“Teddy, here I am. Look at Mommy.”
Teddy continues to focus on his toys lying on the floor, while the young mother
makes smiley faces and talks in a cooing fashion. “Teddy, Mommy loves you. See
Mommy make a face.
Here, let Mommy hold the toy and we will play together.” Teddy doesn’t even glance her way but continues to hold his toy and stare anywhere but at Mom. Sadly the young mother gives up and sits down with her head in her hands and mumbles sadly. “What am I doing wrong?”
Here, let Mommy hold the toy and we will play together.” Teddy doesn’t even glance her way but continues to hold his toy and stare anywhere but at Mom. Sadly the young mother gives up and sits down with her head in her hands and mumbles sadly. “What am I doing wrong?”
Autism is a spectrum
disorder that affects at least these three areas.
1) Social abilities 2) Communication abilities 3) Behaviors
Autism affects many areas such as how children interact and
relate with others; and how set they can be in their thinking patterns. The
social skills for autistic children can be on a spectrum between minimal interactions
to completely non-existent. The majority of babies meet the expected
developmental milestones in timely fashion; however, some babies are slower to
achieve certain milestones due to a premature birth, or because babies develop
at different rates.If however; you are experiencing limited or no eye contact between you and your child, he/she likes to play alone and does not want to acknowledge others while playing, is behind on other developmental milestones, and especially if he/she regresses from speaking to non-speaking or walking to non-walking, you may wish to speak to your doctor about your concerns.
Be an
advocate for your child.
- Why should I get my baby tested?
- My baby has issues but I am going to love him anyway so why do I need to find out and have my child labeled?
- Early intervention will be able to best
utilize the therapy to bring about the maximum potential.
- Early intervention can help to decrease the amount of disruptive behavior the child may display.
- Early intervention can help to increase the amount of daily living skills a child with more cognitive disabilities may develop.
Important to know
Discovering your child is autistic is
a traumatic event; but even in the midst of grieving what could have been a
normal childhood, you need to press on and obtain therapy to ensure the highest
level of success for your child.
Because ASD is a spectrum disorder, you will have some children that grow up with severe disabilities who will need constant supervision, and others who are able to finish high school and go to college and even hold down a job.
Because ASD is a spectrum disorder, you will have some children that grow up with severe disabilities who will need constant supervision, and others who are able to finish high school and go to college and even hold down a job.
Limited List of Possible Warning Signs of
Autism
- Repetitious
movements
- Learned
skills disappear
- May stand in
yard or room, and twirl in circles for no reason continuously.
- Does not
point at items
- Makes little
to no eye contact
- Does not
acknowledge their name
- May do odd
behaviors (i.e. flapping hands at the sound of a telephone) (i.e. touching nose when sees a dog)
**(Babies don’t actually ‘play’
together until ages 2 to 3, but will do what is called parallel play, next to
each other. Associative play begins at 2-3 years of age. Not to be confused
with babies that play as though there is no one else in the room.)
Resources:
- http://www.childmind.org/en/posts/articles/2012-4-30-going-college-autism
- http://www.yourguidetoautism.com/can-a-person-with-autism-lead-a-normal-life/
- http://www.childmind.org/en/posts/articles/2012-4-2-aging-out-when-kids-autism-grow-up-lose-services
- http://www.helpguide.org/mental/autism_signs_symptoms.htm
- http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/autism-spectrum-disorder/basics/symptoms/con-20021148
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