How can I tell if a child is autistic?
No two autistic kids are alike, but there are some signs that many of them share and that experts agree may be as recognizable as early as the toddler years, or even sooner. Children on the spectrum generally have difficulty relating to others; they may hardly speak, and if they do, they may not communicate in ways that other people can easily understand (they may screech loudly when they’re upset, for example, instead of crying). They don’t usually sustain eye contact – it’s too intense — and have trouble reading social cues. They’re also prone to repetitive behaviors, flapping their hands constantly or uttering the same phrase over and over again. They may also be more sensitive than typically developing children, or dramatically less so, to sights, sounds and touch.
As Christian approached his 2nd birthday, my husband, Chris and I became concerned when he wasn’t able to communicate his needs and had limited eye contact. We were also concerned with Christian’s behavior. He would yell, scream, throw himself on the floor or against the sliding glass door, bang his head on the wall and constantly rock back and forth. We knew something was wrong. This wasn’t normal behavior. We tried telling ourselves that nothing was wrong because he had reached all his milestones. Yet we couldn’t explain his behavior. We were wrong. As a mother you never want to hear someone tell you that something is wrong with your child. That day come on January 17th, which also was my 28th birthday, when a psychologist diagnosed Christian with Autism, (PDD) Pervasive Developmental Disorder. We were devastated and filled with questions. We didn’t know anything about Autism or about how to get help for our son.
