What is the earliest a baby will exhibit signs of retardation or autism?

Question

He's only a week old, and his pediatrician says everything checks out fine.
But he sometimes exhibits some of the same hand and head movements of children who are deemed mentally retarded or severely autistic.
Now, it may be that he's just "doing what babies do," and those movements may look similar because those older children simply don't move past that "infant-like" stage of development, so I'm hoping I'm just being paranoid.
But I'm wondering if anyone might know of some warning signs.
Thank you.

Answer 1

A lot of the uncontrolled movements of a newborn resemble the self-stimulating that many people with autism do. It is completely normal, and nothing to worry about. If your child fails to meet milestones and is still exhibiting those same behaviors a year or two from now, that is when you need to discuss it w/ your doctor.

Answer 2

Some types of retardation would have been noticed when the baby was born, your doctor would have seen the signs if your baby was one of them. At a week old your baby is too young to know for sure, but I think you're worrying over nothing.
Autism is usually diagnosed between 2 and 5 years old. Some specialists believe that Autism is caused by mini seizures while the child is sleeping and they occur in the toddler to preschool years of the child's life.
My two nephews are Autistic and they were diagnosed at 2 and 4 years old. I really don't think it is something you should worry about until something concrete happens. Watching your child as if he MIGHT be one thing or another will take precious time and memories from what is happening in his life right now. Take pictures and relax that you have a baby that you got to take home.

Answer 3

Retardation usually shows around 4-6 mos, when babies start to turn over and crawl. Babies with mental retardation will be slow to develop or not develop at all. Autism usually shows around the age of 2, because most development is normal until then, where there is a shut down in communication.

My brother is autistic and he developed normally until he was about 2 years old. He learned to walk around 10-11 mos and said single words and babbled a lot until he was 2. then he stopped talking completely, except for the babbling. He didn't start talking again until he was about 4-5 years old.

You really won't be able to tell until your baby is older. Try not to suspect a disability and treat him the same as any other newborn, but just keep an eye out for signs.

Answer 4

Usually the first signs are missing milestones. Being that your son is only a week old, you are just being paranoid. It is every parents worst fear that there is something wrong with their child, but don't make something out of nothing. This early, your baby is just doing regular baby reflexes.

Like the first answerer said, Autism doesn't show up until about 2 years old, but if you would like further information on the subject go to www.Autismspeaks.org. Also, talk about your concerns at your baby's next doctors appointment.

Answer 5

Aww, you're being SUPER paranoid. A one-week old can't do ANYTHING voluntarily. I suggest you pick up a copy of "What to Expect the First Year". It's awesome, and it answers almost every question a parent could come up with. Or, better yet, talk to your pediatrician about it. I know you just saw him, but if you're really concerned and want reassurement, see him again. They're used to parents asking all sorts of odd questions (and I can say this because I'm the proud mommy of 2, and even with the second, I'm crazy paranoid).

Congratulations on your son!

Answer 6

Right now, you are being totally paranoid and showing your "new parent-ness," which, by the way, is TOTALLY normal for you!

The baby is not showing ANY intentional hand and head movements at 1 week. A baby's head is disproportionately large for it's body, and weighs a lot, so they cannot control it. Neck muscles are not strong enough. Hands are just these funky things at the ends of their stumps. Babies do not have much voluntary control over anything right now.

Relax, enjoy your baby. Everything is normal.

Answer 7

He is probably fine; he is just very young yet. My brother is autistic and my dad knew something wasn't quite right when he was two months old. He would scream for hours if a different person was with him. A two month old baby should not be clingy to their parents yet. Also he would not look at you and smile like a three month old baby should do. He did not like to be held and he would not look you in the eye.

Answer 8

I would not worry to much at this age but if your son does not reach his milestones then I would be asking to see a specialist and get an MRI done on the brain just to make sure all is ok. Autism will not show up on any scans so you just have to watch your son. I am sure he is fine and is JUST being a newborn.. Enjoy him while he is small it does not last long.. God Bless

Answer 9

You won't be able to tell at one week. If they are still making these movements at 6 months, and are still as uncoordinated then as they are now, there *might* be a problem, but no one week old on the planet doesn't act like that.

Answer 10

I'm torn on this one. I want to say that there's nothing wrong, and that all the other answers sound right on the mark. But, there's three things here that stop me from doing so. One, experts are figuring out that the majority of infants who are diagnosed at some point with autism did exhibit signs of autism from birth. I forgot what the statistics are, but they were pretty high in my opinion. They are trying to isolate ways of diagnosing autism at birth, but right now, it's just too early to do so. The second thing that keeps me from agreeing outright with everyone is my own son. We knew that something was wrong at birth, we just didn't have a clue what it was. He started having severe night terrors the day we came home from the hospital. These weren't gas cries, hunger cries, or anything else, and he kept having them until he was three and I started working with him, but by that point they were much more severe of course than when he was an infant. He also would have slight seizures if he was in his swing that had blinking lights on it. (It's very common for kids with autism to have seizures/epilepsy.) He had his last one when he was about 2 (that we know of), and it was severe enough for him to stop breathing and need cpr. He hit all of his milestones, and most of them do until they're about age two, so you can't go by that, either. He was actually early on hitting his milestones. Except that he didn't put toys in his mouth, didn't play with toys. Babies mouthing toys is an extremely important milestone, although I didn't know it at the time and thought I was lucky because I didn't have to worry about that one. He couldn't eat meat until he was three, and wasn't sleeping through the night until he was three. He HAD to be held constantly as an infant, or he would literally scream the entire time, like he was in pain, yet he checked out fine all the time. He also had severe colic, and kids with autism often of digestive problems. Most of these things I listed, had I known what I was looking for, would have pointed to sensory issues only I just didn't know any better. The third reason is, I learned through my son and through talking to many parents along the way, is that if your instinct as a mom is telling you something is wrong, don't shrug it off. We're usually right about these things.
Now, with that said, unfortunately what these other people said is true, that you really cannot do much about it right now. You won't find anyone to diagnose a child that young. Just watch, treat him like normal like someone said. It really could be nothing, and you are so right that kids with autism to a large extent have problems moving past the 'infant-like' stage. I learned from a therapist that often they skip over important milestones (like my son did with the mouthing) and when you first begin to work with them, you literally have to go back as far as you realized that he missed the first step and start working from there. So, I'm not saying be MORE paranoid, just pay extra attention to things he does and be aware, but don't stress over it too much. Just enjoy him!