Great child development website

[Robean]

http://www.cicc4kids.org/

This is a neat website with something called the "Discovery Tool" which asks you questions about what your child is doing. If you think your child might have special needs or problems, definately check this out. If you just need reassurance that your kid is a-okay, it's worth looking at also. Provides some ideas for activities and stuff after you use the questionnaire.
Only for kids UNDER 5, though.
Enjoy!
:joe:

[Pudin]

WOW Thank you so very much! :love Bookmarking it right now. :)

[Doodle]

Yeah, thanks ROBEAN......

p.s., I'm gonna steal all your points when you're not looking. :):hiya

[Robean]

:hiya
Doodlebug:
I really don't understand the points thing, sorry.
Just remember, i DO know where you live!!!!
MUHAHAHAHA!!! (evil laugh)

[Doodle]

GOTCHA!! 50 points.......mmmmmmmm. Yummmy. ;)

Yeah, yeah, you know where I live..............:jackoff

Hee hee.

[Shelley3]

While on the subject (and not wanting to be accused of starting new threads just to be a points whore or something)- what's a CHAT test someone mentioned to have their ped do with their 18mo old on another thread? Never heard of it... I don't think... just curious.

[Shelley3]

Another question. I was doing that test thing on my youngest two and this comment came up during the questions:

Child`s voice is not clear; voice sounds hoarse or raspy much or all of the time

Why would that be? Anyone know? I ask because my son's voice IS clear- crystal clear.... however he does have a "low" voice (*it's almost like a boy's is after they've gone through the voice change- he's only 4) -not exactly raspy or anything like that... but I suppose to a stranger he would sound hoarse maybe. Well, his voice doesn't break like when hoarse but it's lower- you know how when you are hoarse you kinda speak in a lower toned voice not to strain your throat? Kinda like that. Deep.. maybe that's the word I'm looking for. We've always joked that his voice is already so deep he's going to grow up to be one of those men that have VERY deep voices. His voice is almost as deep as his father's already.

It hasn't always been this way- I remember him having a higher toned baby voice when he was younger- but it's been this way for years now. Is it just his voice or something I should have looked into as some kind of problem or something?

[Shelley3]

Oh darn- another thing I forgot to mention. He has NO problems yelling loudly from another room like if his sister's taken his toy or something like that- but ask him to speak up so you can hear him (like in the car or if the tv is on-not low because DH can never have a darn tv on low volume) -he acts like he's having to strain his voice to talk louder. And it really isn't very much louder than in the first place... he's straining to talk louder but it's not really louder. Yet he can yell like the dickens when he wants to. What is up with that? I've been wondering about that lately...

Oh and most of the time his voice is like monotone when he's talking to you. He can sing songs, he can put inflections in his voice at times- but ask him to tell you something and he goes into the monotone deep voice mode and gets frustrated if you say you couldn't hear some of his words. He's just trying to annoy me- right? :lol j/k

[Snowy]

This site has the M-CHAT in PDF format.

http://www.firstsigns.org/pages/physician_resources/tools.html

[Shelley3]

Thanks, I'll check it out just out of curiosity. Also,I have to tell you that it's all your sig lines fault- I had to have a chicken pot pie today... I had to buy it yesterday when grocery shopping. It's all your fault. I know it is. Because I haven't eaten (or bought) pot pies in years and years. :lol

[The Church Lady]

Shelley- a hoarse or monotone voice can often be an indicator of autism, and sometimes allergies-perhaps some other things-but I do know it is one of the indicators of autism (don't get scared, because it is a small one among a whole slew of other things).

I did the test-although I already am well aware that my son is a special needs child, but I wanted to see what the results actually said-all they said was he had a special need and I should go talk to my ped (which we have already done).

Neat test though, and I am sure would be great for parents who are still at the wondering stage, but aren't sure if it is necessary to talk to the doctor about.

[Shelley3]

Wow..... that thought hadn't even crossed my mind. It's probably allergies. He has been diagnosed with allergies and has a tendency (at times- not even close to everynight though) to have drainage at night that causes him to cough in his sleep.

(and I found out it was allergies years ago because he had a bout of being perfectly fine -ie: not sick in any way- and not even coughing at night but waking up puking- it was because of the drainage- although that hasn't been happening for a long long time now and he's still hoarse/deep sounding.)

