Guest post: Autism signs and the importance of early screening

When my son Matthieu had his two-year old exam with his pediatrician, she noticed some things that made her wonder if our son had  autism. At first, we couldn’t believe it: our son? Such a beautiful, intelligent baby? Autistic? It was unbelievable. But autism is a lot more than what we see on television: it’s not always like Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, or children rocking themselves and banging their heads on the walls.

Thanks to an early screening, we could ascertain that Matthieu had autistic symptoms, and help him progress really quickly. It is much easier to help autistic children when they are very young, providing a building base for further progresses during the following years. Since then, I have been informing a lot of people about autism signs, and the importance of early screening.

When Andi told me she would like me to guest post about autism on her blog, I saw an opportunity to reach new people and help spread information about autism. So here are some of the autism signs, and what you should be watching carefully in your toddler in order to know if he has autism or not [FYI: one in 166 people have ASD (autism spectrum disorders)].

The three most important signs:

Lack of eye contact
Matthieu did make eye contact with me sometimes, so I didn’t notice it right away, but he would never look at strangers (or even family), no matter how hard you tried. He was my first child, so really I didn’t make much about it – not having had many babies around, ever.

Lack of gesturing
If your child never points at things – to show you or to answer to your question (“where is the bird?”, for example), and he never waves goodbye, etc., it can be a sign of autism. Matthieu did point around his six months but lost the ability shortly after. In my mind, he already knew how to do it so he was not interested. How wrong was I!

Lack of imaginative play
Autistic children generally cannot play “make believe”: they can’t fake drinking from an empty glass, or eating from an empty plate. It is more difficult for boys to see this sign, because they don’t play often with dolls.

Other signs

Coupled with one or more of the important signs above, here are other signs that your child might be autistic:

Mutism by 16 months
Matthieu did speak very early: he said “papa” and “maman” at 4 months, about four or five times, then stopped. He also used to say words we did not expect from him, or repeated a part of a sentence; this is known as echolalia and is typical of autistic people. Otherwise, he was only making shrieks, like a little animal, and he was crying and shouting a lot. My husband’s mom told me that he also shrieked a lot when he was a baby, so guess what? Yes, I didn’t think much about it.

Flapping
Matthieu was “butterflying” like I loved to say. When he was happy, he would flap his arms just like butterfly wings to show his excitement. This is known as flapping, and is typical for autistic persons; it is a way for them to canalize their emotions, good or bad.

Need of sameness
Autistic persons do not like transitions (places, activities), or changes in their schedules. Matthieu couldn’t bear being asked to stop his current activity. Fortunately, he has been able to correct this quite quickly.

Obsessions with doors or lights
Matthieu always wanted to open and close every door in the flat, and also always tried to flip the light switch every time he was near it when in our arms. No matter how many times we would try to lure him away to another activity, he would always return to the door or the light switch.

Misuse of toys
Instead of playing normally with toys, Matthieu liked to make them fall on the floor, from a high place or to launch them from a distance, to watch them bounce around. He also liked to make the wheels of his little cars roll, but never did he “drive” them on the floor.

Frequent rocking and/or need to be alone
This is a sign Matthieu never had, but some autistic children like to be alone, and try to isolate themselves in their rooms. Some also rock themselves, when they are anxious mostly. If your child is rocking a lot (or worse, banging his head), you have to tell a health professional about it.

No answer to his name, seems deaf and/or hyper-sensitive to noise
Matthieu never answered, never turned his head when I called him, and I had to shout to get his attention. When there was a strong noise, he would put his hands on his ears not to hear it (vacuum, mixer, etc.).

Spread the word

It is easy not to notice autism signs, mostly when the child is still a baby or a toddler. Not knowing all the signs, it was easy to attribute his differences to some other factor. I, too, disregarded Matthieu’s symptoms, and thought everything was normal.

He does not want to do X? He must be bored by it!
He does not look at me? He must be absorbed by his activity!
He shouts a lot? His father did, too, when he was a baby, so that must be normal!

An early screening does wonders to help an autistic child’s progresses. If you think your child may have autism, please take him to see a health professional as soon as possible and ask for a screening, providing him with the information about the symptoms.

The longer a child with autism goes without help, the harder they are to reach.

Nathalie Hamidi blogs at “Nathalie Hamidi – High Maintenance and deranged” in both French and English. She blogs on several topics including life, culture and Twilight.  This is Nathalie’s second appearance on Misadventures,  she blogged here last Saturday.  She is a blogging buddy I met doing the 31DBB Challenge and she is also a member of  S.P.L.A.T.

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