[EBD56]

My 6-year old nephew is displaying some strange and disturbing behavior lately. Earlier in his life, he was thought to have mild autism. I had never really seen much of his behavior before tonight. I had heard that recently he was doing and saying strange things. He has, for instance, on multiple occasions had accidents in his pants recently. Also, he told his mother twice that Jesus told him that he was going to take him soon and that he wished she could come with him. He had an MRI done, and apparently afterward was very afraid, and was saying, "I'm dead! I'm dead!"

Tonight I witnessed his behavior myself. I came over to my in-laws house, and he was there, along with his brother and my stepchildren. When I got there, he was in tears. When he finally spoke, he said, "I don't have a mom and dad," over and over. Then he said, "No one knows my name." All this he said through tears. He finally calmed down after awhile, but then barely spoke 5 words the rest of the evening. He would cover his ears a lot when he heard something sort of loud, but normal. He seemed unable to focus and multiple times was on the verge of a breakdown before we distracted him.

What is going on with this child? Is this what autism does? Or is there something more here? My mom asked me on the phone if he ever claimed to hear voices or anything. I'm concerned for him.

[Skeezyks]

Hello EBD56: I see this is your first post here on PC. So... welcome to PsychCentral… from the Skeezyks! May the time you spend here be of benefit.

I'm sorry your nephew is having so much difficulty. We here on PC cannot diagnose him. And my personal opinion is that anything anyone might try to suggest here is as likely to be wrong as it is right, thus simply adding more confusion to an already difficult situation. Of course others, here on PC, may feel differently & may wish to offer some suggestions.

From my perspective at least, what needs to happen here is for your nephew to be assessed by a skilled child psychologist and / or a psychiatrist who has experience working with children who are exhibiting mental health issues. And given what you wrote here, I would think it would be important to proceed with this as soon as possible. It can take time for even skilled professionals to figure something like this out. The reality is they don't always get it exactly right the first time around either. Still, from my perspective, that is the correct place to start.

[EBD56]

Originally Posted by Skeezyks

Hello EBD56: I see this is your first post here on PC. So... welcome to PsychCentral… from the Skeezyks! May the time you spend here be of benefit.

I'm sorry your nephew is having so much difficulty. We here on PC cannot diagnose him. And my personal opinion is that anything anyone might try to suggest here is as likely to be wrong as it is right, thus simply adding more confusion to an already difficult situation. Of course others, here on PC, may feel differently & may wish to offer some suggestions.

From my perspective at least, what needs to happen here is for your nephew to be assessed by a skilled child psychologist and / or a psychiatrist who has experience working with children who are exhibiting mental health issues. And given what you wrote here, I would think it would be important to proceed with this as soon as possible. It can take time for even skilled professionals to figure something like this out. The reality is they don't always get it exactly right the first time around either. Still, from my perspective, that is the correct place to start.

Thanks for your response, and for the welcome. I appreciate your kindness!

He has continued to get worse, and I think you're right. He just needs to be evaluated I suppose. I just wondered if anyone had seen this kind of thing before, and if autism could really present this way. It seems like a lot, but then again, I'm pretty unfamiliar with the condition.

I guess if anyone wants to give me their experiences with autism and things that have helped, that would be wonderful.

[googley]

Hello,
I agree that your nephew needs a complete psychiatric and psychological evaluation. For general information on Autism you can read up on it on the Autism Speaks website: https://www.autismspeaks.org/ It has a lot of information on the basics of autism. I hope that you and your family is able to get some answers.

[-jimi-]

Did you ask him what his name was and what happened to his parents?