Presentation
How does a typical child with ASD present? Most kids with ASD simply present with a language delay. Some never acquire language, but most will have a slight regression, losing the ability to say a few words that they've already learned. [childbrain.com]
These children are at present not easy to help in their regular classroom. [hincksdellcrest.org]
Sadly, very few children presenting with autistic symptoms receive adequate testing for B 12 deficiency. Infants and young children are often misdiagnosed. [pharmacytimes.com]
Sometimes they may behave as if a hearing loss is present, often asking for repetition or clarification. In school, children with APD may have difficulty with spelling, reading, and understanding information presented verbally in the classroom. [terrifictalkers.com]
Developmental apraxia is present at birth. Speech may be delayed and feeding problems are sometimes present. [speechtails.com]
Entire Body System
- Developmental Delay
Often, developmental delays affect more than one area of a child’s development. When a child has delays in many or all of these areas, it is called global developmental delay. Some developmental delays have an identifiable cause. [nyulangone.org]
As for children with developmental delays, 11.6% of their mothers had diabetes while pregnant. [healthland.time.com]
Developmental delay: Biomedical interventions. Advance Magazine for Speech-Language Pathologists, 16(2), 10-11. [speechandlanguagekids.com]
It is well documented that B 12 deficiency can cause developmental delay, hypotonia, tremor, seizures, failure to thrive, reduced IQ, and mental retardation. [pharmacytimes.com]
What Are Developmental Delays? There are many different types. [webmd.com]
Gastrointestinal
- Constipation
Children with autism often experience constipation and diarrhea. “But constipation is a common problem, especially around the toilet-training years,” she says. [health.clevelandclinic.org]
[…] such as: speech and developmental delays, cognitive dysfunction, hyperactivity or lethargy, hypotonia/fine motor dysfunction, attention disorders, repetitive motions, social and communication dysfunction, fear, anxiety, depression, GI abnormalities, constipation [autismparentingmagazine.com]
Your child should not have chronic diarrhea or constipation. PEG FLAKES do not heal the gut. Healthy digestion is required for healthy development. It is time to take action. [treatautism.ca]
Keep an eye on your children and make sure they are both going to the toilet regularly and no major changes happen as I know you can get constipation for both. As for a child friendly recipe try making some fish cakes. [babyandbump.momtastic.com]
They might also have issues like chronic constipation or diarrhea. People with ASD might have odd sleeping habits. They also might have abnormal moods or emotional reactions. [cdc.gov]
- Failure to Thrive
It is well documented that B 12 deficiency can cause developmental delay, hypotonia, tremor, seizures, failure to thrive, reduced IQ, and mental retardation. [pharmacytimes.com]
My son’s height is in the 75% percentile and his weight is in the 50th, he has never been failure to thrive. [vitamindcouncil.org]
Ears
- Hearing Impairment
If you think your child might have a hearing impairment, it’s best to have your child’s hearing checked by an audiologist. Hearing loss could interfere with your child’s language development and communication. [raisingchildren.net.au]
The language problem can also indicate other health conditions such as the following: Hearing impairment: The inability to hear can result in speech delay because babies begin early speech by imitating sounds. [autism.lovetoknow.com]
Management is dependent on cause and associated problems such as hearing impairment. [patient.info]
The possible causes of speech delay in any child are congenital, i.e. present at birth and may be: hearing impairment, mental retardation, anatomical abnormalities, cognitive deficits, genetic differences, neurologic impairment and physiologic abnormalities [bilingualkidspot.com]
Your child will undergo a formal audiological assessment where he or she is tested for any hearing impairments, as well as any other hearing issues or sound sensitivities that sometimes co-occur with autism. [helpguide.org]
- Normal Hearing
I just think that for a child with normal hearing, no developmental issues, and an enriched life, it can be put off until age 3 (because so many kids just get there on their own without intervention, and once kids are 3 they are much better able to participate [mothering.com]
Those who have LPD usually have normal hearing abilities, however, their brains just do not process or interpret what they “hear” (the information) properly. [terrifictalkers.com]
These children have normal intelligence, normal hearing, good emotional relationships and normal articulation skills. The primary deficit appears to be a brain dysfunction that results in an inability to translate ideas into speech. [aafp.org]
Even though a pure tone hearing test may imply normal hearing, the child may have difficulty hearing auditory details and hard consonant sounds. [autism.com]
Psychiatrical
- Fear
