Asperger's Syndrome - High Functioning Autism

My first grandchild was born in 1993. He was a delightful, social baby and loved to be held and cuddled. His huge brown eyes with their unusually long, dark lashes gazed into our eyes and captivated all of us.

He played with his toys and was a very happy little boy. Right on cue he reached all the usual milestones—talking, walking and all the things a young child learns to do. He began to make sounds that soon evolved into words that strung together to became sentences. Although Jordan never really crawled, he stood up one day and began walking.

His sister was born when he was two. Jordan was excited to have a baby sister at first, but a year later, when he was three and his sister began getting around on her own, starting to play with her own toys and sometimes his things, Jordan began to change.

This insidious change began so slowly that we did't’t notice anything unusual at first. He started to take toys away from his sister and other children, sometimes hitting or pinching to make them cry. He’d laugh when others got hurt. He didn’t seem to grasp the concept of sharing or taking turns.

When Jordan was pulled aside and scolded or given a time out for his actions he just waited quietly, entertaining himself until it was time to play again, and then he would resume his disruptive behavior.

I noticed he seemed withdrawn and didn’t pay attention when people spoke to him or told him stories. He began fixating on things and would play for hours and hours with that one object. Also, he would become very upset if he was guided to something else. He wanted to keep doing what he had been doing. Change bothered him immensely. It was extremely hard to get him to do something that was outside his normal routine.

The behavior I noticed most was that Jordan had stopped looking into my eyes or directly at anyone. He’d gaze somewhere off into space, not appearing to hear what was being said. He didn’t respond when he was called or asked something. I wondered if he might have a hearing problem that was preventing him from responding to us when we talked.