I'm curious on the eye contact, at what times you do get eye contact. I hope I don't come across as questioning of there being concern over ASD spectrum, I'm not at all (and the empathy issue must be concerning). I'm just plain curious as your DS sounds obviously bright and easily bored if there is a component of oppositionality or boredom. Ie do you get some good eye contact if you say something funny or unexpectedly novel, "Guess what I saw today, a dog with wings", or "how about fried bunny for dinner?".
Polly
he's very rarely making any eye contact at all. I'll have to try the tip you mentioned. The eye contact has been a real problem for good 2 years now. I really stress it that he looks at me and keeps his eyes focused on me when I'm talking to him but he just can't do it. His eyes wonder all over the place or he won't raise his head at all. It's very different from what he was like even as a baby ... from the day he was born he would look straight into my eyes anytime I'd hold him. He was born 3 weeks early via emergency c-section while my husband was on the road and when he came home 8 days later, first thing he noticed was that DS4 was looking at us like he was an adult and like he understood everything that was going on. He's still getting a speech assessment on Saturday ... I keep thinking if he has some sort of language processing issue, which could possibly be the reason behind the lack of eye contact?
... funny ... just now, I got the most eye contact in months from him ... he's zoning out on Melatonin! lol ... so, his brain working too fast and making it hard for him to make eye contact is also a possibility?
... still, that doesn't take away any of the other spectrum-like behaviors
... one other that stands out in my mind ... from about 9 months of age till maybe 3 years old he was fascinated by spinning wheels ... cars, strollers ... anything with wheels, he'd keep spinning them and looking at them for a very long time. One of the first odd behaviors we noticed.
I am not one of the people who believe vaccines can cause autism ... BUT when he was 4 months old, by mistake he was given 4 of the same vaccines he already received 4 weeks prior (the doctor's office forgot to update his records at the 3 months visit) ... and nobody realized it until I started asking questions about why is he getting the same vaccines he received at the previous visit. They all said it's no big deal, it happens, it doesn't cause any harm ... but at the back of my mind, I have been always worried WHAT IF? It was basically a vaccine overdose as they should be spaced further apart ... so, yes, I have always been scared will be dealing with some issues later on. But that is just a theory ... uncomfortable, to say the least ... but only a theory.