These might include: Hyperactivity (very active) Impulsivity (acting without thinking) Short attention span Aggression Causing self injury Temper tantrums Unusual eating and sleeping habits Unusual mood or emotional reactions Lack of fear or more fear [cdc.gov]
If that distinction can be made correctly, parents can be spared the worry attached to the fear that their child may be 'autistic' or 'asperger's', for example. [blogs.scientificamerican.com]
[…] of low thyroid in children and those of ASD such as: speech and developmental delays, cognitive dysfunction, hyperactivity or lethargy, hypotonia/fine motor dysfunction, attention disorders, repetitive motions, social and communication dysfunction, fear [autismparentingmagazine.com]
I was very good at sensing "negative" and "positive" vibes in people and would run away from the "fear and pain" that had me either in fits of manic laughter or depressive and engrossed sobs, I lived for the moment and would live for the day as the expression [sites.google.com]
Also, I don't know what "normal" almost-two year olds are like with strangers, but she seems to have no fear or hesitation and will walk right up to a person she doesn't know and interact with them (but without eye contact, usually). [babyandbump.momtastic.com]
Neurologic
- Language Delays
What is a language delay? A language delay is when children have speaking and understanding difficulties that are unusual for their age. [raisingchildren.net.au]
Language delays are frequently also part of the diagnosis. [sciencenordic.com]
"This study wasn't looking at severe language delay without diagnosis of autism." [consumer.healthday.com]
Thirty-eight of them had delayed language onset and 42 had not. [medicaldaily.com]
At age 4, their language delays ranged from not speaking at all to using single words or phrases without verbs. The researchers found that, in fact, most of these children did go on to acquire language skills. [autismspeaks.org]
- Confusion
But one issue in particular is bugging me and would be grateful for any thoughts because I feel confused. [ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk]
These terms can be confusing, not only because there are so many, but because doctors, therapists, and other parents may use them in dissimilar ways. [helpguide.org]
[…] to be honest, we're very confused but whatever the outcome is, we'll love him for what he is. He's a lovely surprising child and I wish I could spend every day with him. [community.babycentre.co.uk]
Finding life very hard, not much of a support network near us, feeling confused and sad. [mumsnet.com]
Squints or closes an eye Stares at certain objects or patterns Looks through hands Flaps hands, flicks objects in front of eyes Looks at objects sideways or with quick glances Shows sensitivity to light (photophobia) Becomes confused at changes in flooring [visionhelp.com]
- Speech Disorder
Autism and Speech Skills Another area that is not part of autism but quite often coexists is speech disorders. [speechlanguagefeeding.com]
A language delay is different from a speech disorder or developmental language disorder. A speech (sound) disorder is when children have difficulty pronouncing the sounds in words. This can make their speech difficult to understand. [raisingchildren.net.au]
KidsHealth: Delay in Speech and Language Early Identification of Speech-Language Delays and Disorders The Listen Up Web-Language Development YourChild: Speech and Language Delays and Disorders University of Michigan Health System Look up alalia in Wiktionary [en.wikipedia.org]
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) Community 1.3k Members My son is 2 years old and has some speech delay. My wife and I are concerned as to whether or not this may be a sign of autism. [medhelp.org]
Some of the known causes of this motor speech disorder are: Genetic disorders or syndromes Stroke or brain injury Sometimes, experts refer to childhood apraxia of speech as “developmental apraxia.” [kars4kids.org]
- Perseveration
Other unusual use of language may be present including perseveration into a certain sentence or television commercial that is repetitively said out of context and without having any communicative purpose. [childbrain.com]
The problems are often tackled individually and it takes perseverance and repetition to see lasting results. [myaspergerschild.com]
Perseveration and other repetitive verbal behaviors: functional dissociations. Semin. Speech Lang. 25, 295–307. doi: 10.1055/s-2004-837243 Lebrun, Y., Rubio, S., Jongen, E., and Demol, O. (1971). On echolalia, echo-answer, and contamination. [blog.cognifit.com]
Those who do speak may have echolalia, perseveration, pronoun reversal, extreme literalness, monotony of tones, failure to use correct cadence and intonation, failure to develop semantics (word use), failure to develop reciprocity in dialogue, and failure [hawaii.edu]
Those with Asperger syndrome tend not to have speech/language delays, but their speech is usually described as peculiar, such as being stilted and perseverating on unusual topics. [autism.com]
- Forgetful
Also, don’t forget to praise good listening and good looking. Observation skills These skills require the child to stop and focus on a particular task. Having a shared focus helps this process. [icommunicatetherapy.com]
