concerns about baby's development

[Hannah's Mom]

Morning!
I agree that she she sounds a bit stubborn :smile:.... but what little one isn't a bit! Maybe she doesn't like her teacher? It's hard when we're not there to see what goes on in the class. As for telling you she may need a special school, and you have only been there a short while......... well I don't like the teacher:smile: Maybe changing teachers ... or schools might help? I know one of my girls starts with some things (tears, lashing out) if she is stressed or something is bothering her ... could that be, with the head banging? Good luck!

 

[fingerscrossed]

Agree with Hannah's mom...she's in a new environment and it may take her a little longer to warm up. She's only been there for 2mths so give it a little longer (it takes us a few months to get used to a new job!). All these local schools and commercially run nurseries have a set of 'yardsticks', upon which they judge children and if your child fails to meet them, then the phone calls start coming. I personally think it is unfair and although they all stipulate in their 'school vision and mission' that they know all children develop differently, they don't practice this.

 

[barbwong_130]

My son was very shy and uncommunicative as a young child. His kindergarten teachers all commented on it. And all through primary school the teachers' comments were that he needs to contribute more in class.

It took him a long time to get use to a new situation. Each school year he would be very quite and not interact much. It seems to take him around nine to ten months to start warming up and then it was nearly time to change classes again!

I found it really difficult to get information out of him (like getting blood out of a stone!). Occasionally he would open up to me and when I did I had to make sure I listened because if I didn't I'd never get a second opportunity.

This carried on until he became a teenager. Now he seems much more comfortable with life - as though he now understands how the world works and that using words is necessary.

He is still a quite child who likes to spend long hours on his own doing his own things. But he now has a number of friends and enjoys being with them too. I still find that I have to drop everything and make time to listen to his worries when he wants to talk rather than when I want him to. And if he comes to me with a worry I need to take it seriously as he will already been worrying about it for a long time before he mentioned it to me.

 

[thanka2]

I do not have a child with autism but have spent time with one child who is autistic and one of my co-workers had asberger's syndrome which is in the autism spectrum.

I think that your concerns are real and that while mothers often over-worry, we also have great intuition that we need to listen to more.

My guess is that you have already been online doing your research and looking at the information that is available. If you haven't already looked at Autism Speaks, that is the first place I would go to learn about the signs of autism.

I think it's important to remember that autism is a spectrum disorder which means children can have a mild form of it or even a debilitating form. Also keep in mind that the signs of autism can develop or worsen at any time. So, a child that was behaviorally "normal" for 12, 18 or even 24 months could one day start showing signs. The statistics for autism in the United States show that 1 in 150 children is diagnosed with autism. Here is a good wiki article about autism.

The sign that concerns me is you described your daughter hitting her head on the couch while watching television. If this only happens once in awhile it might be just an odd thing she likes to do. But, if she often engages in behavior like this and at different times (not just in front of the TV)--a repetitive motion--like shaking her hands or hitting her head--in the "autism world" this is called "stimming" or "self-stimulation" and it is strongly associated with autism.

Having said that, when I was an infant and in the process of learning to talk (I was an early talker, can you tell?:rofl my mother says that I would get so frustrated with not being able to express myself so the adults in my life could understand that I would do things like hit my head on the floor in frustration. So, odd things like that can have other explanations. No, I do not have autism and eventually I learned to talk and stopped hitting my head on the floor.

But, you are right to seek the assessment of a doctor. I think that others may be able to provide you with specific information about doctors in Hong Kong that have experience with diagnosing autismbut contacting Autism Speaks and asking them for references is not a bad idea either.

If my child was having any of the difficulties you've mentioned I would definitely take him to the doctor to be assessed. If your child does have some problems, at least you can know how to help her. And in the best-case scenario (which a big :gl::gl::gl::gl: to you!!!) is that the doctor will just say "She's just this type of girl and very shy and this is how you can help her..." I really hope that that is what the doctor says! Again, :gl:!!!

 

[rs2000]

thanks to all of you...i feel so much better afterhearing from everyone here. thanks for taking time to help me here

i think in order to get the piece of mind , i will take an appointment for assessment next week. i reaaaaaaaaaaallly hope he says everything is alright. please all of you pray for me
thanks again