He shows no other signs of allergies though. And to be honest the coughing at night is so infrequent that he's not even been taking allergy medicine for some time now. I had no idea it would cause him to have this deep voice though. :(

I don't think I should be scared though- because the monotone voice is like his "play act" voice. Hard to explain. It's like he can talk normal, very animated/inflections/etc- all the time... but ask him to repeat something he said and he'll go monotone on your ass. LOL Maybe he thinks we're asking him to tell us something or repeat something because we didn't understand him and so he thinks monotone will make it sound clearer? Maybe I should just tell him we just didn't hear him because of a noise or mommy is deaf or something? :lol He speaks VERY clearly and above his age level -and that's not just my opinion. That's coming from his ped (and previous peds) and even strangers (usually teachers) comment on how well he talks after they ask his age. I'm sure it's because he has an older sister that talks nonstop though. LOL He talks as well as she does (she's almost 9) if not better at times. I mean the things he says... I think he's so brilliant... my almost 9yr old doesn't think about things like he does and verbalize them the way he does- yanno?

Anyways, I hope that doesn't sound like a brag or anything. ugh Because he could still be brilliant and have autism- right? In other ways or something? I need to do some reading on autism because I'm VERY lacking in any knowledge about that. (sorry)

I need to get him in for his 4yrs vaccinations anyways (he's almost 5 but I wasn't in a hurry about it) and I'll talk to the new ped about this. She seems to be more observant than previous peds anyways... more up on things- yanno? :) Thanks Kim!

[The Church Lady]

To alleviate your fears somewhat Shelley-if autism were a problem, you would have far more bells and whistles going off in regards to him than just a monotone voice. If there wasn't a whole list of other delays-autism is probably not a worry.

But it sounds like he may need to go back on his allergy medication-he is probably having post nasal drip at night, which is irritating his vocal chords-my dd gets that raspy voice, when her allergies start to flare up.

[Snowy]

That's a great site, Robean..Thanks!


Shelley, just for the record children with autism can be hyperverbal, (speak very well using advanced language,) hyperlexic (read at a very early age) and have way above average IQ. This is not always well known to regular Pediatricians who think "autism" and automatically think "non-verbal/verbal defecits."

One of the hallmarks of autism is that children act/react differently in public or in situations outside the home than they do at home where they are comfortable. Esp. where social use of language is concerned. For instance they can interact fine with a sibling bu Preschool they may not be as socially appropriate.

[Snowy]

To alleviate your fears somewhat Shelley-if autism were a problem, you would have far more bells and whistles going off in regards to him than just a monotone voice. If there wasn't a whole list of other delays-autism is probably not a worry.

Kim, ITA. Sensory stuff would be at the top of the list.

[The Church Lady]

And Snowy it was nice to see all that sensory stuff on the tool at the website.

[Robean]

Shelley (and Snowy):

Yeah! I'm really excited this thread has elicited so much input! :hippy
I work with children with special needs, so this interests me like crazy. (work is where I happened upon the website).
Shelley: Regarding your kid's voice, definately check on the allergy thing. You always want to rule out a physical cause before you go diving into things like autism. For example, kids with vision and/or hearing loss can sometimes look a LOT like a kid with autism. This doesn't necessarily mean they have autism, though. So, until you find out whether or not your kid's allergies and throat are okay, I wouldn't fret a lot over the other stuff. Something else to consider: he IS 4, and he sounds bright - how do you react when he gets all deep and raspy voiced and quiet? He really might be doing it to get a rise out of you, no kidding. Especially if he is a-okay in other situations.
Snowy: thank you for mentioning the sensory stuff! Sensory Integration is a huge interest of mine, and I have never met a kid with autism yet that wasn't a big old bundle of SI problems. I don't want everyone to start freaking out, but if you do have questions about this, there is a great book out there called "The Out-of-Sync Child" that deals with sensory stuff. REMEMBER THOUGH!!! EVERYONE has SOME "sensory issues" (eg, nails on the chalkboard, clumsiness, lower or higher than average sesitivity to pain, etc.). Please don't get all worried about your kid unless they seem to have more than a few or be outside the normal RANGE (and there is a range) of things.
Heck, e-mail me if you have questions! Just make sure to put "SYBERMOMS" in the subject line so that I don't delete the message without reading it (I detest "spam"). E-mail is: Robean11@yahoo.com
;)

[Boobarama]

Ok, I have heard that sensory issues are a major, major part of autism but I swear to God, my son's sensory stuff if barely an "issue". I was wondering if there are some things that are going to show up later? Right now the only sensory stuff he has is that he likes to mouth things a little more than he should (he doesn't put everything in his mouth, just more than the average toddler....at least I think so). He also likes deep pressure. He doesn't seek it out, but if you press on his back, he will stop for a min. and you can tell he enjoys it, like a massage (the OT pointed this out to me). That is it. No problem with textures, touching, food aversions (except he doesn't like vegetables, mostly green), vestibular stuff, etc. The OTs that have seen him said he "barely" has any sensory issues, just the stuff mentioned.

