Do u think my baby has autism?

Question

Some times I tend to over react but I have a 10 1/2 month old and he just doesnt really do anything yet he babbles a lilttle but no words and he doesnt crawl or walk and he just doesnt seem to pay attention to things and he is always playing by himslef even at daycare when he is with other babies and i would just like some input form other moms. he also doesnt really respnd to his name alot and he just seems to tune everyone out I know he is still young and babies do things at their own rate but wiht the autism becoming so common im just scared. thank you

Answer 1

I understand your fears and actually just asked a similar question (if you go to my question, you can see more responses on this topic). I am also very worried about autism, especially due to the significant increases. My baby is 8 months and I find myself always looking for signs.

You should talk to your pediatrician at your next well visit. Developmental pediatricians will not diagnose autism earlier than 1 year of age, and it's very rare that they would even diagnose it then because all babies develop so differently and it's so hard to tell at that age. Autism is usually diagnosed around 2 yrs. or older, although there may be signs earlier than this.

It is good that your baby is babbling...not making words yet is not a big deal...he's still young. Is he trying to maneuver in his environment at all? Some babies skip crawling entirely, so it may not be anything to worry about. Also, babies do not really play with each other at that age--they are still very self-centered, so I would not be concerned about that yet. There is a recent study that shows a higher incidence among children that do not respond to their name by age one. Your son is still too young for that test, so I would try not to worry until he is a little older. Just keep working on his name and give him a lot of praise or clap when he does respond to it to help motivate him to respond.

Best wishes!

Answer 2

If your child has autism, he or she may develop normally for the first few months — or years — of life and then later become less responsive to other people, including you. You may recognize the following signs in the areas of social skills, language and behavior:

Social skills

* Fails to respond to his or her name
* Has poor eye contact
* Appears not to hear you at times
* Resists cuddling and holding
* Appears unaware of others' feelings
* Seems to prefer playing alone — retreats into his or her "own world"

Language

* Starts talking later than other children
* Loses previously acquired ability to say words or sentences
* Does not make eye contact when making requests
* Speaks with an abnormal tone or rhythm — may use a singsong voice or robot-like speech
* Can't start a conversation or keep one going
* May repeat words or phrases verbatim, but doesn't understand how to use them

Behavior

* Performs repetitive movements, such as rocking, spinning or hand-flapping
* Develops specific routines or rituals
* Becomes disturbed at the slightest change in routines or rituals
* Moves constantly
* May be fascinated by parts of an object, such as the spinning wheels of a toy car
* May be unusually sensitive to light, sound and touch

Answer 3

I just heard on the news that doctors can detect austim as early as 1 year. Find out places that can do this. There is such a broad spectrum to autism that it is better for you to talk to an autism specialist for the best and accurate information. Your doctor might give you a reference who to talk to. Don't take your doctor's word though. Your doctor probably doesn't know as much as he should about the early signs of autism. With help, autism is manageable.

Answer 4

What about eye contact? If you can manage to make eye contact with him & he smiles & reacts to your face, I'd say autism is unlikely.
Have you had his hearing tested? Most of the "symptoms" you mentioned sounds like hearing problems.

Also, not all kids develop on the same schedule. One of my nephews was very late in talking. He was over tow when he finally started talking much. He has just graduated from college in December.

When you hear about how many kids have autism, keep in mind about half of these kids are high-functioning. There are challenges with high-functioning autism, but it is not anything like low-functioning. High-functioning kids grow up to have relatively normal lives with normal jobs & maybe even getting married & having kids.

Answer 5

I have a child who is Autistic. Autism is caused by heavy metals in the system. In order to to know if he is Autistic you have to have him tested for it. There are many different forms of Autism. I would have his hearing tested,and his developmental skills checked first before anything else.

Answer 6

In response to the first answerer, you can't look autistic.
If you're concerned, ask your ped to refer you to a developmental psychologist. Also find out where to contact your local Birth to Three program.

Answer 7

talk to your pediatrician the ll be more qulified to answer, all babies develop very differantly good luck.

