Spectrum - when & what are the first signs?

amother

Cerulean

Thu, Feb 23 2017, 10:27 am

At what age do children begin to display behaviors that would indicate that they have autism?

What are some of the initial red flags to look for?

Quick backstory:
I have OCD and another DC is very sensory, so this makes me a lot more sensitive to these matters. (I do have other family members who are on the spectrum. One is completely mute, with the mental state of a 5 year old at 20. One is highly functional, but lacks proper social skills.) However, I was either too young or didn't see them often enough to pick up on these behaviors.

Sometimes I think all is well, but then certain behaviors make me concerned.

amother

Coral

Thu, Feb 23 2017, 10:43 am

With my son, the first signs were extreme sensory avoidance (refusal to eat among other things) ,frequent tantrums lasting hours, extreme rigidity, obsessions with numbers, and his lack of interest in other children. Despite all these signs, I was convinced by others that I was just a bad parent and there was nothing wrong. BH, he is finally getting the help he needs.

The signs were present from a young age, before 2.

Chana Miriam S

Thu, Feb 23 2017, 1:28 pm

Signs can be present as early as 6 months, according to the infant sibling study. Get a referral to early intervention and or a Dev. Pediatrician ASAP if you have concerns. Be persistent

seeker

Thu, Feb 23 2017, 3:16 pm

andrea levy wrote:

Signs can be present as early as 6 months, according to the infant sibling study. Get a referral to early intervention and or a Dev. Pediatrician ASAP if you have concerns. Be persistent

Signs at 6 months are always retrospective, nobody gives any diagnoses at that age.

amother

Plum

Thu, Feb 23 2017, 3:23 pm

My son is very high functioning but these were some things that were definitely different about him:

He was able to focus on one task or toy for a very long time at about 2. eg we had hama beads and he would spend hours putting them on a board. He was pretty well behaved in general.

Toilet training was a nightmare but I don't know if this is related. (he had encopresis). He was finally fully trained at 5 or 6.

He didn't speak in school for the first few months.

flowerpower

Thu, Feb 23 2017, 3:34 pm

seeker wrote:

Signs at 6 months are always retrospective, nobody gives any diagnoses at that age.

My professor used to diagnose newborns! She said they didn't calm down when they heard a parent enter the room and many other such signs. I found it very interesting.

A few signs I can think off my head are-
Lining up toys
No pretend play or very minimal
No eye contact
Stymming/ hand flapping
Obsessions
Can't carry a conversation with a peer
Not able to express themselves properly
Sensory issues
Toe walking

amother

Silver

Thu, Feb 23 2017, 3:39 pm

My son wasn't diagnosed till nearly 5. At 2 he started getting services, but nobody mentioned checking for autism, everyone said it's just some mild delays. He is very high functioning and a borderline case and didn't present with many of the "classic" symptoms. In retrospect, I can say there was some stuff going on at 2 that maybe could have clued us in, but very subtle. It was enough to push us to get him services, but not enough to get a diagnosis any sooner than we did.

amother

Magenta

Thu, Feb 23 2017, 3:49 pm

I have two kids with autism. One I was concerned about from the moment he was born. He seemed to be in another world. I had him at specialists right from the beginning, but he wasn't diagnosed until he was 6.

The other child is older and I only became concerned about him after I started looking into the younger child. He was eventually diagnosed at age 12.

So you see there are lots of variations. Trust your instincts and keep pushing until you get answers. But at the same time understand that you will know what you need to know exactly when you need to know it.

Shoshie

Thu, Feb 23 2017, 7:09 pm

Autism is displayed differently in girls. Since autism is at least three times more common in boys, most studies of autistic children have a disproportional number of boys.

You wrote, OP, that you are concerned about your DC. If your DC is a girl, the symptoms listed by previous posters may not be how your daughter acts, even if she has autism.

imasinger

Thu, Feb 23 2017, 7:35 pm

flowerpower wrote:

My doctor was very surprised when DS was diagnosed with autism, because when he was a baby, he got uncomfortable when she entered the room, and looked to my face to calm. But the diagnosis has been confirmed and reconfirmed every year or so.

Chana Miriam S

Thu, Feb 23 2017, 8:00 pm

seeker wrote:

Signs at 6 months are always retrospective, nobody gives any diagnoses at that age.

Signs are present from six months. Diagnoses were confirmed in those children as time went on. Seeing something in your six month old, having them watched, is NOT futile. And in fact, the infant sibling study, which we participated in was not retrospective. Our children were followed from BIRTH. My daughter, an infant sibling of a brother with ASD IS NOT ON THE SPECTRUM BUT I HAVE TWO FRIENDS WHOSE SIX MONTH olds ( sorry about the caps, unintentional) were identified at 6 months as having characteristics notable. Both of them had diagnoses confirmed later.

This was and is a massive, ongoing international study. Our 'team' consisted of a world leader in the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders, and other professionals well versed in ASD.

This study is why more doctors can recognize and diagnose asd earlier than ever before.

seeker

Thu, Feb 23 2017, 9:29 pm

andrea levy wrote:

I didn't say it's a waste of time to notice these things, I just expressed strong doubt that anyone is diagnosed at this age. You definitely need to pay attention to child development at all ages. But there are many kids who appear entirely typical at 6 months and later develop traits of autism.

amother

Vermilion

Thu, Feb 23 2017, 9:49 pm

The women who wrote the symptoms with tippy toes she has the list. Another thing I do have mention is that a professional will not give a psak till a child is six years old in case the child is not adhd/autistic etc. Because the law is thst they don't give a real diagnosis till a child is six.

seeker

Thu, Feb 23 2017, 9:51 pm

amother wrote:

Now 6 months I'm not sure about but 6 years is definitely false. Autism is diagnosed in toddlers. You can always change the diagnosis later if symptoms change. It isn't carved in stone.

amother

Pink

Thu, Feb 23 2017, 9:57 pm

amother wrote:

Actually, this is not accurate at all. Children are diagnosed with ASD all the time at a younger age. I work in the field and see this all the time. Also there the autism diagnosis does not exist. It is now called ASD or autism spectrum disorder.

amother

Coral

Thu, Feb 23 2017, 9:58 pm

seeker wrote:

You can always change the diagnosis later if symptoms change. It isn't carved in stone.

Interesting that you said this. Our developmental pediatrician told us that, according to the DSM, the diagnosis still applies if the symptoms were present in the past, even if no longer prevalent. This can work to your benefit to help qualify for services.