Kim, did your ds develop some of his issues a little later, like after two?

[Snowy]

Boob, To be honest, I never really noticed Kevins sensory issues until he was about 3. Tags in clothing, loud noises, stuff like that. But none of it was glaring for us.

Even things like finger painting he did not enjoy. Nor playing with shaving cream like they do at preschool. Interstingly enough he loved the beach anf would play in the sand for hours. (Go figure!)

I should go back and look at his eval from then...

[Boobarama]

Oh great, so things will start showing up in a year.:lol Liam doesn't care about getting any kind of dirty, he likes it.:lol

[The Church Lady]

Boob Matthew's tactile defensiveness, discomfort in water and food aversions were majorly there when he was a young toddler (before age two), but he also spent those years in a lot of pain from reflux.

The movement stuff was probably around a little before two-three as well as the noticable preference for shoes/socks all the time, and long pants and long shirts, but he didn't start to spin a lot or run in circles until then, but it may simply be that I noticed it more then-he was such a cranky fussy child, and up until age two we were brushing all the meltdowns off to reflux issues.

The sensitivity to noise is the one thing that didn't seem to be there much until after he was three (it may be that it was present, but he was just having a meltdown and was unable to tell me what was bothering him), but I find that he is actually getting worse about noises. He hates white noise (I know it is supposed to be comforting to babies, but it drives him up the wall) the sounds of the AC, the sounds of the fans-if you want to see him totally lose it-take him into a crowded gym for a basketball game-or any other crowded place where there is that low rumble of people talking-drives him batty.

[griffin]

my son already has a dxed language delay (apraxia) and it recognized problems.

The only things that I thought were odd to ask was the thing about being afraid of the vacuum, I thought that was normal...the fearlessness (like running out into the street often) and head banging....I thought those were all pretty normal for a 2 year old

[Robean]

Booberama:
:eek
URK! Sorry I said that! I have met a lot of kids with autism, but obviously not EVERY kid, and heaven knows all of them are different. If your kid (I'm assuming he has autism or something in the spectrum?) is seeing an OT that is aware of the issues, you are doing exactly what you need to be doing, so please don't worry excessively about whether he'll show more sensory signs in the future!
*SIGH!* I wanted to provide some info, that's all.
As for being scared of the vacuum, (someone else's post), actually that IS normal at about 18 months or so. It's just if (1) The kid is not easily calmed once the vacuum is off, or (2) The kid doesn't outgrow the fear after a few months.
The same with fearlessness - there is an age-appropriate time (again, usually during that exciting second year) for kids to be like this. It's just if they seem to be excessive about it or if they don't outgrow it (somewhat) after a bit that it may be a problem. (Don't worry if your 18 month old runs in the street and laughs at you when you scold him for it. Unfortunately, that's normal!)
Basically, it all boils down to "the big picture." Every kid (and adult) has some "issues," some more than others. You need to step back and see if the "issues" are causing the kid (or whoever) to have trouble participating comfortably with typical activities more than just occassionally.
Am I making sense at all?

[Shelley3]

One of the hallmarks of autism is that children act/react differently in public or in situations outside the home than they do at home where they are comfortable. Esp. where social use of language is concerned. For instance they can interact fine with a sibling bu Preschool they may not be as socially appropriate.

I'm afraid you'd have to be a little more specific for me to be sure what you mean.... because ALL my children act totally different to a big degree when outside of the home- they become total spaz's who think they don't have to mind a word I say. Either that or they become deaf or something. :lol (seriously though..)

Robean: Thanks for the advice. Will do.. and for the record I wasn't diving into the autism thing.. the thought never even crossed my mind. That was the ONLY part of the test that gave me thought to wonder and decided to ask about his "voice" thing.
I do think it could be to get a rise out of me. He is a stinker like that. LOL And how do I react? Probably not like I should... I usually go speak up will you? I KNOW you can scream, I've heard you scream at your sister or from the other room if she makes you mad- I KNOW you can talk louder than that!!!! :lol Little shit is probably going in the other room to smirk about it. LOL

autism can be hyperverbal, (speak very well using advanced language,) hyperlexic (read at a very early age) and have way above average IQ.
That's what I figured.... that's why I said I thought he could be brilliant and still have autism.
But I don't think he does. :)