<p>The autistic people I know all have hearing issues. They test as having fine hearing when you put headphones on 'em and feed in pure tones, but stick them in a public place (like a school classroom) with lots of background noise and they can’t distinguish the teacher speaking from the kid across the room whispering to his/her neighbor. Sounds that seem soft to “neurotypicals” sound loud sometimes; sounds that seem loud are imperceptible. The fan in the heating duct drowns out the teacher’s talk. A book falling in the class next door sounds like a thunderclap. Those intermittent noises interrupt the flow of the teacher’s talk and then the kid is accused of not paying attention or being “internally overstimulated.” School is an extremetly tough environment for people with autism spectrum perception.</p>
<p>If it turns out that there is a hearing loss, I’d strongly recommend showing the parents this site: [Deaf</a> Baby, Infant, Children Sign Language Benefits Tenfold](<a href=“http://www.babies-and-sign-language.com/deaf-baby-infant-child-children-signing-asl.html]Deaf”>Deaf Baby, Infant, Children Sign Language Benefits Tenfold)</p>
<p>Linguistic research has shown that it’s extremely important for children to be exposed to natural language as early as possible, to prevent cognitive delay. And if he’s deaf, learning sign language early is the best chance he has to gain cognitive skills. He can also learn to speak and speechread, but his chances of learning English successfully are increased if he learns sign language first. There is a fair amount of controversy on this subject, but at this point it’s been well demonstrated that learning sign language as early as possible is the best thing you can do for the child’s cognitive skills (feel free to PM me, anyone who wants to know more).</p>
<p>One of my neighbors was a kindergarten teacher back in the day when a teacher couldn’t have a kid tested without parental consent. A little boy in her class was a handful. She noticed, however, that he didn’t react to loud noises behind him. So, she told his parents that they should get his hearing tested. The parents were angry with her–they would have noticed if there was something wrong, what kind of parents did she think they were- but later the mother decided to mention it to the pediatrician. </p>
<p>It turned out that the kid did have fluid in his ears. His hearing had been normal at his previous physical and his parents didn’t realize that the boy’s increasing “defiance” was caused by the fact that he was hearing less and less. He did get the tubes in his ears. The doctors told his parents that in 6 more months the hearing loss would have been irreversible. The mother came in and apologized to the teacher and thanked her profusely. </p>
<p>The point I’m making is that in urging the parents to have the child checked, you might stress the moral of my story and Hanna’s–delay can mean permanent damage if there is something wrong.</p>
<p>Is it possible for them to maybe hear it from someone other than you? I think sometimes people are resistant to one person’s message, but not another. Sometimes you might be too close. Or sometimes if it comes up from multiple sources, people realize there must be something to the comments. So for example is there another relative, or friend or neighbor you know that you might encourage to also point out something is off? </p>
<p>I recall as a young person I met a professor’s kid and bluntly stated “oh he is autistic” (I happen to have been too immature for tact). I came to be lifelong friends with him and his wife. </p>
<p>Their son was already 4 and they had heard such suggestions that something was wrong many times, but it was apparently my statement that knocked them out of denial and into testing (maybe it was simply the last straw, or because I was young, completely unrelated to them, had no agenda, no expertise etc. etc. and ‘even I’ could notice).</p>
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<p>You can suggest to the parents that they contact their local school system. If they are concerned, they will do so. Most pediatricians do a developmental screening along the way. In addition, this three year old also might be attending a nursery school this year and the teachers THERE might have some observations that will help the family.</p>
<p>I’m also a speech pathologist and I work at a primary school. I will tell you, some families are very receptive to having their kids evaluated and have early intervention. Others are very reluctant to do so, I think sometimes due to fear, and sometimes due to hope that the child will simply out grow the issues.</p>
<p>You can gently tell your relatives what you have noticed. You can give them ideas of where to go and who to speak to. BUT the reality is that they have to be ready to make this move.</p>
<p>Re: the above quote. IF your relatives decide to request an evaluation, the district is required to convene a meeting to discuss the referral. This does NOT guarantee that an assessment will take place. With the current special education guidelines, firm prereferral strategies must be attempted and an observation of the student is required. This CAN be part of the assessment process. Once the team agrees to do an assessment, they will carry it out. The team will make a recommendation on whether this youngster has a disability. They will then determine what goals/objectives are needed for this child…and then WHERE the suggested location of services will be. There is a continuum of services from regular preschool with support, itinerant services (sometimes for OT/PT/Speech), integrated preschool classroom (classroom in the schools with typically developing peers and special needs youngsters, and other more intense programs if needed.</p>
<p>The team has to agree on the placement of the child and if there is a disagreement this has to be noted in the paperwork generated. SO…if the school recommends their preschool program, and the parents want a community preschool, they would have to come to some agreement or compromise for the program to move forward. If the school REALLY believes the child will benefit from a placement in location A…they might not agree that location B would work. It all depends on the needs of the child.</p>
<p>But you should suggest that they contact the local school if they have concerns. Keep in mind, they might not HAVE concerns right now.</p>
<p>Well, my husband, the aunt, the grandmother and I talked to the mother. I printed out [LinguiSystems</a>, Inc. - Speech Language Adult Rehab](<a href=“Linguisystems.com”>http://www.linguisystems.com/freedownloads_guides.php) and this article that just happened to publsihed this weekend [Siblings</a> of kids with autism may also have subtle traits - USATODAY.com](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/health/medical/autism/2010-10-22-autism-siblings_N.htm?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+(News+-+Top+Stories)]Siblings”>http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/health/medical/autism/2010-10-22-autism-siblings_N.htm?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+(News+-+Top+Stories)).</p>
