Autism

[Guest]

Can someone give me any guidance on what an autistic child is like. My head keeps telling me a child in my class is showing autistic tendencies and that he needs to be referred to the ed psychologist. He is 4 years old

[hali]

wow Gwen that is a question and a half....... we have a 3 yr old he is very on edge, cant compehend lots of language it just goes over his head, is very visual, cant cope with change of routine needs lots of cuddles, and these are just a few i am sure others will mention lots of other symtoms.

[Guest]

Yes i think i need to talk to our SENCO

[hali]

maybe a good idea, if only to put your mind at ease.

[Andreamay]

struggles socially,doesnt like noises,very repetative speech,can be obsessive,but can easily switch on to something else,very bright especially in use of number.These are only some of the traits of my experience in children in our setting past and present.There is a vast spectrum,I would ask for help but be careful some children are just different with only mild symptoms and get thru main school quite easily on just being that. It can be a very long and rocky road when you put a childs name into the system so to speak.Good luck

[Guest]

I agree with Andreamay. In my experience, the first contact is the early years support service(if you have one in your area) as he is under 5. They should be able to come up with some ideas on how to support this child once they have been able to observe him in your setting. Some times the ed psych doesn't get involved until further down the road. The Autistic spectrum is very broad and it can take a year, or more sometimes, before a child is finally diagnosed and support put in place. Suggest you record all instances when you consider he is unable to access the curriculum/activities you provide and his behaviour as this will provide vital evidence if you need to initiate a statement at a later date. On a practical note, often, very young children with signs of autistic tendencies can be taught strategies to help them cope with learning basic skills e.g for following the daily routine, or for sequencing clothes when dressing after p.e - I've used Makaton symbols on a chart. Hope this helps. It can be hard work at first, initiating help from outside agencies and putting strategies in place especially when there are no finances for an extra person to support the child if they need it. I've only worked with a few autistic children but I've always found it very rewarding. Good Luck.

Anita

[Guest]

Thanks for posting Gwen, I also have a child who I am concerned about, showing alot of the signs other posts mention, I am going to observe and record this week, my child is only 2years old but different to any other child I have had at the setting, watch this space I guess, i worry as the parents are, I think unaware of any difference to other children, I know it is early days for mine and I will take it slowly and get lots of advice before I do anything, most of all she needs support as the routine is particularly difficult for her and being obsessive is an understatement. Good luck to you Gwen.

[Andreamay]

just tread very carefully,esp as you mentioned about parents seeming unaware.Take one step at a time as Neeta said observe and record where you think the child is not accessing the curriculum,have everything there before you mention it to parents and Im not trying to tell you how to do your job but for anyone who isnt sure please remember at no time are you to self diagnose.I cant go into details about my case as Im under my real name be very careful thats all!They will hear things you didnt say and hear things you did say but completley wrong way.It will be enough to say for instance the child is struggling to deal with new experience/change so you would like to put tog a visual chart which can be used to help and you would like to ask your ....... when she next visits (i didnt mention the actual name senco at the time)because I presume as with us I couldnt ask the senco to look at the child without permisssion from parents.however you can ask them to visit and watch on general.Depends on your relationship with area senco.good luck

[Guest]

Thanks Andrea and sorry to of hijacked the post, I intend to wait and watch and then seek professional advice (if need be) prior to any mention to parents, to be honest I know I am not qualified to say if there is a problem or not, but you have those alarm bells ringing and you know for the child's sake it is important to be observant and gather a good, profile and record of observations and development abilities - it is so informative just reading the posts's already here, it reassures you as a practitioner to know the help and support is all here and in our local community it's just being brave enough to access it and be professional about these sensitive issues.

[Andreamay]

yes shirel I agree and I did not want to sound as if you didnt know what you were doing as its obvious you do,its just I thought if it just stops just one person reading it going in with their no 9 boots it would be of some help.It is such a complex system and just by mentioning a concern to an area senco can open a can of worms so it is very important to yes get the help and advice but sometimes you just need the advice and it spiralls before your eyes,once it is mentioned to a parent it takes on a completly different context, we know the child and parents and how best to appraoch it thats all. Were lucky to have a good area senco however and that is the key i think.