Answer 8

does he look autistic? i guess you could tell by looks. It seems like he's just shy and distracted

Answer 9

Five early signs of Autism

1) Does the baby respond to his or her name when called by the caregiver? Within the first few months of life, babies respond to their own name by orienting toward the person who called them. Typical babies are very responsive to the voices of familiar people, and often respond with smiles and looks.

In contrast, infants later diagnosed with autism often fail to respond to their own name. That is, when called by name, they tend to turn and look at the person only about 20% of the time as found- in the videotaped one year-old birthday parties of children with autism. They also are often selectively responsive to sounds. They may ignore some sounds and respond to others that are of the same loudness. Thus, they may fail to respond to their parent calling their name, but immediately respond to the television being turned on. It is not unusual for parents to suspect their child has a hearing loss.

2) Does the young child engage in "joint attention"? Near the end of the first year of life, most infants begin to join with their caregivers in looking at the same object or event. To aid in this process of "joint attention", typical infants begin to shift their gaze from toys to people, follow other's points, monitor the gaze of others, point to objects or events to share interest, and show toys to others. These behaviors have a distinct sharing quality to them. For example, the young infant may point to an airplane flying over head, and look to the parent, as if to say, "do you see that!"

In contrast, young children with autism have particular difficulties in jointly attending with others. They rarely follow another's points, do not often shift their gaze back and forth from objects to people, and do not seem to share "being with" the caregiver as they watch and talk about objects, people, or events. They also tend not to "show" a toy to the parent.

3) Does the child imitate others? Typical infants are mimics. Very young infants can imitate facial movements (e.g., sticking out their tongue). As early as 8-10 months, mothers and infants say the same sounds one after another, or clap or make other movements. Indeed, imitation is a major part of such common infant games as pat-a-cake and So Big ("How big is baby? Soooo big!" as infant raises hands to sky).

Young children with autism, however, less often imitate others. They show less imitation of body and facial movements (waving, making faces, playing infant games), and less imitation with objects.

4) Does the child respond emotionally to others? Typical infants are socially responsive to others. They smile when others smile at them, and they initiate smiles and laughs when playing with toys and others. When typical infants observe another child crying, they may cry themselves, or looked concerned. Somewhat older infants may crawl near the person, pat, or in other ways offer comfort. These latter behaviors are suggestive of empathy and are commonly observed among children in the second year of life.

In contrast, children with autism may seem unaware of the emotions of others. They may not take notice of the social smiles of others, and thus may not look and smile in response to other's smiles. They also may ignore the distress of others. Several researchers have now shown that when an adult feigns pain and distress after hitting herself with a toy, or banging her knee, young children with autism are less likely to look at the adult, or show facial concern.

5) Does the baby engage in pretend play? Someone once noted that "play is the work of children." Young children love to pretend-to be a mother, father, or baby, to be a firefighter or police officer. Although children start to play with toys around six months or so, play does not take on a pretend quality until the end of the first year. Their first actions may involve pretending to feed themselves, their mother or a doll, brush the doll's hair, or wipe the doll's nose. Nearer their second birthday, children engage in truly imaginative play as dolls may take on human qualities of talking or engaging in household routines. Children may pretend that a sponge is a piece of food, a block is a hat, or a plastic bowl is a swimming pool that contains water.

In contrast, the play of children with autism may be lacking in several ways. The young child may not be interested in objects at all, paying more attention to the movement of his hands, or a piece of string. If interested in toys, only certain ones may catch his interest, and these may be used in a repetitive way that is not consistent with how most children would play with the toy. They may be more interested in turning a toy car upside down and spinning the wheels than pushing the car back and forth. Overall, pretend qualities are nearly absent in the play of children with autism under 2 years of age.

It is important to note that in each of the 5 areas we have flagged, we are most concerned with behaviors that are absent or occur at very low rates. The absence of certain behaviors may be more difficult to pinpoint than the presence of atypical behaviors. But concerns in any of the above areas should prompt a parent to investigate screening their child for autism. Several screening measures are now available, and information from the screener will help to determine if the parent should pursue further evaluations. If the parent is convinced their child has autism, then they should seek an evaluation with an expert in autism. Most likely, this evaluation will involve an interview with the parents to obtain a complete developmental history of the child, and direct observations of the child in different situations.