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Are my nephews autistic?

wheresmybacon

wheresmybacon

Diamond Member
I have a couple of twin nephews that are 4 years old who seem to be extremely "slow". They're very sweet kids, and I'm worried that their parents refusal to accept the fact that there may be a problem may be hurting them. Let me explain a little.

They can't really talk yet. Again, they're 4. I'm not expecting them to recite the Declaration of Independence, but they can't form sentences at *all* or maintain even the shortests of communicative endeavors with other kids or adults.

They scream. All the time. Just to make noise. They would do it for hours if the adults let them.

They have what I would call a very strange fascination with moving objects and patterns. They can sit and watch things spin around for hours. Wind chimes, washing machines, etc.

They have no fear of anything. Knives, fire, heights, extremely loud sounds, cars; nothing scares them.

I looked up some stuff on this page and was shocked. They have every single characteristic in the bulleted list mid-way down the page.

What could I or anyone else close to the parents possibly do to have them at least explore the possibility that they may need to speak with a doctor? Seems like it would be better to have them diagnosed now as opposed to later...
 
hopefully the behaviour gets spotted by a trained professional when they enter school.

Part of elementary teachers job is to spot development needs and if it's as bad as you mention they should spot it right away and suggest treatment.
 
Originally posted by: Rage187
hopefully the behaviour gets spotted by a trained professional when they enter school.

Part of elementary teachers job is to spot development needs and if it's as bad as you mention they should spot it right away and suggest treatment.
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Yeah they haven't been to any sort of school yet...good point.
 
It's possible, even likely, that there are state-funded programs available to help them with development issues. But to qualify for that they will need to be evaluated. They should have that done at once. You can't rely on the schools to handle it because they are understaffed in the area of helping special needs children.

It's surprising that their pediatrician hasn't noticed their lack of development and recommended they be evaluated, considering the behaviors you mentioned. Is it possible the children aren't being seen regularly by a doctor?

I have a close friend with an autistic child, and she always says she wishes she had pushed earlier for diagnosis so the therapy could have started sooner.
 
The only thing they should be afraid of is loud sounds, as knives, fire and cars have to be taught/learned how and why to be afraid of them.
 
you do not need to wait until they are in school to diagnose. Actually by waiting, you make it very hard.

are they in California?

In california you can get them setup with a regional center to have them screened/diagnosed as autistic.

get the ball rolling NOW.

My cousin just had his almost 3 year old evaluated. You can definitely tell at that age.
 
Man up and talk with them. I would sit them down, tell them that you're concerned and present them with a lis of symptoms. Tell them to checkmark each symptom that they see true. It *sounds* to me that they are, but they live with the kids and would know. They might not want to acknowledge it if true, but ignorance isn't helpful.

Their Doctor should have noticed something, but it may be that their Doctor hasn't seen them that often. But they need to go to a Doctor to be sure and if so, to get therapy.
 
Originally posted by: kranky
It's possible, even likely, that there are state-funded programs available to help them with development issues. But to qualify for that they will need to be evaluated. They should have that done at once. You can't rely on the schools to handle it because they are understaffed in the area of helping special needs children.

It's surprising that their pediatrician hasn't noticed their lack of development and recommended they be evaluated, considering the behaviors you mentioned. Is it possible the children aren't being seen regularly by a doctor?

I have a close friend with an autistic child, and she always says she wishes she had pushed earlier for diagnosis so the therapy could have started sooner.
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Their parents are related to me by marriage and to be honest I'm not that close to them. I would imagine the kids go to a doc regularly, but I'm not sure.

The reason I bring this up is that lately I've had the opportunity to see more of the kids and just noticed that they haven't really developed at all since the last time I saw them, and that was 2 years ago.

I'm going to ask someone I know close to the parents what, if anything, they've done medically, since it's obvious to me that - at the minimum - these kids have a learning disability and should probably be working with a specialist when they enter school.
 
Originally posted by: SportSC4
Man up and talk with them. I would sit them down, tell them that you're concerned and present them with a lis of symptoms. Tell them to checkmark each symptom that they see true. It *sounds* to me that they are, but they live with the kids and would know. They might not want to acknowledge it if true, but ignorance isn't helpful.

Their Doctor should have noticed something, but it may be that their Doctor hasn't seen them that often. But they need to go to a Doctor to be sure and if so, to get therapy.
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I'm going to talk to the kids grandmother. I know her very well and I know for a fact she sees the kids a lot. Whether she knows or chooses to recognize there's a problem is another story.

 
I have a 4 year old, and it sounds like those kids do have problems. You are doing them a huge favor trying to get them some help.
 
Seriously, GET THEM DIAGNOSED NOW!!!! My wife is an autism specialist with the school district here, and let me tell you, early dectection is CRUCIAL. It breaks my heart to see some of the kids that she works with that have been ignored through their lives, and are now in their teens. A lot of them were diagnosed with ADD and given drugs, which helped a little, so they called it good. :-(

Having a program established when they are young makes such a difference. I have seen kids like you are describing at 3, 4 and 5 years old. The right theripist/teacher with the right program can make all the difference. They make remarkable progress in the next 3-5 years, and most of the kids she works with you can't tell until you watch some social interactions.

Anyway, please talk to the parents.....they may be angry about it, but think of the kids. <mrs lovejoy> Won't somebody please think of the children!?!??!?!! </mrs lovejoy>
 
Originally posted by: Baked
If you can't talk at 4 years old, you're retarded. End of discussion.
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wow, great answer. :roll:

Speaking as a parent it can difficult to accept that your child/children have any developemental issue.

Kids develope at their own pace, maybe the parents don't communicate/work with/play with the kids enough. Either way it seems like some type of professional evaluation should be done.

 
either the parents are crappy parents or the kids may actually have a learnign disability...the parents need to stop burying their heads in the sand and have them checked out...


 
Having an autistic son myself, I wwould say that the chances are good they may fall somewhere on the autistic scale. Early intervention is the best thing that can happen to them as they are still young enough to respond to intense therapy. My son has therapy 6 hours a day 5 days a week. They also fall into that age group where this could have been caused by a reaction to vaccines. I would recomend a chat with their parents and if that doesn't work i would contact your local health department/early intervention department.

I must stress that the early diagnosis and treatment are the key to giving these kids a meaningful life.

PLease help these children

Darron
 
Thanks for the replies. I'm going to see their grandmother this weekend and will update the thread next week on Tuesday when I get back.
 
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