babies walking on tiptoes
I babysit for a 10-mth-old baby who can’t sit up. Her older brother has signs of Autism. Is something wrong?
Their older sister is 6 and is going into the 1st grade and she can hardly speak in full sentences. The middle child is 3 1/2 and cannot speak in sentences and likes to play alone. He also tiptoes when walking and his meltdowns are HUGE and can be violent. He doesn’t understand pain to himself or others. We aren’t positive that he has Autism, but the signs say that he does. The baby cannot sit up on her own but can roll over on her tummy. She also is clingy to people as is her brother. Their parents think that he has a large vocabulary for only being that old. They also think that it is normal for their baby to be at this stage. Is this normal? If not how do I talk to their parents? I think the parents are in denial. The mom worked with people with disabilities!
I dont think they are being neglected or abused. They have a nanny, wouldn’t she notice if they were? She loves the kids so much she wouldn’t let them get hurt.
not knowing the family, but knowing that it is hard and expensive to have kids with multiple “issues”, this might not totally be denial on the parents part. they may not know where to go for inexpensive help.
I would start with telling them that you are concerned that the baby may have some motor delays. point them towards early intervention and let them know that the screenings and treatment are either free or very low cost. The earlier they have her screened and get her treatment (if she needs it…but we both know she does) the better it will be for her. at her age she would do play therapy and do games and activities aimed at strengthening her muscles. the middle child should be assessed by the local school system for special ed services. if he starts walking correctly , communicating effectivley, he may be able to get his anger issues under control. Once he is in the school system the 3 1/2 year old would get his therapy that he needs for free too.
It is hard for a parent to be told that something is wrong with thier child. But if that person follows it by telling them that they can be helped, i think it makes the blow not so hard.
My older son had horrible rages starting about at age 3. we did not find out until he was in 5th grade that he was on the autism spectrum. He still has his days, but his medication helps.
My younger son only said 10 words at 24 months old. His own father asked me when he was going to talk. He had horrible melt downs because he was frustrated trying to communicate with me. I walked into the early intervention screening KNOWING that he would fail the verbal portion…and he did. But before I left that day the EI specialist told me that he would get help and gave me a card for the person who would call me. It took a month or so due to holidays to get it started, but within a few weeks of starting to learn some basic sign language his tantrums were GONE. it took about 4 more months for him to start really talking, but now he is.
Spritz skipping