> -Gestures- claps, waves, arms up to be picked up.

> -Has a few signs- milk, doggie, eat, bath, again

> -Has a few words or rather approximations? up, kaka(cookie or

> cracker), two animal sounds- woo-woo for dog and ts-ts for snake.

>

> Weaknesses

> -Trouble latching on to breast at first, but we worked for a

couple

> weeks with nipple shield and got the hang of it

> -No mama or dada

> -No verbal mimicking- only if we say da,da,da forever might she

> attempt it herself. No back and forth cooing as a tiny baby

> -Limited sounds- no t,m,g,s etc.

> -Eye contact was nonexistent for her first 9 months- but slowly

> getting better

> -Doesn't follow my gaze

> -Severe constipation

> -Rosy cheeks- almost like a mild rash

> -Still has cradle cap

> -Huge bloated belly

> -Very serious baby-can be very smiley sometimes, but more often

> pretty serious

> -Little laughter- only when being tickled and not always

> -Always on the go- can't sit still at all. We get through two or

> three pages of a book before she's off again.

> -Very short attention span. Does seem to be playing with toys

> appropriately now, but that just recently started and she will do

it

> for literally 5 seconds.

> -Crawled late 9 months and with alot of help from us

> -Walked at 13 months and still seems so clumsy

> -We are the ones always wooing her into our world.

> -Doesn't like to cuddle.

> -Never had stranger anxiety.

> -Sometimes doesn't seem to recognize mom and dad until she hears

our

> voices.

>

> I know that's a long list, but I just want to give an accurate

> picture of her wonderful strengths and her worrisome weaknesses. I

> know the gesturing and apparent pretend play are because we have

> taught her these. Hand over hand style and lots of Floortime. I

> know she is not picking up these up naturally.

>

> I know each ASD child presents in their own unique way, but I'm

just

> int he info gathering phase.

> -Would love your input on my daughter's strengths/weaknesses

> -To hear about your precious girls and their progress and troubles.

> -What worked for you children.

> -when you first noticed something might be off.

> -Anything else you think may be helpful.

>

> Thanks in advance. You are truly a lovely, knowledgeable and

> supportive bunch!

>

> Sanna

>

>

>

>

>

>