[Guest]

Gwen is he in a setting for the first time. has he been to a pre-school have a look at the records that they have sent on. I have a autistic child and I call him my hamster in a bubble as he rolls around (not literally) in his little world. he so wants to be a part of the group but doesn't know how. his mother agrees with the anomolay as most of her family are all on the autistic spectrum and she says that very much what it feels like. i'm surprised no one has picked up on some of the tendancies before now. do tread carefully with mum but you probably will find that she might be relieved that some one has said that he needs help as she probably feels its just her not being able to cope, that is if he's the same at home.

[Inge]

Hi all

 

children with Autism tend to have a world of their own. They do not play with other children or toys in the normal manner, rather they remain aloof and prefer to play alone. may focus on pieces, such as only playing with wheels on a car and not the whole toy.

 

the child we have currently spins anything she can ge ther hands on, apparantly this is a common trait of a child with this disorder. She had a 'favourite ' bowl but will try to spin everything , as she attends a Sure Start group one day she also does it there, both settings she has focussed on a blue and white object.

 

Usually poor or no eye to eye contact,

 

Verbal and nonverbal communication skills, such as speech and facial expressions, develop peculiarly. Symptoms range from mutism to prolonged use of echoing or stilted language. When language is present, it is often concrete, unimaginative, and immature.

 

 

They often have an extreme resistance to change of any kind. Autistic children tend to want to maintain established behavior patterns and a set environment. They develop rituals in play, oppose change (such as moving furniture), and may become obsessed with one particular topic.

 

 

Other behavioral abnormalities that may be present are: staring at hands or flapping arms and hands, walking on tiptoe, rocking, tantrums, strange postures, unpredictable behavior and hyperactivity.

 

 

An autistic child has poor judgment and often at risk unaware of danger, may not cry or react when falling just getting up and continuing with same behaviour. For instance, an autistic child may run into a busy street without any sign of fear.

 

 

some or all above and in varying degrees , no exact science. If worried need to seek advice and get help.

 

 

It affect 4 times as many males than females (we have has 2 girls diagnosed and one with tendancies over the last 4 years!) the 2 diagnosed have been at the higher end of the spectrum showing all the signs above, no language, flapping of arms, no eye contact, focus on one item, not usually a toy, vocal noises hard to describe but once heard never forgotton, (sounds a bit like ieeeeeee), and a need for sameness/routine. One mum was aware the second more recent was under speach therapy but only had proper assessments once we had seen her and voiced concerns. We have had two of the children with educational statements before leaving us one completed this week.

 

we are lucky and area senco who is excellent came in to see me about something else in order to see her and help us from there, she left us with advice and contact numbers etc for us to follow up and continue with. It really is a softly softly if they are not aware or worried, very often they think it is thier problem and have developed a way to cope at home with routines etc, but they can be very relieved to find an answer to what they saw as bad parenting. This happened in both the cases where parents were unaware or not noticing- relief at last knowing it was not them, once they got used to the idea!

 

Inge

Edited October 2, 2006 by Inge

[Marion]

struggles socially,doesnt like noises,very repetative speech,can be obsessive,but can easily switch on to something else,very bright especially in use of number.These are only some of the traits of my experience in children in our setting past and present.There is a vast spectrum,I would ask for help but be careful some children are just different with only mild symptoms and get thru main school quite easily on just being that. It can be a very long and rocky road when you put a childs name into the system so to speak.Good luck

Hi all

 

children with Autism tend to have a world of their own. They do not play with other children or toys in the normal manner, rather they remain aloof and prefer to play alone. may focus on pieces, such as only playing with wheels on a car and not the whole toy.

 

the child we have currently spins anything she can ge ther hands on, apparantly this is a common trait of a child with this disorder. She had a 'favourite ' bowl but will try to spin everything , as she attends a Sure Start group one day she also does it there, both settings she has focussed on a blue and white object.

