Onset of autism symptoms?

[Anonymous]

I have a nephew and a niece with autism. I also have a highly verbal, sociable, physically dexterous 25 month old. Because of the family history, I have been watching my son closely for symptoms.

Is there any point at which I can consider him "out of the woods" with regard to autism? I've heard about regression in toddlers, so is it too soon to exhale?

With sincere apologies if this seems insensitive to the parent of children with autism.

[Anonymous]

this does seem insensitive..."Hey, I have this great son. when can I breathe a big sigh of relief that I won't have a kid like yours!"

Go google it if you want to know. I really have no idea why you would post this here. And FYI, none of us know when any of us, will get anything, autism or anything else, so be thankful and enjoy your son and don't waste your time writing messages like this.

[Anonymous]

17:02 was kind of blunt, but I have to agree. Those of us with children with autism can't tell you the outer limits anyway, since we didn't reach them.

[Anonymous]

Totally offensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:this does seem insensitive..."Hey, I have this great son. when can I breathe a big sigh of relief that I won't have a kid like yours!"

Go google it if you want to know. I really have no idea why you would post this here. And FYI, none of us know when any of us, will get anything, autism or anything else, so be thankful and enjoy your son and don't waste your time writing messages like this.

Whoa. How rude! The poster was asking a legitimate question out of concern for her child. I have a son with autism and I was in no way offended by her post. Of course she wants her child to be healthy and "normal". Most parents would hope that their child doesn't have to face the obstacles that mine does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this does seem insensitive..."Hey, I have this great son. when can I breathe a big sigh of relief that I won't have a kid like yours!"

Go google it if you want to know. I really have no idea why you would post this here. And FYI, none of us know when any of us, will get anything, autism or anything else, so be thankful and enjoy your son and don't waste your time writing messages like this.

Whoa. How rude! The poster was asking a legitimate question out of concern for her child. I have a son with autism and I was in no way offended by her post. Of course she wants her child to be healthy and "normal". Most parents would hope that their child doesn't have to face the obstacles that mine does.

OP, thanks to this PP. I posted because my brother (who has kids on the spectrum) encouraged me to ask not only our pediatrician (because he thinks that many are under-educated about spotting symptoms), but also other parents to find out if I can find people whose children manifested symptoms after the age of two. His own kids manifested as newborns, though of course they weren't diagnosed until much later.

And I was not trying to brag about my "great son" but to describe his behavior as typically developing. I love my nephew and niece very much as they are. But I will admit to being heartbroken that my nephew did not speak until he was 5.

An

[Anonymous]

You know, there will always be one person who is offended and one person who isn't. That doesn't invalidate the fact that the post can and will bring offense. These sorts of inquiries should be brought to your physician. Special needs parents are not here to reassure non-special needs parents that their children are "out of the woods." That very phrase implies that some children are living in the sunlight and some children are not. It's not how I want to think of my chlld, and it's not how I do think of my child. And really, how could we offer you a timeline for normalcy? There are so many factors. No one knows for sure when a child is "safe" from special needs. How could we provide you that reassurance?

Bottom line, I've seen again and again that some parents are offended by these queries, and then some special needs parent pops up and says, Oh I wasn't offended. So what? If the query brings offense to even a couple of parents, it's out of line.

[Anonymous]

Please consider the recipients of the message before posting.
Really.

[Anonymous]

I had a bright boy of 25 months, super verbal, loving, considerate, helpful, 99th percentile on every test....and then...within two weeks...he was profoundly autistic. Flapping hands, crapping his pants, moaning, snotting at the nose, toe-walking, perseverating, head-banging, has never slept a moment again. It just came as a bolt of out the blue! Damnedest thing I'd ever seen! I wish I'd asked on a parenting board so I could have prepared myself.

There, OP, are you happy you asked? I mean really! What a fucking absurd question!

[Anonymous]

It would be odd to not see symptoms of classic autism until after age 2. As for the whole "spectrum," that gets much, much fuzzier. I don't know that there is really a timeframe for that.

BTW, I didn't find your post rude.

[Anonymous]

Wow! What happened? This used to be the nice forum.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, the responses here are insane. I would be worried too if I knew something ran in the family. Is the heat getting to people around here or what?

[Anonymous]

Ummm ... am in limbo myself at this point my local school system having labelled my son as autistic and his developmental pediatrician being in wait and see mode. I think the poster asks a legitimate question, though oddly, it's not one i've wondered about. I just want to object though, to the implication of at least one poster above that offended posters somehow "win." There were some readers who were offended, and some who weren't which, it should be said, is the nature of just about every post on DCUM. Offended posters are as entitled to their opinion as OP is to ask the question. No animals are more equal than others here.

[Anonymous]

I am in a similar situation, except both my kids are speech delayed. Usually by 2 you notice autistic symptoms. My sister knew there was something wrong within two months of birth. I think many people who claim their children regressed into autism weren't picking up on the subtle signs or at least this is what I have been told by my sister and friends with children on the spectrum. (But I think my last sentence might be controversial.)

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't worry about your DC if you're not seeing signs yet. I also believe that few big regressions are really that--typically there were symptoms that were not noticed at the time or dismissed and in hindsight they can be found.