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Date:         Tue, 15 Sep 1992 16:24:30 EDT
              <AUTISM@SJUVM.BITNET>
From:         "(Jill Leonard)" <wtm@SHELDEV.SHEL.ISC-BR.COM>
Subject:      Questions

Note: This is actually from:
Jill.Leonard@f2.n157.z1.fidonet.org (Jill Leonard).

Hi! I'm new to usins a BBS so Please forgive my mistakes.  We have
a son who will be 3 in October.  The doctors have given him the
diadnosis of cerebal palsy, which is very mild in some respects.  I
am a nurse and I have worked in the past with alot of MR/DD kids
and I think there is more going on with Jeff than CP.

This confrence really got my intrest because I think he has an
awful lot of autuistic tendencies.  He may have CP also because of
the weakness on his right side.  I would like to hear from anyone
of you who thinks I may be right.  I have mentioned Autism to his
doctors and they sort of put me off.  He will be tested in November
by a psycologist.  When Jeff was first born he was very difficult
to give the bottle to.  It was as if he couldn't hang on to the
nipple, he kept shoving it out of his mouth.  By the time he was
three months old I knew something was wrong.  He never cuddled into
your body like most babies do.  As a matter of fact he would
actually resist cuddling and stiffen his body out.

It took me until he was 6 months old before I actually convinced
three different pediatricians that something was wrong before the
reffered me to a specialist.  He had not reached any milestone, not
rolling over, not responding to our voices, nothing. The doctor
said that he thought it may be a hearing problem, so we went
through all of the testing..there was some loss due to 7 bouts of
otitis by the time he was 6 months old.  The put tubes in but still
no response or sounds.  We say the opthamologists because of
staring off into space and some exotrophia and alternating
starbisumis.  The neuroloigist diagnosed cerebal palsy due to the
hypotrophy on the right side. He said that the reason he wasn't
making sounds was due to the CP and the choking and swallowing was
due to that also.

Two and a half years later we are still left with that but many
unanswered questions.  He sees a PT, OT and speech on a weekly and
bi-weekly basis.  He also has had a teacher from the county board
of MR/DD see him on a regular basis.  Most of them seem to think
that he doesn't show enough of the signs to catagorize him as
autistic.  When he was much younger he use to just like to stare at
the lamps, if you called to him he would just continue to stare at
the bulb.  If you got his attention he would not look directly at
you face, he has a tendency to look at your forehead or your
hairline.  The therapist say he is tactile defensive. He doesn't
like to touch anything completely with the palm of his hand.

At almost three years old he still does not feed himself, although
he has the ability. He can't or will not hold anything in his hand
longer than a second or so. hejust will pick something up to throw
it and then retrive it. Constantly doing this.  He learned to walk
less than a year ago. He eats fine and enjoys to eat as long as
someone feeds him.  He never really was attached to his bottle so
now he drinks only with a cup but does not hold it.  He now
responds when his name is called...but only if he's in the mood
to.  He still ignors strangers if they speak to him, he looks
another way.  He makes no sounds other than a few grunts and
groans. He points to what he wants.

He understands most of what you tell him, like get the ball, play
the piano,look at the airplane and so on, but he makes no sounds.
We have tried using a few signs with him but to no avail. He does
not imitate at all.  He does some repititious clapping and for a
while some head slapping, but we seem to have stopped the head
slapping somewhat, except when he's tired.  He loves music, he
likes to play the piano, he actually plays the keys, not just a
banging or pounding like he does to everything else.  He loves to
be sung to and does look and listen intently.  He still stiffens
when cuddled, still does not like being touched or dressed, he also
does not like being without clothes or shoes.

He like routine and becomes disturbed when things are changed. He
is usually happy to play alone in his bed for quite a long time
after waking and usually puts up no fuss at bedtime. His favorite
activity is balls, throwing and retriving over and over. He
actually never sits still or for very long on your lap unless you
are showing him a book, he loves to listen to you explain and point
to all the pictures.  He can point out certain things when asked if
he's in the mood.  I have explained a little of what he is like.  I
never really worked with diagnosed autistic children but from what
I have read I think this may be why he acts like he does.  Any
opinions?  I would appreciate it.

He starts in a pre-school on Monday the 14th for MR/DD children.
He was in the program last year but he couldn't handle all the
stimulation they said, I agreed he was really stressed out.  I know
it will be good for him if he can handle it.  Wish him and us luck!
Thanks.   Jill Leonard



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