10 Early Signs of Autism (UPDATED)

Alastor hi are you driving what a big kid hi everyone this is allister's dad the most important thing to remember is just because some of these signs exist in your child that doesn't mean an automatic diagnosis for autism however the more these behaviors occur in your child the more concerned you should be the key here is consistency and frequency of these behaviors so in this first example it's pretty obvious some children will hand flap during early development but as with all these signs pay attention to how long the behaviors last if the child grows out of these behaviors generally around 3 years of age there's not much to worry about but with someone like alistair who hand flaps every day there is cause for concern this is one example of self stimulation or stimming as it is called and it helps the calm children with autism this second example can be confusing to some as most people have at least attempted to walk on their tippy toes at some point in their life again pay attention to how often the child does the behavior our nine-year-old son who is diagnosed with autism still walks on his tippy toes to this very day this third example may seem alarming however as long as they bang their head on something soft like this padded highchair generally they'll be okay as a form of stimming it can help calm the child due to the rocking motion many people with autism like to rock back and forth we also show Alistair banging his head on the glass door and on the ground to show you different examples however after recording the footage we promptly removed Alistair from the situation and redirected his attention to avoid any potential damage some people even need to buy football helmets for their kids it gets so bad this fourth example may not seem so odd to parents and others after all hasn't every kid been fussy in public at some point but this behavior has less to do with not getting a tree or a toy but due to the loud bright conditions of most public settings well it may be hard to distinguish sensory fussiness or meltdowns from common temper tantrums an easy way to tell us this when you give your child what they want do they stop the bad behavior if so it's probably them just throwing a typical tantrum however if they continue to fuss scream and cry as if in pain even after they get what they want then it's probably a sensory related tantrum or meltdown as most people call it although i don't recommend giving into a child's demands I think this exception can help once in a while as it can be very revealing also most common Tantrums lasts minutes whereas a sensory meltdown can last hours in this fifth example we see another example of stimming while every child loves to play with water and blow bubbles in their milk the key here is again how long does this behavior last also you may notice that your child is doing this behavior alone withdrawn from others instead of trying to put on a show generally the behavior will last longer than five or ten minutes and can last hours depending on the severity of autism look for extreme obsession and repetition with objects and number six we have very aggressive behavior all kids fight at some point but is your child doing this immediately after being punished as if they are enjoying it it may seem odd but this can be another form of stimulation as they get a strong response from others when they are aggressive you will notice the child being much more aggressive than a typical child for no obvious or good reason like wanting something another child has such as a toy Hastur can you use your words what do you think about the car wash and number seven we have a lack of response to voice or sound while every child has ignored their parents at some point usually out of spite you will notice an autistic child being aloof as if in their own little world sometimes parents think their little child has hearing problems at first but this has more to do with being withdrawn than not hearing if anything autistic people hear too much and have a hard time filtering out noises Alistair Alistair what are you playing with there bud I'm playing with a car sit down Alistair Alistair number eight is probably the most well known sign and that's the lack of eye contact most people with autism will avoid eye contact whenever they can and many describe it as painful while the specific reasons can vary from person to person this is definitely a strong sign that autism is present and usually persists into adulthood number nine is missing speech milestones if you don't know the general rule for how many words your baby or toddler should be using then it's only a quick internet search away generally if your child is only using a few words at age three there is cause for concern if your child is four or five and is still not using basic sentences there is a great cause for concern also echoing words or echolalia is when they constantly repeat the same phrase not in a learning way but more like a broken record way again and again and again so be aware of that to finally not all people with autism are nonverbal just because your child may be talking doesn't mean they're necessarily out of the woods number 10 has to do with problems in food or textures many people with autism are picky eaters which ties in with the sensory issues some hate the feeling of yogurt or just like their food touching other food well this sounds like typical child behavior it's on a much higher level if you offer that food to your child even if they are clearly hungry they won't eat it even to save their lives fortunately our son alistair passes this test mostly he loves all kinds of foods he is much more picky with textures like clothing tags and scratchy shirts our older boys who have been diagnosed with autism still love to wear their clothes inside out to avoid clothing tags or odd textures Alistair loves the feel of flannel and likes to wear hats for the feeling of security it gives him well we didn't get to cover all the signs and symptoms of autism we hope this gets you started in the right direction if you seriously think someone you love has autism please reach out to a local psychologists neurologists social worker or other professional the sooner you get your child help the greater chance that we'll have adapting to society and its many social customs on that same token please continue to help those with autism by educating yourself and others about the conditions they face every day thanks for your time and best wishes

Channel: Autism Family

Views: 10,745,556

Keywords: Autism, ASD, early signs, top 10, prevention, help, family, friendly, family friendly, autistic, education

Id: z7NeBs5wNOA

Length: 6min 37sec (397 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 27 2018