my daughter is 18 months old. the lady in daycare always tells me to watch out cause she might be autistic. Her pediatrician didnt say anything about it.it bothers me that the daycare lady thinks she is showing signs because she screams a lot during transition like from playtime to eating time or eating time to nap time. Shes a very picky eater. she throws and plays with her food. she sometimes hits the back of her head gently in the wall of our room and laughs when she does this cause i get mad at her but she doesnt do that anywhere else. she says a lot of words compared to other kids her age. she can communicate and understand what i say. she loves to play, read, color and watch tv. For me, she seems very normal. Is it normal for kids her age to have tantrums during transition? is this autism symptoms that she has? need some enlightment on this thanks

It's normal for 18-month-old children to exhibit symptoms of the "terrible twos." those start as early as 14 months. Just be patient. My daughter started in at seven months with "colic" (meaning "undiagnosable craziness) and didn't stop crying and having tantrums until she was two years old. it drove us batty, but she grew up to be just fine. She's 36 now.

from what you say i don!t think she has autism children who have that cannot focus on things and also move their hands around in the air looking sideways tantrums will get worse if she has autism is she growing normally? watch out for head developing with a flat spot in back , i hope ur child is ok

Normal by your description.
Autism can be recognized by language and communication troubles; by what you describe seems completely normal.

Sounds normal to me. it depends on how the transitions are handled by the caregiver. does your daughter get a warning that there will be a transition or is it just an abrupt change? You know, the "10 minutes until lunch," 5 minutes until lunch, pick up your toys," "one minute to go." etc.

Just ignore the head bumping thing. Sounds like she is doing it just to get a reaction from you. have a huge reaction when she does something good like putting a toy away.

Just another thought, if she is doing things to make you laugh, then don't worry about autism too much.

Many of these kids have symptoms that either develop more or go away. Yes, transition issues are definitely a symptom. If you feel she is more intelligent that normal, that is also a symptom, often called hyperlexia. If she does develop into being very intelligent in the near future, realize that this can be misleading, and some regress quite severely at age 5 after being social and advanced at age 4. I am talking very advanced, teaching themself to read and do math and such. Early treatment can reverse, halt, etc. the symptoms. If you wait till after 5, biomedical treatments are helping thousands reverse their autism. thus, listen to your care-giver and keep your thoughts on about it. the school district gives free evaluations if you decide to have one.

TA,
All people with autism have some core symptoms in the areas of ‘social interactions and relationships’, ‘limited interests in activities or play’ – here there may be stereotyped behaviors. These may include body rocking and hand flapping, in this case it may be banging her head on the wall gently or screaming at the transitional stage between play and eating etc. ‘Verbal and nonverbal communication.’ You would be advised to consult your doctor for advice in this matter as a specialist appointment might need to be arranged if autism is suspected.

ALL ANSWERS SHOULD BE THOROUGHLY RESEARCHED, IN ANY FORUM AND ESPECIALLY IN THIS ONE. – MANY ANSWERS ARE FLAWED.

The information provided here should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed physician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

I add a link with details of this subject

neurologychannel.com/
autism/symptoms.shtml

Hope this helps
matador 89

Some forms of autism, like asperger's syndrome, are marked by NO communication delays. the tantrums, head banging, and picky eating may all be typical of some autistics or those on the autistic spectrum.

At 18 months, it's really very soon to tell. Work on helping your daughter cope with change and expose her to different foods, if those remain problem areas, but otherwise, wait your concerns out for a while. If she does have a form of autism, her symptoms will become far more apparent two years (or even one year) down the road.

No matter what happens, she will still be the exact same daughter that you love so please, don't stress about it in the mean time.

All original content © 2002 – 2011 the Imperfect Parent™ and Prudentia Media Group. the Imperfect Parent and Mominatrix are trademarks of Prudentia Media Group.

The views, opinions and information expressed in articles and blog posts published on imperfectparent.com and all subdomains are those of the authors alone. They do not represent the views or opinions of the Imperfect Parent or its staff, nor do they represent the views or opinions of any entity of, or affiliated with, the Imperfect Parent and Prudentia Communications Group. the Imperfect Parent is designed for entertainment purposes only and is not meant to be a substitute for medical, health, legal, or financial advice from a professional.

Reproduction of material from any of the Imperfect Parent’s pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. the Imperfect Parent and tiny Tantrums are trademarks of Prudentia Communications Group.

My son is 20 months old. The symptoms that fit on the autism spectrum are that he speaks no words but can hear fine, he flaps his hands when frustrated, and frequent tantrums. But what doesn't fit is that he is very social, makes a few gestures, and plays with other children appropriately. they say he is probably on the spectrum. But I'm wondering if there are other disorders with similar symptoms. any help would be great!

When I took my developmental psychology class I learned that children can actually grow out of autism in some cases, so maybe that is what is happening with your son. I'm not an expert though. If you're really worried, get some autism books and read more. most likely the books will suggest similar disorders. It could also be a communication disorder. My advice would be to take him to professionals.

My son has ASD. He no longer hand flaps but does show other autistic behaviors. He was diagnosed at 18 months old and is now 3. He has been in Therapy and special ed pre school. He still does odd things and prefers to play alone. He does like to interact with adults. He is overly friendly and greets everyone that passes him. Every child with Autism is different. Some are verbal some are not. I have seen many teenage autistics that are very social they just may seem a little awkward to most. I think finally alot of the myths about autism are being debunked. Some ASD kids are extremely intellegent children that just need to learn differently than others. My sons first diagnoses at 13 months was Sensory Intergration Disorder. then ASD at 18 months. He has shown great improvment with Therapy and Pre-School. Please do not get overwhelmed by the TOXIC CHILD DAN Dr. stuff. It can drive you nutts and into the poorhouse. I think some of the DANS are legit but their are many that prey on others hopes. use Common Sense.

Kids don't "grow out of autism," any more than they grow out of any other biological disorder. Autism is called a "spectrum" disorder for a reason, not all kids display identical signs as one another. You have autistic kids who can speak very well but have no social skills, you have autistic kids who have zero speech but are very social.

Your child is young enough to do something about it. Ignore the "DANs are quacks" garbage, they are the only doctors doing any thing to help these kids. My child was diagnosed at 3 years, should have been diagnosed at 18 months. He is healing now. No amount of behavioral therapy, speech, whatever, would have helped him the way our DAN doctor has.

generationrescue.org

my son too was very social, and he even talks. unfortunately his speech is mainly movie lines. Every kid is different. I struggled to believe my neurologist, but the more I study, and the more videos I watch of autistic kids, I see how blind I was to the truth. I too thought of maybe a simple answer out there somewhere. Just keep reading. Under "testimonials", on the generation rescue website they have videos. Also TACAnow is the most educative site for recovery or just dealing. I can't say what is right for you, but gfcf diet has changed our lives in two months. Also epsom salts baths helps to calm my son.
for what it's worth,
Kelly

I had similar issues with my son, but the entire autism spectrum didn't fit but parts did, nor did ADD/ADHD completely, but parts did. I struggled for years until I found the Highly Sensitive Child book which is a trait that affects 15% of the populations (highly sensitive person is the trait name) and the book is called just that highly sensitive child – there's also a website where you can take a test to see if this is your child or not to rule it in or out. It helped me tremendously – it may help you as well.