Deaf & Autistic

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ryancher

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So, big suprise... autism has been mentioned for Tyler. Even though I knew that was what they were thinking... it's still devistating for me!

I don't believe he is autistic... but they have ruined my spirits. :(

Anyone here have experience with a deaf autistic child? And if so, what are the signs you noticed?
 
I was wondering they have a high expectation on technologies, and if a child don't speak like they want him to be, they blame it on something else beside hearing loss? If you don't think he is autistic, you should prove them wrong by work with him on ASL and Written English since he could be just a visual learner and not an auditory learner-- focusing on auditory only slowed me down and it made me appear "airheaded" (that's how I felt among my hearing peers) or something because of profound hearing loss and lack of first language and being visual.
 
That's exactly what I want to do... prove them wrong!

I was so excited to show them the progress he had made with his signs and instead they just continued to go on about his short comings.

I never thought about written english... he's still fairly young, 3, but that's something I will start working on slowly.

I am just so hurt and pissed off!
 
Raising Deaf Kids <--- here are some information on deaf and autism. It helps to get a professional who specialize autism to diagnose him, and even better if he is familiar with deaf issues.
 
ryancher, is there any way you could go to a REALLY good hospital? Like one where they'd actually have seen autistic AND dhh kids? Is the only reason they are saying that he's autistic is b/c of the severe spoken language issues? He doesn't have other autistic features right?
I think you need to take him to a university hospital to be evaluted. I don't think the docs you're seeing know what they're talking about!
 
I'm curious...does Tyler like it when you cuddle him?
Is he expressive such as smiling and laughing etc?

Is he okay with eye contact?
 
This is just my suggestion. I'm not a medical professional, this is just what I might do as a sort of home "test."

-I'd check out general symptoms of autism, and basically rule out anything that might involve sounds, voicing, etc. If he doesn't make eye contact when you talk to him or something, it's probably because he's deaf, so ignore anything of that nature.
See if he fixates on certain things (wheels on a car, spins them over and over, etc.), walks on his toes, doesn't like affection, can't follow you when you point to something (point to a book and he can't follow where you're pointing, if that makes sense), and so on.

Those are just to see if he might have autism in general. To be honest, I really doubt that he's autistic if you haven't noticed anything different about him from a non-autistic baby. It's possible that it's just another case of doctors misdiagnosing a deaf individual.

I'd second what deafdyke said and find a doctor who knows how to work with DHH kids.
 
ryancher said:
So, big suprise... autism has been mentioned for Tyler. Even though I knew that was what they were thinking... it's still devistating for me!

I don't believe he is autistic... but they have ruined my spirits. :(

Anyone here have experience with a deaf autistic child? And if so, what are the signs you noticed?
Click to expand...

I have a 10 year old son (soon will be 11) deaf/autistic child. He was diagnosed with autism at 2 1/2 years old. One of the biggest changes I noticed were, his signing skills were declining and his vocabularies were very limited. Prior to that, he was picking up quickly, absorbing every thing he could see and sign words that were exposed. He was very fixated on staring at the ceiling lights, especially the ceiling fans. He had no eye contacts at all. His sleeping pattern were out of whack. He was not very expressive with his emotions. And then, one day, on top of that, he stopped signing and would not say a word or two. It was frustrating.

But, as years went on, he's been able to pick up all over again. Now, he is able to sign and express his emotions. However, it is not at the same level as a normal 10 year old kid would be at. Still, it's quite a big improvement now than it was from years ago.

I'd recommend you to take him to a neurologist as well. Reach out to the autistic specialists, get 2nd, 3rd opinions or as many opinions as you can.

I can totally understand being hurt and po'd. But, remember, this is only the beginning and as time progresses, the worst part will be over.

Hang in there! :)
 
Tyler is strong willed... he likes to get his own way and see how far he can push people. lol

But on the other hand, he cuddles, he gives awesome kisses and hugs, he laughs when we laugh, and he enjoys playing with us.

His eye contact was limited when he was younger but as he's got older he makes awesome contact now. He looks right into our eyes.

When he wants something... he will pull us by our hands and take us to what he wants and makes his needs known.

He uses PECS appropriately, and has begun to use signs. He just doesn't speak - he tries but it doesn't come out right.

I will admit he does become preoccupied with certain things - closing doors, turning off lights, etc... but I think that's just a "me do" phase.
 
Trust your mommy instincts. If you have even the slightest inclination that there might be something "off", look into it. If youre not worried about it and its not causing problems, just let it go for now. But stay tuned into his development; if there IS some kind of spectrum disorder the sooner you catch it the better. I definatley agree with finding a doc who has experience with DHH kids with autism or PDD's. Too many inexperienced doctors want to label DHH kids with other problems because they dont have enough background experience with these kids.

There is a girl in my community who is 13 and deaf and autistic. Shes a typical teenage girl with an attitute. In her case she is still very socially, fairly close to academically on target, and the biggest indication that something is different about her (autistic) is that she asks questions out of place that dont make any sense in a conversation. But she will remember your answer later so dont try to fake it!
 
ryancher said:
Tyler is strong willed... he likes to get his own way and see how far he can push people. lol

But on the other hand, he cuddles, he gives awesome kisses and hugs, he laughs when we laugh, and he enjoys playing with us.

