How do you tell if a kid has autism?

Question

What are the signs?

Answer 1

There are many different degrees of autism, and if your child exhibits more than two of these signs I would seek a doctors opinion, I have worked with Autistic children and they are great kids, so hang in there!

  Here is a checklist of what to look for:

Social skills

 Fails to respond to his or her name

 Has poor eye contact

 Appears not to hear you at times

 Resists cuddling and holding

 Appears unaware of others' feelings

 Seems to prefer playing alone — retreats into his or her "own world"

Language

 Starts talking later than other children

 Loses previously acquired ability to say words or sentences

 Does not make eye contact when making requests

 Speaks with an abnormal tone or rhythm — may use a singsong voice or robot-like speech

 Can't start a conversation or keep one going

 May repeat words or phrases verbatim, but doesn't understand how to use them

Behavior

 Performs repetitive movements, such as rocking, spinning or hand-flapping

 Develops specific routines or rituals

 Becomes disturbed at the slightest change in routines or rituals

 Moves constantly

 May be fascinated by parts of an object, such as the spinning wheels of a toy car

 May be unusually sensitive to light, sound and touch and yet oblivious to pain

Answer 2

i think the best thing for you is to go see a physician, they can give you a scale and then you will see.

Answer 3

Here are a couple of good screening tools to see if you should go for more in depth evaluation for autism.   The first set of links is for the Modified Checlkist for Autism in Toddlers.  This is a good screening for toddlers.

http://www.firstsigns.org/downloads/m-ch...

http://www.firstsigns.org/downloads/m-ch...

This second set of links is for the "Childbrain PDD Screening"  

This link is for the grading guide. It explains exactly how to answer each question on the page.  http://www.childbrain.com/pddassess2.htm...

Here's the link to the questionaire itself. http://www.childbrain.com/pddassess.html

THESE ARE  ONLY SCREENING, NOT A DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS.  You can get a  "possible pdd-nos" score if your child simply has speech delays.  If you have any concerns about your childs develoment you should address them with your pediatrician.  If these questionaires bring up concerns,  print them and bring them with you to your pediatrician.  You can also call your local early intervention agency for an evaluation.

Answer 4

There are differnet signs depending on how far on the scale that child is...its much better to just observe the child and speak to a professional than to try to see if child fits a diagnosis.

Often parents say a child has autistic symptons but really the chidl is just developing at their own rate!

However signs can be:

-very solo with no interest in others-may get upset if others try to contact them, touch them, play with them etc.

-have a really REALLY severe need for structure and to know what is happening-often upset by change.

-can have communication difficulties-some may not speak.

-fascination with one particular thing...one of the children I care for likes everything in twos-holds two toys, two biscuits, etc.

-impairment in creativity-unable to understand jokes, sarcasm and 'sayings'.