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Putting The Signs Together

Thanks for the comments in my first post! Janice brought up a great point, that there are many children who don’t start speaking until they are older. Which is exactly what I was telling myself! What I failed to mention was that there were many other indications that something was wrong, but I had made excuses for each “sign” differently. I never really stepped back and put everything together.

For example, Colton had a very hard time dealing with changes to his environment. It was almost like he had to shut down until he could adjust to the new situation, and then he’d slowly warm up again. I remember going to grab Colton out of the crib, and he was so excited to see me. When we were sitting in the living room, everything would be fine. But as soon as Mommy walked in and greeted him, he would shut down. Krystal had a really hard time with this, but it wasn’t long before we realized that it really didn’t matter who it was. If you weren’t the first person to rescue him from the crib, then you had to slowly present yourself to him in the mornings.

Another key sign that I made excuses for, was his social interactions with other kids in groups. When we would pick him up from daycare, all of the kids would be around a table coloring or playing. In the corner, my son would be sitting and playing with a truck all by himself. My reaction was, “well he doesn’t have the social skills so he doesn’t feel comfortable playing with the other kids.” What I didn’t realize is that it was much more than the fact that he couldn’t talk to the kids, he just didn’t feel comfortable in large groups.

Here is a list of signs that your infant may be effected by a form of Autism, taken from NeurologyChannel.com:

Signs of autism may appear during infancy and the disorder is usually diagnosed by the age of 3. Sometimes the child’s development appears normal until about 2 years old and then regresses rapidly. Symptoms of autism occur in various combinations, from mild to severe.

Infants with the disorder often display abnormal reactions to sensory stimuli (i.e., senses may be over- or underactive). Touches may be experienced as painful, smells may be overwhelmingly unpleasant, and ordinary daily noises may be painful. Loud noises (e.g., motorcycle going by, vacuum cleaner) and bright lights may cause inconsolable crying.

Other signs of the disorder in infants include the following:

• Appears indifferent to surroundings
• Appears content to be alone, happier to play alone
• Displays lack of interest in toys
• Displays lack of response to others
• Does not point out objects of interest to others (called protodeclarative pointing)
• Marked reduction or increase in activity level
• Resists cuddling

Obviously, you can pick out a few of those signs out and they might apply to any normally developing child. But when you put them all together, you start to realize that something might not be “right.” Probably one of the hardest parts of dealing with the realization that your child is effected by autism, is trying to explain the situation to friends and relatives. Because the spectrum is essentially a combination of common disorders, it’s very easy for people to question the diagnosis. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard, “Well, my son did that when he was younger too, and he’s turned out perfectly fine.” In fact, I think that might be the hardest part for parents, dealing with the doubters.

Here are several other lists of symptoms that you should be aware of:

• WebMD.com - Autism Symptoms
• WrongDiagnosis.com - 48 Symptoms of Autism
• AutismSpeaks.org - Learn the Signs

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