spinoff vaccine-autism?

Autism was mentioned in the thread about vaccines and I had a question. I read alot about autism in school (psych major) and I was always curious about this particular disorder.

I saw on the thread that many of you have had experience and recent information about it.

What is the earliest you can detect autism? What signs can you look for in an infant? If a parent has a child that is autistic, do they look back and think about symptoms they missed?

sorry for my wordiness and run-on sentences I tend to write the way I speak....FAST.

Re: spinoff vaccine-autism?

A friend of mine started seeing symptoms around 1-2 years old.

What sent her to the dr for more evaluation? He refused to walk and would SCREAM bloody murder if she put him on the grass. She was worried cause by 2 years old he should have been walking or at least trying to hold himself up. He also didn't play well with kids, liked to be alone, didn't make eye contact. He has a mild case.

He is now about 5 years old and really is a sweet kid, a bit of a bully, but sweet.

Her and her DH have been genetically tested and were told if they try to have another child, the next one will most likely be autistic too. They both carry the austism gene, and if they had a girl the autism would be more severe than her son's.

Re: spinoff vaccine-autism?

My friends started seeing symptoms in their children between 1-2 years also.

Re: spinoff vaccine-autism?

grass? my son hates to on the grass

So a baby can go from developing normally before one and then symptoms appear?

This disorder baffles me! Sorry for all the questions..

Re: spinoff vaccine-autism?

I asked this when DS got the MMR vaccine.

Ped told me the two biggest signs were no/little eye contact and flailing of airs. These are usually present within a year, but 18 months is a time when people notice more (I guess lack of walking/talking is more noticed then)

Re: spinoff vaccine-autism?

Posted by aja

grass? my son hates to on the grass

So a baby can go from developing normally before one and then symptoms appear?

This disorder baffles me! Sorry for all the questions..

Re: spinoff vaccine-autism?

We knew with my nephew by 1.5 years old. My brother and his girlfriend got him diagnoised at 3, after a 1.5 years of begging from all of us. THey just kept saying "The ped said he will talk and do things when he wants"..well when a 2 year old does not even say Mommy, Daddy or Hi there is a problem. He also would not really interact with people..not the same way Molly does at the same age. He would smile and laugh but he was always removed in some way..hard to explain.


bascially the way a child with autism sees the world is different. When you walk into a room you can see the colors and objects, hear the sounds, smell the smells- but not ALL at once. My nephew bascially is overwhelmed with ALL of the senses at once, like a movie image being shown really fast on a screen for lack of a better way to explain it. There are a ton of various degrees of autism.

Message edited 6/30/2006 12:26:12 PM.

Re: spinoff vaccine-autism?

I've had some parents tell me that they knew right from birth that something wasn't right with their baby. But most seem to notice later on between 1-2 years because their child hasn't developed age appropriate communication skills. There are cases where a child loses skills that had already been acquired, but I think that is not as common at least in all of the children I have worked with. Some early signs to look for are limited communication skills (i.e., not babbling, talking, putting together 2 word phrases on time), poor eye contact, unawareness or disinterest in other people and things going on in their environment, not imitating others, and repetitive behaviors.

It's so sad, but I've come in contact with many families who were reassured by their pediatricians that there was nothing wrong with their child and that they were just a "late talker" or something along those lines and it makes me so furious!! I think you really have to trust your instincts and have your child evaluated or get a second opinion if you think there may be something wrong.