Are You Worried Your Child Has Autism?
Discover the Top Three Warning Signs for Autism, PLUS…
How to Help Your Toddler with
Communication Delays
Learn to Interact, Understand, and Talk
Explore the Breakthrough Developmental DVDs Created by
Pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist Laura Mize
Grateful Parents Across the Country Have Deemed an “Absolute Godsend”
If you’ve arrived at this website, it’s probably because you’re concerned your child might have autism.
Perhaps it’s because your child exhibits ”odd” behavior…extreme aggression… doesn’t talk yet….or has a habit of saying things that don’t quite fit the situation.
Whatever it is, I’m here to help you determine whether or not you should talk to pediatrician about your concerns…and then I’ll show you powerful ways to help your child learn to interact, understand, and talk—even if your child has autism or is at high risk for developing it.
My name is Laura Mize. In over 15 years as a pediatric speech-language pathologist and as the author of the parent-friendly website, TeachMeToTalk.com, I’ve worked with hundreds of speech delayed children from all walks of life.
And I understand the pain and fear most parents feel when confronted with the idea that your child may not be developing normally.
That’s why, before I do anything else, I want to assure you: there is hope.
I’ve spent literally thousands of hours on the floor, helping toddlers with speech-language delays and autism learn to communicate effectively. And here, on this webpage, I’m going to show you how you can do the same.
How Can I Tell If My Child Has Autism?Concerned Parent,
This is one of the first questions I hear. So let me give you some of the tell-tale warning signs.
Nearly 1 out of every 150 children in the United States will be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. Typically, you can tell your toddler or young preschooler is at risk when he shows differences or delays in each of the following categories:
- Communication Skills
- Interaction Skills
- Behaviors
What do I mean by each of those? Here are some general descriptions…
Communication Skills - This relates to how a child expresses himself AND how she understands others. If your child is not yet talking by 2, and ESPECIALLY if she’s not yet using gestures like pointing to show you what she wants, her communication skills are delayed.
Interaction Skills - Interacting with others is THE foundational skill for ALL other skills your baby and toddler will learn in his whole lifetime. If your child is approaching 2 or 3 and is NOT consistently making eye contact, NOT consistently acting like he wants to be with others, but seems to prefer to be on his own doing his own thing–and especially if he is NOT consistently responding when you talk to him–there is a MAJOR problem.
Behaviors - Almost every young child who gets diagnosed with autism is described as having some form of “odd” behavior. This might include what professionals call stereotypical behaviors such as flapping his hands, walking or jumping on her toes, wringing his hands, leaning forward when he’s excited and staring for an unusually long time at an object, running and darting his eyes to the side, unusual fascinations and interests, displaying horrible tantrums that come on suddenly and don’t go away within a few minutes, or saying words or phrases that don’t match the situation.
If this describes your child, please consider the following list of more specific kinds of communication, interaction, or behavioral issues that parents report in their children who go on to be diagnosed with autism. (Please note that this is not an official diagnostic list, but rather a list of concerns parents report. This list was gathered from several sources.)
· Does not consistently respond to his/her name.
· Cannot tell you what he/she wants with words or gestures.
· Doesn’t follow directions.
· Seems to be deaf at times.
· Seems to hear sometimes, but not others.
· Doesn’t point or wave bye-bye (past 15 months) or use other gestures such as shaking his head “yes” or “no” appropriately and use this during back-and- forth conversations with you.
· Used to say a few words or babble, but now he/she doesn’t.
· Throws intense or violent tantrums.
· Has odd movement patterns such as flapping arms or shaking body, especially when excited.
· Shows other odd visual behaviors such as staring repeatedly at spinning wheels on a toy or shifting his eyes to the side as he runs.
· Seems hyperactive much of the time; is always “on the go.”
· Is often uncooperative or oppositional during daily routines.
· Doesn’t know how to play with toys. Might spin or line them up excessively.
· Doesn’t smile when smiled at.
· Doesn’t make eye contact. He/she seems to look right through/past you.
· Gets “stuck” on things over and over and can’t move on to other things.
· Seems to prefer to play alone.
· Gets things for him/herself only without asking for help.
· Is very independent for his/her age.
· Seems to be in his/her “own world.”
· Seems to tune people out.
· Shows very little interest in other children.
· Or may interact inappropriately with other children.
· Walks on his/her toes.
· Shows unusual attachments to toys, objects, or schedules (i.e., always holding a string or having to put socks on before pants).
· Spends a lot of time lining things up or putting things in a certain order and gets upset if this is disrupted.
· Has delayed speech-language skills when compared to other children of the same age.
· Memorizes and quotes long scripts of favorite TV shows, sing entire songs, or label lots of objects, but he/she uses very few “real” or meaningful words to ask for things or participate in conversation.
· Repeats what he/she hears rather than using words on his own.
· Learns to read at age 2 or 3 (or has a very strong interest in visual symbols such as letters and numbers), but has difficulty communicating with others in a meaningful way.
Comment by melissa on 9 August 2009:
i have an almost 4 yr. old that was disgoned with a speech delay and developmently delay autism runs on her father side she shows some signs of that and signs of adhd she is in preschool and is very demanding not afiard of anything what should i do? she is fixen to go to lousville to get test run on her to try to figure out why she does what she does. please if u have any suggestion let me know.
