Autism Red Flags

I decided to write an Autism Red Flags post for family and friends. We hope you read through these warnings signs and learn how detect autism early on.

If diagnosed at a young age, autistic children can benefit from early intervention more than at any other time in their lives. Youth is the opportunity to treat autism. Even high functioning autistic behaviors which are not treated can cause lifelong social struggles.

If you detect any of these symptoms in your child, please seek help. The following red flags can be found on AutismSpeaks.org and FirstSigns.org.

• No big smiles or other warm gestures by 6 months of age. (Make sure the baby is smiling at people, not just things)
• No back and forth sharing of sounds by 9 months of age.
• No babbling by 12 months.
• No words by 16 months.
• No two-word MEANINGFUL phrases by 24 months. (Imitating or repeating what you say does not count)
• Any loss of speech or babbling skills at any age.

Remember, any delay or lack of these social milestones is grounds for immediate evaluation. If you notice anything not quite right about your child's social skills, please seek help. John should have been diagnosed earlier than age 5. We thought something was not quite right about how he interacted with us. We first went to the school district and they immediately picked up on John's delay. To family, please remember there is a genetic link to having autism. Tell your child's pediatrician he or she has a relative with PDD-NOS.

As Adam and I become more familiar with the disorder, we are beginning to notice children at parks, stores and other places who are exhibiting social delay. It is difficult for us to "hold our tongue" when we know how much early intervention helps. We can't just say, "Hey, there's something wrong with your kid."

Instead, we hope our blog will encourage parents to understand the warning signs and ask for help if they need it. I hope you will ALL feel free to ask questions.