 

Usually poor or no eye to eye contact,

 

Verbal and nonverbal communication skills, such as speech and facial expressions, develop peculiarly. Symptoms range from mutism to prolonged use of echoing or stilted language. When language is present, it is often concrete, unimaginative, and immature.

They often have an extreme resistance to change of any kind. Autistic children tend to want to maintain established behavior patterns and a set environment. They develop rituals in play, oppose change (such as moving furniture), and may become obsessed with one particular topic.

Other behavioral abnormalities that may be present are: staring at hands or flapping arms and hands, walking on tiptoe, rocking, tantrums, strange postures, unpredictable behavior and hyperactivity.

An autistic child has poor judgment and often at risk unaware of danger, may not cry or react when falling just getting up and continuing with same behaviour. For instance, an autistic child may run into a busy street without any sign of fear.

some or all above and in varying degrees , no exact science. If worried need to seek advice and get help.

It affect 4 times as many males than females (we have has 2 girls diagnosed and one with tendancies over the last 4 years!) the 2 diagnosed have been at the higher end of the spectrum showing all the signs above, no language, flapping of arms, no eye contact, focus on one item, not usually a toy, vocal noises hard to describe but once heard never forgotton, (sounds a bit like ieeeeeee), and a need for sameness/routine. One mum was aware the second more recent was under speach therapy but only had proper assessments once we had seen her and voiced concerns. We have had two of the children with educational statements before leaving us one completed this week.

 

 

Inge

 

Many of the 'symptoms mentioned above could easily fit my son...............who isn't autistic but does have ADHD. The autistic child we had last year was very sociable and loving (lots of cuddles) also the son of one of the staff who is also autistic has a well developed vocabulary and excellent communication skills.

As Inge says there is no exact science. I think its such a wide ranging condition with no two children presenting the same. Our Ed Psych is loath to 'label' younger children. Im not sure if all LA's have ASD support teams? but they could offer support and advice.

Edited October 2, 2006 by Marion

[Guest]

Hi my daughter is on the autistic spectrum, but no-one would diagnos her with anything until she was 7 as she wasn't obvious. Her main traits are the way she takes things literally eg 'Raining cats and dogs' and is completely opposite from 'in a world of her own' she is over friendly and is obsessed with dogs, and has no sense of danger so when the three come together, HELP ! I agree with every one above talk to your SENCO, be sensitive to the parents, we were used to the SENCO coming into the setting as they used to put a sign up on the door to say when she was in for a general visit , because of this it softened the blow for us. Take lots of back up obs to show parents and help the SENCO decide if further assessment is required etc. Don't want to teach you to suck eggs but thought you might like to know what helped from from a parents point of view.

 

 

CupOT

Edited October 2, 2006 by Guest

[Guest]

Thankyou CupOT really valuable advice - good of you to share parents viewpoint.

Edited October 2, 2006 by Guest

[Guest]

Autism is a spectrum disorder and has many varying features

to diagnose autism a test is done by a peadiatrician and ed psychologist - there is a strict scoring procedure

 

i just supported a child who had a diagnosis of autism - she smiled, gave eye contact and loved cuddles

[Guest]

Aspergers, also portrays similar traits.

 

We are not experts on the various syndromes and various levels, however, we are experts (to a degree) on 'the child' how he/she functions, adapts, develops, within our specific settings, we also get to know the parents and their needs, together with the 'experts' we can build a picture, fit the jigsaw puzzles together and work together for the benefit of the child and family.

 

I always ask for parents permission for Area SENCO ( Health visitor, Ofsted Inspector, EYAT etc) observations, on registration to the preschool. I explain that we are a multi-disciplinary setting, working with all aspects of childrens care and education, which involves working alongside other professionals, who visit the setting regularly. This pre-permission means we don't have to worry about parental permission at a time when action needs putting into place, and realisations are becoming evident and fears are becoming felt. It also helps when approaching a parent. "Do you remember when you signed permission for the SENCO to make observations, well he/she was in the other day and observed................so with your support we can all work together to ........................."

 

It's worked for me and the children and parents in my setting.

 

Peggy