[…] the listener is someone he’s never met before His speech sounds different—he sounds choppy, or his voice doesn’t go up and down, or he may stress the wrong syllables or words Childhood Apraxia Of Speech: Other Problems Delayed language development May forget [kars4kids.org]
Forget the vitamin E, amino acids, and fish oil pills. Feed him salmon several times a week. Dr. Cannell: Thanks very much. The problem is that I don’t have a doctor to check his blood. [vitamindcouncil.org]
Other people may try to hide their disfluent speech from others by rearranging the words in their sentence (circumlocution), pretending to forget what they wanted to say, or declining to speak. [terrifictalkers.com]
Treatment
^Top What is the treatment for these disorders? After a comprehensive assessment is completed and an accurate diagnosis is provided and explained, it is time to focus on treatment. [appletreeinstitute.com]
Biomedical treatment has the ability to change your child’s life. [treatautism.ca]
In these cases professional evaluation and treatment are needed for accurate diagnosis. The treatment, intensive language training and behavioral modification, continues into later years. [smartspeechtherapy.com]
Differential Diagnosis and Treatment of Children with Speech Disorder. Johan Wiley & Sons. p. 275. ISBN 1118713346. ^ Dodd, Barbara (2013). Differential Diagnosis and Treatment of Children with Speech Disorder. John Wiley & Sons. p. 211. [en.wikipedia.org]
But after there’s some improvement, children with childhood apraxia of speech may not need so many treatments per week, and group therapy sessions may be useful or even preferred to individual treatments. [kars4kids.org]
Prognosis
This is currently under review. [ 10 ] Prognosis This is dependent on the cause of the speech delay. The prognosis is improved with early detection and intervention. [patient.info]
Prognosis is poor even with anticonvulsant medications. [hawaii.edu]
Both clinicians and parents gravitate toward the diagnosis with the best prognosis. “Understandably, clinicians want a certain level of certainty before delivering a lifelong diagnosis of potential impairments,” she says. [childmind.org]
Prognosis (long term outcome) of ASD 14. Differential diagnosis for ASD 15. ASD and the educational (school) system 16. [childbrain.com]
[…] recognizing if a child has a specific speech and language disorder either alone, or co-existing with another diagnosis, is that the child may or may not receive the appropriate therapies to address the communication impairment to give the child the best prognosis [cherabfoundation.org]
Etiology
It can be said, however, that speech delay is a common childhood problem that affects 3 to 10 percent of children. 4 – 6 The disorder is three to four times more common in boys than in girls. 5, 7 Etiology Speech delay may be a manifestation of numerous [aafp.org]
[…] higher in moms of children with autism — 3.7% versus 3.5% of moms of children with developmental delays and 1.3% of moms of typical children. ( MORE : Americans May Be Fatter Than We Think, Study Says ) “The prenatal period is a crucial time for the etiology [healthland.time.com]
Kini U, Hurst JA, Byren JC, Wall SA, Johnson D, et al. (2010) Etiological heterogeneity and clinical characteristics of metopic synostosis: Evidence from a tertiary craniofacial unit. Am J Med Genet A 152A: 1383–1389. View Article Google Scholar 40. [journals.plos.org]
Epidemiology
The common thread tying together the three conditions — diabetes, obesity and hypertension — is chronic inflammation and insulin resistance, says Paula Krakowiak, lead author of the study and a Ph.D. candidate in epidemiology at UC Davis. [healthland.time.com]
Epidemiology Speech delay is a common childhood problem. It is estimated to affect around 6% of children. [ 5 ] However, this figure has been reported to be as high as 19%. [ 6 ] The disorder is more common in boys than in girls. [patient.info]
Sibling recurrence and the genetic epidemiology of autism. The American Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 167 (11), published online Oct. 1, 2010. http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org. [source.wustl.edu]
[…] strangers 3 to 4 years Three to six words per sentence; asks questions, converses, relates experiences, tells stories; almost all speech understood by strangers 4 to 5 years Six to eight words per sentence; names four colors; counts 10 pennies correctly Epidemiology [aafp.org]
Prevention
The MAPS program trains health care providers to be the best in their field in assessing, treating and preventing autism. [treatautism.ca]
By Diane Domina A report from the Centers from Disease Control and Prevention indicates that prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in the United States increased 15 percent from 2012 to 2014. [healthcentral.com]
Children who lack these skills may be evaluated and treated by a speech-language pathologist to prevent further developmental delays. [nidcd.nih.gov]
In fact, it is easily treated and certainly preventable. Given the epidemic of these disorders and the devastating social and financial costs, it is crucial that we explore the B 12 link. [pharmacytimes.com]
She is fully licensed to diagnose and treat eye disease and specializes in vision therapy, pediatrics, learning disabilities and preventative vision care for all ages. [visionhelp.com]