Comment by Laura on 11 August 2009:
Melissa - I’m glad you’re having her evaluated. I hope that she’s currently receiving therapy services and that’s she’s enrolled in a preschool program. Hopefully during her evaluation you’ll receive recommendations for specific services for her as well as what you can do at home to help her. In the meantime, this website is FULL of information for you to read for ideas to use at home. Good luck! Laura
Comment by Laura on 8 September 2009:
INTERNATIONAL READERS -If you’ve recently tried to order Teach Me To Talk the DVD or any other DVD in our series and were told by Google that we don’t ship internationally, I have good news. We have worked out a solution for you! Send me an email at Laura@teachmetotalk.com with which DVDs you’d like to order and your country, and I’ll send you a special link which should allow us to process your order. Thanks!! Laura
Comment by Cetta on 12 January 2010:
hi Laura,
Don’t children w ASD’s progress too? My 2 1/2 has been w/SLP since 2yrs old 2x/wk -45min. He also has special ed 2x(45min). While he only had 5 words at 2; he now has well over 50 words and is now saying alot of 2-3 word phrases. Mostly rote phrases, like, Daddy outside, there it is, i got it,more cookie, all done, open please, where train go?help help, bye bye daddy etc.. He still drags me and points but is starting while pulling me to tell me or when i get there he will use words as he points. While i know this is progress- istill think there is more going on but my special ed is saying no to autism. He to me is just off in all three areas. Socially he connects with people but different, language delayed obviously, and he does run at times(not obsessively) w/head turned &will lie down to play w/cars and trains as if to watch wheels (again not all the time but sometimes. He is the youngest of 5 and plays with the kids, mostly chase and ball, and just being around them sometimes. He doesn’t have all the signs but some like, doesn’t like a book read, runs sometimes with eyes to the side, likes his stroller more than other toys(he gathers things),has tantrums when he doesn’t get what he wants, seems not to understand(can follow one step directions). Yesterday i asked him where diegos eyes, ears,etc.. were. Nothing. Today i did and got him to point to everything. He is inconsistent. Help– i have his CPSE meeting on Friday and i plan on asking EI for a psychological again. What do you think?
Comment by Laura on 14 January 2010:
Ceta - Yes, children with autism spectrum disorders do make progress, so using this as a “reason” why a child is NOT on the spectrum doesn’t make very much sense to me. However, just because a child exhibits a few red flags or concerns for autism doesn’t mean that he “qualifies” for the diagnosis. Most professionals are very, very careful about diagnosing young children, and rightly so. However, if you continue to have a gut feeling that this IS what’s going on with him, by all means, ask for the evaluation again. If EI says no, you may decide that it’s worth pursuing on your own. Laura
Comment by Cetta on 14 January 2010:
I understand being v.v. careful about a diagnois but help me understand. Everything you suggest and read indicate the earlier the better, yet when you go to doctors they hesitate. I get that they want to be v.v. careful but then the child misses RIGHT services if they keep waiting and they are wrong. Ihave a friend that went through 5 psychologists or neuros and it wasn’t until he went to a special ed preschool they said to her “he is autistic” While he had a pddnos diag & was getting services He was not getting the right services. So she missed out on a year of ABA. Like i said, my son is improving but maybe hecould be improving faster if he had more or different services. I already had one neurologist basically blow me off b/c he was only 2 and i am so scared a year will go by and they may say, Sorry we missed it too. My EI team is hesitant to say anything b/c they are not allowed. She believes one on one is better than institution based therapy. When his speech path the same question–he says he really doesn’t know which is better for him. I have my meeting Friday and i am going to push for EI preschool not knowing if this is right and contradicting my special ed therapist. I don’t know what the next step should be. Maybe i should postpone until i find a good psychologist & get the report but that could take months. What would you do?
Comment by Laura on 16 January 2010:
Cetta - You have some great questions and comments. Too good in fact for me to thoroughly address here, so I’m going to discuss your comments on next week’s podcast. You can listen to “Teach Me To Talk with Laura and Kate” live here on the website using the blogtalkradio.com link at 2 pm eastern time on Thursday, January 21. Better yet, you can call in and discuss this with us at 1-718-766-4332. Email me for more specifics if you’d like at Laura@teachmetotalk.com. Hope we can give you some direction or more things to consider then. Thanks for writing. Laura
Comment by April on 26 February 2010:
Hi Laura- Thank you for your dvds. I have been working with my almost three-year-old son for just a few weeks and he is already improving in his receptive language skills.