<p>The aunt is a retired Special Ed teacher and she was fuming. It ended up being a good cop/ bad cop scenario. What I did do was focus on the language development. The good news is, the mother at least appeared to listen, she didn’t get too defensive. If autism was mentioned, shields went up slightly. Aunt suggested she read the USAToday article and we left it at that.</p>
<p>She went throught the charts in the Lingusystems document and acknowledged that the child was behind on some milestones. We asked her to think back to the other 8 grandchildren and recall what they were doing at the age of three.</p>
<p>Hubby kept saying he’d just be pleased if the child would walk up to him and call him Uncle :).</p>
<p>The child came into the room with us and did’nt respond to his name. I picked up a toy that played a song when you pulled a string. He took the toy from me, layed down on the coffee table then put his ear to it. Mom declared,“see, he can hear!!” I said maybe. He might be picking up on the vibrations from the toy, but it could also mean that he could hear it best when he had his ear directly on the toy, rather than holding it. She agreed that might be case.</p>
<p>I asked had he been tested for hearing, he had not been tested since he was born.</p>
<p>I am pleased with the outcome. Mom did at least listen to us. We didn’t come out like gang-busters (well Aunt had to dial it down - lol), so I feel hopefull. We got the messgae across, now we wait and see. I will gently prod the issue in the future, but she knows we are concerned and will be watching.</p>
<p>The child is not in pre-school right now, but mom said she wants to enroll him. I think that will help a lot, even if it’s just a few hours a week.</p>
<p>I want to thank all of you for your comments on this. I went in prepared and armed with knowledge. I was prepared for the pushback and was ready to to deal with it, but it did not happen. Thanks, again. :)</p>
<p>Glad to hear that it went well.</p>
<p>Maybe I would suggest to her to be open to the pre-k teacher. For our DS it was the 1st sign, he was tested, but his aspie form is so mild that they pushed it off to him being a “late” child (born almost in June). This was my 1st clue, and I never pushed it to the side saying well, they tested him. He was again re-tested in K and 1st for IEPS. I gave full support to the teachers. Again, he was too mild to receive assistance, and told it was not uncommon due to his birth date and being a boy…he would grow out of it and catch up.</p>
<p>I really didn’t care what they told me, I just wanted what was best for my child. It is hard for a Mom to hear something is wrong, because we take it as it is our fault, something we did while we were pregnant, something we missed, etc. </p>
<p>I have seen many Moms like this and I have told them in my opinion, we as Moms can’t be ostriches, we are hurting our children by playing ostrich. I have no problem acknowledging our kid is an Aspie. The funny thing is, our DS doesn’t even know what Aspie means. We have never treated him differently than his siblings, except we are harder on him with his social skills. That truly is the big Aspie fact. They need to be taught social skills, they need to be taught what is acceptable and what is not, and when and where. </p>
<p>Through my decade I have met so many people like me. We don’t go around saying don’t mind my kid they are an Aspie, but we do not hide it either. I am not embarrassed. I didn’t do anything to cause this issue, what I have done is worked with him to deal with the issue.</p>
<p>I will also say this, at a family function yrs ago, I found it interesting to watch the kids. 2 of his cousins that we had not seen in yrs were there with their boys, both were about 6. One was complaining that her DS was such a handful at parties like this, and I started asking her things off the checklist, which she kept saying, yes, how did you know he does this, I don’t any other kid like him. I said take him now and ask your ped to test him for Aspergers. She did, and he too was diagnosed with a mild form. The other Mom, her SIL refused to acknowledge this. 2 yrs later he was diagnosed a severe form of Aspergers. These three children all our children of the cousins. It was very sad to me because she wasted valuable time for her own ego/pride instead of doing what was best for their son.</p>
<p>Later on when I did an ancestry search, they talked about an Uncle Mike, who was never quite right socially. The uncle had long ago died, but my guess is he too had Aspergers.</p>
<p>Hearing hadn’t been tested since birth? Maybe I’m not remembering correctly, but I’m thinking that hearing tests are a part of normal well-child care. Don’t most pediatricians check hearing routinely? Or does that start after age 3? Also, one would hope that the pediatrician spends enough time with the child that he/she would notice that he doesn’t respond to his name…Does the mom not bring the kid for routine care? In any case, it sounds like now the OP’s sister will follow up. Good luck to the family.</p>
<p>Our local Lions’ Club sends volunteers to do vision and hearing screening of Head Start and preschool kids (3 and 4 year olds) in our school district. I was watching a hearing screening one day and it looked to me like the volunteer was giving so many extraneous clues that I would doubt the reliability of the screening. I think public health nursing used to do our district’s screenings-possibly discontinued because of budget cuts.</p>
<p>Mandatory newborn hearing screenings, but I do not think any Pediatricians do routine hearing tests. Too difficult to test preschoolers in that setting.</p>
<p>My pediatrician always had a list of questions, checking for milestones, at each well check up. Parents can answer any way they want!!</p>
<p>Hearing, then speech evals should be implemented first. Regardless of the outcome, sounds like further testing, or services may be needed.</p>
<p>not necessarily to the OP, but to anyone - please be gentle when suggesting to parents they do not know their own kids. Sometimes they have already been involved in discussions with preschools, or have already had their children seen by professionals, but have just never felt the need to share it with YOU. Also note, not only can hearing issues be misdiagnosed as autism - so can social anxiety issues, ADHD, etc. Even just plain profound giftedness. Going up to a mom who is already wrestling with what to do and saying “There is something WRONG with Jonny” or “I think Jonny is AUTISTIC” is not generally a helpful course of action. Especially if you are not a mental health professional - and note well, being a nurse, a physicians assistant, even a preschool teacher does not make you a mental health professional.</p>