Autism is a disorder diagnosis that is becoming more commonly diagnosed than you may think. About 1 in 100 children in the U.S. will be diagnosed with autism.
Autism affects thought, perception, and attention and is much more than a single disorder but rather a defined set of symptoms. Autistic behavior typically occurs across various situations that are consistently inappropriate for their age. According to the American Psychiatric Association, a diagnosis of autistic disorder is made when an individual displays six or more of the twelve symptoms listed across the major areas of social interaction, communication, and behavior. Fortunately filling out a quick questionnaire in your pediatrician's waiting room, could help determine if your child has autism. Researchers say this infant-toddler checklist can provide aid to children who have autism and other developmental disabilities, to get on track for treatment earlier than the norm.
It's also important to rule out other medical problems first since autism usually begins during the important development milestones of a child's life.
A child can show visual problems, hearing problems, or sleep disorders. But other conditions have to be ruled out first before autism is diagnosed. Parents need to start checking signs at around 6 months of age all the way to 2 years. A diagnosis can hopefully be made by 36 months.
The checklist focuses on several key areas like problems in social relatedness and communication, abnormal responses to one or a combination of senses, speech and language absence or delays, and abnormal ways of relating to people, objects, and events. Knowing how to use language appropriately is a common aspect of language that tends to be disturbed in autistic people. This includes knowing how to carry on a conversation, thinking about what the other person in the conversation understands, and tuning into the linguistic signals of other people such as facial expressions and tone of voice.
Some things to pay attention to:
Currently the infant-toddler checklist is mainly being used by pediatricians in San Diego, California, and Tallahassee, Florida.
Go here to see the original:
Priority Health: Autism checklist