I have a tough question for you. My son was evaluated today and has not been diagnosed yet but he has some signs of being on the Autism spectrum. From all of the research I have done on this site and sites like IANproject, I have noticed that he only has a few of the symptoms and very mild for the ones he has. For instance, he loves to look at fans spinning but he doesn’t do it obsessively. Just for a few minutes and then moves on. And he doesn’t consistently answer to his name but he does makes eye contact and seeks attention from people(not just my husband and I either). He has no problems with his daily routines nor any obsessive routines of his own he must follow. He talks and puts a few phrases together but not many. The longest being,”C’mon, let’s go outside.”, and,” I stinky. Poopoo in the potty.”. He can and does follow directions but if you ask him a question he will most likely repeat it or look confused even if it’s something he just asked for. For instance, he will get the cheese from the refrigerator and say “Cheese please.” and then I will say “Do you want some cheese?”. most of the time he won’t respond or he will repeat the question. He has started saying “yeah” sometimes lately. Thanks to the dvds most likely. I am wondering if his symptoms could get worse with age or if they are so mild now will they stay mild and hopefully become even more mild with therapy? He is a joy to my husband and I and he does not disrupt our lives in any way. We don’t see him as having any problems other than some verbal communication skills. The point I am trying to get to is that we are trying to conceive again and I am worried about the future. As things are now it would be fine to have another child but if my son is going to have more and more problems we might need to focus only on him. We also only have a small window of opportunity to conceive so we can’t really postpone lightly. I’m sorry to ask such a complicated question but I just wanted your opinion on it and to see if there is any research that suggests he might become “more autistic” for lack of a better phrase.
Comment by Laura on 27 February 2010:
April - Wow - what a question! My best answer is, I don’t know. I’m not sure of studies that would support or refute a child becoming “more autstic.” Even with a common diagnosis, every child’s profile of strengths and weaknesses is a little different, and every child responds to treatment differently, so we can’t really look at a child at 3 and know what he’s going to be like later - totally caught up, always a little behind, or small delays that turn into larger problems since age-appropriate skills are a moving target. Sometimes children in therapy do make GREAT progress, but so does every other 2 or 3 year old, so that our kids are have to “do double time” to fully catch up. But that’s not really your question. So again, I have to come back to “I don’t know.”
As far as planning for another baby, only you can make that decision. Wish I could be of more help! Laura
Comment by April on 27 February 2010:
Thank you for responding.
Comment by Laura on 28 February 2010:
Vanessa - I accidentally deleted your great comment! Please rewrite it for our readers! Laura
Comment by EP on 19 October 2010:
I am worried about my son. He is 2 yrs and 3months old. He is not able to match animals with sounds yet. Everything is a Moo (Cow). Every night he has to have a stuffed animal in his bed in exact same spot and it has to be sitting up. When he takes his shoes off they have to be placed right next to someone’s shoes, but not lined up. He talks very well. He has several words in his vocabulary. He is a picky eater, but so is Mom (not sure if that has anything to do with it). Sometimes he acts as thought he does not hear me-like he is tuning me out. He also is always on the go…but he also is a 2 year old boy. He plays very well with other kids and love to be with kids. He is very outgoing and very sociable boy. Very seldom is he shy. He also minds well. Not very often do we have to resort to time out. And he really only throws fits when he is tired. My mom said I am crazy that I too had way to do things when I was a child. But my Husband and I are worried about it. I am sure I am leaving some things out and I almost feel like I am reading to much into some of this…but I also want to be able to catch this early if it really is something. Please any advise would be great.
-EP
Comment by Harmony on 19 October 2010:
My son Jacob recently was diagnosied with speech delays. He turns 3 in under a week. We took him to see an ENT who told us that he has about 10% hearing loss in both ears. they said it is not enough to cause a speech delay or get him hearing aids. However while he was there the ENT did a preliminary screening for autisum and she said my son has autisum. She said a mild form of it but still he has it. Reading this web page makes me want to cry. I see my son in so many of these symptoms or concerns. Jacob however does not have a problem with eye contact or smiling when smiled at. But at almost 3 years old he has just started talking and may have a vocabulary of 200 words. He does not really put sentences together like he should. And if we mess up ANY part of his daily routine….Lord have mercy….we are in for it!!! Everything has to be done at the sme time in the same order. Everything!!! He is very aggressive towards other children especially male children. He has not been officially diagnoised as autistic and my husband feels like it may be aspergers. The more I read about autisum tho the more I’m convinced that hes autistic. In about a week Jacob is due to start special ed preschool. Im very worried that he is not going to adjust well. Any advice on how to make this transition more easy for him? Because of his hearing loss my husband and I are working on sign language with him and he is learning it and some days he says new words and somedays he says no words at all. Some days he signs only and some days he talks and signs. Some words he wont even say he just signs them. he prefers to play alone and does not like it when anyone disturbs his play. When he runs it looks like he is constantly on the verge of falling down. He will run straight but turn his eyes to the side. I’m really hoping that school will either diagnose him or tell us how to better help him if he is not autistic. I’m praying that he is not and I really dont want to hear that diagnosis. We were told by jacobs Speech therapist to push for a hearing aid. Do you think that it could just be his hearing problem that is making him seem autistic? Any advice on this subject would be greatly appreciated please. I feel like I’m drowning. Thank you.
Comment by Harmony on 19 October 2010:
P.S. I am leaving alot out. It would take days to tell you eerything. My main concerns right now is the transition to school. Any advice on that would be greatly appreciated please. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.
Comment by Laura on 27 October 2010:
Harmony - I read and answered your questions on the podcast on Sunday. Listen above to show #89. Laura