His eye contact was limited when he was younger but as he's got older he makes awesome contact now. He looks right into our eyes.

When he wants something... he will pull us by our hands and take us to what he wants and makes his needs known.

He uses PECS appropriately, and has begun to use signs. He just doesn't speak - he tries but it doesn't come out right.

I will admit he does become preoccupied with certain things - closing doors, turning off lights, etc... but I think that's just a "me do" phase.
Click to expand...

I have to say I don't think Tyler's austistic because most of the symptons do not match up.

My nephew has Austism Spectrum Disorder and does not express much emotions even now.

I would say go for 2nd and even third opinions. Go to see an Autism expert and ask them if they concur with the doctor's diagnosis or not.
 
Hello,
I understand that it is devastating to hear that your child has autism, in plus of his deafness.

Forgive my dumb questions, but have you been to the audiologist first to see if his HA are working as it should ?
What do the ENT doc say ?

If your child has another issue, it may not be autism. I may explain better myself.
My parents though I may suffer from Asperger syndrome because of my difficulties in social interactions (like parties, family dinners etc....). But it turned out it was ADHD, not Asperger.
ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders) have been completely ruled out, and it have been proved that to me, my social difficulties are due to attention deficit. It's only my experience, so it worths as it worths.
Some aspects of difficulties in social interactions who looks like autism may be also ADHD, or something else.
Be cautious as I'm not a qualified professional, and I'm not able to make any diagnosis.
But I just want to say that you should ask to another specialist, better if knowing the deafness issues (I'm in France but my psychiatrist doesn't know much about deafness issues, as as far as I know, I am her only case of patient with ADHD and deafness. ADHD in France... well, don't tell me more about it, it's only Middle Ages ! However, my psychiatrist does a great job despite not knowing well the deafness issues).
A psychiatrist, as any other physician, who doesn't know about an issue but wants to learn makes often a very valuable job.
So knowing the deafness issue for a psychiatrist is not compulsory, but his/her will to learn is compulsory !


But don't forget to trust your feelings, shop for another if you feel that this psychiatrist is a wacko one, or if you feel he assume to know everything etc....
 
Giulia said:
Hello,
I understand that it is devastating to hear that your child has autism, in plus of his deafness.

Forgive my dumb questions, but have you been to the audiologist first to see if his HA are working as it should ?
What do the ENT doc say ?

If your child has another issue, it may not be autism. I may explain better myself.
My parents though I may suffer from Asperger syndrome because of my difficulties in social interactions (like parties, family dinners etc....). But it turned out it was ADHD, not Asperger.
ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders) have been completely ruled out, and it have been proved that to me, my social difficulties are due to attention deficit. It's only my experience, so it worths as it worths.
Some aspects of difficulties in social interactions who looks like autism may be also ADHD, or something else.
Be cautious as I'm not a qualified professional, and I'm not able to make any diagnosis.
But I just want to say that you should ask to another specialist, better if knowing the deafness issues (I'm in France but my psychiatrist doesn't know much about deafness issues, as as far as I know, I am her only case of patient with ADHD and deafness. ADHD in France... well, don't tell me more about it, it's only Middle Ages ! However, my psychiatrist does a great job despite not knowing well the deafness issues).
A psychiatrist, as any other physician, who doesn't know about an issue but wants to learn makes often a very valuable job.
So knowing the deafness issue for a psychiatrist is not compulsory, but his/her will to learn is compulsory !


But don't forget to trust your feelings, shop for another if you feel that this psychiatrist is a wacko one, or if you feel he assume to know everything etc....
Click to expand...
:gpost: Always get a second opinion or even a third one.

Also, some deaf can see to have ADD but it's due to communication problems.

Deafness was ruled out in my case because it's not usual for deaf to have the sort of organizational problems that I have. They're common with those with ADD though. Not all people with ADD will have that like me though.
 
Oh I agree with Giluia and deafskeptic.
It DOES not sound like he has right off the bat autism or even PDD-NOS. His only issue is a severe spoken language delay. That could be an LD or just plain apraxia. I really think a lot of docs are forgetting that just b/c something's wonky nereologically it doesn't automaticly mean it's autism.
 
ryancher said:
Tyler is strong willed... he likes to get his own way and see how far he can push people. lol

But on the other hand, he cuddles, he gives awesome kisses and hugs, he laughs when we laugh, and he enjoys playing with us.

His eye contact was limited when he was younger but as he's got older he makes awesome contact now. He looks right into our eyes.

When he wants something... he will pull us by our hands and take us to what he wants and makes his needs known.

He uses PECS appropriately, and has begun to use signs. He just doesn't speak - he tries but it doesn't come out right.

I will admit he does become preoccupied with certain things - closing doors, turning off lights, etc... but I think that's just a "me do" phase.
Click to expand...

I wuld say that if he is responding well to sign and engages and communicates with language (not just with pictures) and does not have any compulsions (like lining up cars) or playing with toys inappropriately, then it is probably just his hearing.
 
Girl get him in with a GOOD developmental pediatrican!!

Tyler and Adam seem to share some traits and I will tell you Adam is NOT on the AS... YOU are his momma YOU are with him 24/7 don't let someone who's seen him 1-2 hours in his life make a rash decision... Jolie77 is right a neuro consult is a good idea too... where are you located?? Is there a GOOD Childrens hosp there??
 
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