Autism is a lifelong mental condition that is diagnosed in early childhood, characterized by great difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts.
Early Signs of Autism
There are lots of signs that young children can display, that may indicate Autism. Unfortunately many physicians and pediatricians are not experienced in diagnosing Autism. Most physicians are nervous to diagnosis a child with Autism, because it is an incurable disease. There are three crucial area to watch for when a child is developing. These areas are social interaction, language and behaviour. Some examples for social interaction are that the child fails to respond to his/her name or appears not to hear you, has poor eye contact and resists cuddling or holding. Main examples for Language are they child doesn’t speak or has delayed speech, cant start conversations or keep one going, and doesn’t appear to understand simple questions or directions. Lastly for behaviour the child may preform repetitive movement, such as rocking, spinning or hand flapping, they child may be unusually sensitive to light, sound and touch, but oblivious to pain and lastly does not engage in imitative or make-believe play.
Strengths of children with Autism
Many children with autism have a lot of strengths or skills beyond their numerical age. These strengths may dominate the developmental problems your child is experiencing. The strengths that are most often exhibited are a high level reading skill, drawing skills, exceptional memory, or music skills.
When is it time to see a doctor?
All children and babies develop at their own speed and many of them don’t develop the exact same way as in all the parenting books. Children with autism usually show some, if not all, signs of delayed development within the first year of their life. Some tests you can to do see if it is time to go see a doctor would be if your baby doesn’t smile