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