Parents of autistic children......?

Question

When did you "know"? Around what age and what types of behaviors clued you?

Answer 1

Hi. I am a parent of a child with Asperger's Syndrome, which is a form of high functioning autism. We had no clue. None. My son was reading at 21/2, knew all his colors and shapes. He loved to learn. He did have a hard time looking people in the eye when speaking or being spoken to. He parallel played instead of playing with other children. If you have any questions youcan email me. The best thing, if you're concern is to talk to your pediatrician.

Answer 2

I have a close friend with an autistic son. He seemed to be developing fine. He was counting, and saying his ABC's and all the normal things kids do, and then around age 3 1/2- 4 his progress stopped and even seemed to reverse. He stopped talking other that repeating things he heard and became very aggressive. That prompted them to have him evaluated and he was diagnosed autistic with echolalia.

The good news is that he is in Kindergarten now and because he is in a program designed for autistic children, he is making progress.

Answer 3

I did research on this when a Mom came to visit us and didn't tell me that her kid was diagnosed with autism. He showed obvious signs of it. To confirm my suspicion I went ahead and did research on it here. The child is 3 1/2, but doesn't converse with anyone... very clingy to Mom, does repetitive behaviors (closed and opened one of our screen doors almost their entire stay at our house)... sings instead, but the melody doesn't sound familiar and mumbles words while singing... doesn't react when being talked to... doesn't look at a person in the face..... shows excitement accompanied by joyfull outbursts for no apparent reason.The child was diagnosed with the mild form of autism, nevertheless I could still detect all of the above. My husband asked the Mom straight the next time they visited. I was a bit confused about the reason why she wouldn't tell me straight. This was the fourth time they came to the house with him.
In my research here online I found out that when a child still doesn't speak a whole sentence by the age of three, it can be an indication- even if it's just a mild form.

Answer 4

When my daughter was only minutes old, she refused to look into my eyes and instead stared off past me at the light behind the bed. At an age when most babies are starting to babble, she said nothing and instead of crawling around exploring her world, she sat hour after hour fitting shapes into a shape sorter. I kind of knew all along but the "experts" won't diagnose until age 3.

Answer 5

many times they can be diagnosed at birth with brain scans. behaviroal patterns do not present themselves untill the child is lagging behind on the progression of thier learning ability. many times the learning is hindered due to bad parenting, but many clues are facial features are always a good indicator. most times you get the sloped forehead or the small eyes, or slurred speach.