Early Warning Signs of Autism

My pediatrician said the biggest indicator that a child is NOT autistic is if they POINT AT EVERYTHING. My son is 15 months old and grunts and growls constantly, because he's a grumbly kid, not because he's autistic or slow. He says mama, dada, and dog... that's it. He too throws temper tantrums and bangs his head on the floor or hits himself... total drama queen antics, but totally age appropriate. Why does she think her son's autistic?! If the pediatrician hasn't said anything then there's no indicators of autism yet. Don't worry, love that baby, and let him be himself :)

@tedsmommy... my son also lines things up CONSTANTLY, but I say it's because he's OCD and anal retentive, HAHAHA!! ;)

He seems to be a regular normal kid to me.
Put it this way, both my kids did things like that too, at that age. It is normal. They are not Autistic.

At this age, kids grunt or may not speak at well as an adult.
They also, when tired or frustrated, babies/kids DO tantrum or throw their head back.

I really doubt, he is Autistic.

What she can do is, every State has an "Early Childhood Intervention" organization, for kids 0-3 years old. They, for free, do overall developmental assessments of children.
You do not have to be referred by a Pediatrician.
Just call them.
Do a Google Search for an ECI, in your area.

Next, I would recommend that your SIL, know about child development. Because, her child is only 1.5 years old. And it seems her expectations of her child, is more in line with older children. Not a 1 year old.

At this age certainly, they do not talk, articulately yet.
Speech, is a process and per age development.
I know, my Son received speech therapy from our local ECI, because he was speech delayed. And he was assessed. He was NOT Autistic and was fine. He was just speech delayed. Which is normal for boys.

I don't think she should do anything until she has him evaluated. She needs to talk to her pediatrician and get an RX for an evaluation or (in PA) Early Intervention Services are completely FREE to age 3.

It might just be a speech delay and his frustration is from not being able to express himself. Don't hop onto the Autism Express until he gets a ticket. He needs to be evaluated. Best of luck to your nephew!

she really should have his motor skills, speech, and sensory reactions checked out by a professional. does he interact with her? is he eager to "share" new discoveries with mommy? my 8yo had symptoms from the time he was 4 months old - but it was the more "social" symptoms that scared me - he didn't interact with us, he was not easily comforted, he didn't snuggle up to me, but rather was rigid and unaffected by affection/attention. delayed speech and tantrums in and of themselves wouldn't really lead me to an autism diagnosis, but if there were other things in his social behavior, i'd be concerned that he may be on the spectrum. help your SIL realize that whether or not he is on the spectrum, denial isn't going to change it, it will just delay the help he may(or may not) need. good luck!

I have a child on the autism spectrum, and several who are not. Still, they all share quite a few "autism traits", though one is obviously more profound. Bottom line, nothing can replace a thorough evaluation. She can even look into Early Intervention organizations if her ins. won't cover.

My sister's toddler will be going through evals soon, even though I have first hand experience and our other sister has several degrees in child development/psych areas. Still, neither one of us is qualified to make that determination in such a young child.

Autistic children also like to line things up. My bosses grandson lines up everything from M&M's to cars to his shoes.

I have seen a lot of kids who are delayed in their speech and people think they are autistic because of the way they act when they are overstimulated. Like someone else said look through the schools they will usually have programs to get little ones evaluated and start speech therapy with them and help prepare them for school. If they are trying to communicate but cannot then its frustrating for them and they act out. They might not see him until he is 2 but you can never start too early but dont jump to conclusions and stress out until you have a diagnosis.

Sounds like my son before I found out he couldnt hear. He would grunt for things he needed. He would get frustrated and hit or bite other children due to no one understanding him. He just could not get his point across due to not being able to communicate and not hearing what the others wanted of him.
I would have him checked out for everything. Its easy for us mothers to jump to the worst case scenario but sometimes were lucky and its a simple fix.
I hope you can get her to take him in and good luck to all of you! Your a good auntie!

My son is autistic and was diagnosed 4 months months before he turned 3. We knew something was going on because something just wasn't clicking besides the speech delay which he had numerous of ear infections and hearing loss due to the ear infections. He would flap his arms when he would get excited, walk on tip toes, cover his hears when he was getting sensory overload/loud noises, line things up, no pretend play, play alone, wonder off when doing activities in a group, grunt when trying to communicate, major tantrums, out of control, sleep issues, overly active, bouncing around, head banging, delays in speech as mentioned before, lack of eye contact, delays in gross and fine motor skills, sensory integration and malabsorption which is due to the leaky gut(very common in children on the autism spectrum) he is on a soy free, gluten free, casein free, lactose free diet which he also can not tolerate processed foods, artificial colors, high corn frutose and preservatives meaning that pretty much everything is organic. If we go off his special diet at all or there is contamination he will have chronic diarreah and have major behavior problems which will happen almost instantly. He's had a lot of issues with his bowels starting as an infants, he has projectile acid reflux. He was a very sick baby. He could not stand being swaddled with a blanket and still to this day he can't stand the confined feeling, he has a lot of OCD traits as well. He has to have routines and schedules which has to be consistant because he will have a major meltdown if there is change which we have to prepare him and keep reminding him if there is to reduce some of the anxiety and to help prevent the meltdown.
I would highly recommend she get him evaluated through Early Childhood Intervention(ECI) which is free from birth through 3 then at 3 years you go through the school district for free services. Early Intervention is the key.

I hope this helps.
M.

He may be autistic, or he may just have some delays.

I would recommend she speak with her pediatrician, then make an appointment with Early Intervention services and get him evaluated. If they determine that he qualifies, he can start getting services for free if he is under 3 years old. Health insurance has nothing to do with it.

If she has concerns, she needs to be pro-active and follow through with them. Putting things off if he needs help will only delay him further.