Tag: Autism

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Is my Child Autistic

Autism is a popular topic in the news right now. Several celebrities have came out and told the world about their Autistic children. This is causing more people to be aware of Autism, and to question whether their child is Autistic. Nobody wants to think that something could be wrong with their child. Then they watch a news report, or hear someone talking about a child that has Autism and they start to question their own child.

The symptoms of Autism are many, and they vary in each child. Just because you see some symptoms of Autism in your child does not mean they are Autistic. There are other medical conditions that have the same symptoms. Some children are late on their developmental milestones. Each child develops at their own rate. Just because your child is not talking by the time they are one does not mean for certain they have Autism.

If you have concerns about your child’s development speak to their healthcare provider. They can tell you if further testing should be considered. A lot of parents try to self diagnoses their children. This can be a big mistake. It takes several qualified medical professionals to diagnose a child with Autism. This will not be done with one appointment at the pediatrician. You will have a team of health care providers evaluating your child. The earlier you have your child evaluated the better the chances of treatment helping the child.
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Signs of Autism

With all the recent publicity of Autism in the news you might be wondering what are the signs of Autism. Here are a list of signs that can be associated to Autism. If you see these signs in your child speak to their doctor about having them evaluated. The sooner that Autism is discovered the better the chances are at treating it.

1. Does not reach developmental milestones on time. Each child develops differently. Some children will crawl at four months while others will not until they are several months older. This can be perfectly normal. The problem starts when every milestone is much later than usual. If your child is not meeting the developmental stages talk with their doctor.

2. Child does not talk. Children learn to talk at different ages. Some will start talking very young while others will just start blurting out whole sentences one day. This can be very normal. However if your child does not have any babbling type talk by the age of one this could be a cause for concern. Most children will says some words by the time they are sixteen months. If your child is not ask their doctor if they think an evaluation is necessary.

3. No eye contact. Most babies and children will look at you when you are talking to them. Autistic children will often not give you eye contact. It will appear they are looking off into a daze instead of paying attention to you. They will not point to objects. They will not look at something you are trying to show them. Instead they look past it.

4. Child does not show emotion. Autistic children often do not show any emotion. They do not smile back when a person smiles at them. They do not show any cares when someone around them is expressing pain, or crying. The Autistic child does not usually like to be held or cuddled. They will not reach up for their parents to hold them.

5. Likes to play by their self. The Autistic child usually will play alone. They feel more comfortable being by them self. They have a hard time making friends. They do not know how to relate to other kids. They do not understand when another child is joking with them. They take everything said to them literally.

6. The child loses skills the knew. The child may have learned to talk and then it seems as if they forgot how. They can learn a new skill and then a week later have no idea how to do it. Autistic children often lose skills they have learned.

These are just a few of the signs of Autism. If you notice any of them in your children talk to their doctor. All children with Autism will not have every sign. Getting them diagnosed as soon as possible will allow treatment to begin sooner. Getting your child evaluated as soon as you suspect a problem is very important. Even if there is nothing wrong it is better to be safe. The earlier treatment can be started the better for the child.

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Accepting the Diagnosis of Autism

Receiving a diagnosis of Autism can seem overwhelming. You may be left with a lot of unanswered questions about the diagnosis. You might be thinking the diagnosis is wrong. This cannot be happening to your child. There are different feelings and emotions you will experience when dealing with a diagnosis of Autism. Here are some of the ways you might be feeling, and ways to come to terms with the diagnosis.

Denial

Denial is a common feeling when dealing with any medical problem. Sometimes it is easier to deny that there is even a problem. Some parents do not want to consider that there could be something wrong with their child. So they pretend like there is nothing wrong. The doctor was wrong, their child is perfectly normal. Being in denial about the diagnosis will not help anything. The sooner that you accept that your child is Autistic the better both of you will be. The condition will not go away if you ignore it. Accepting the diagnosis and moving on will be a huge step for you as a parent to take. The quicker this is done the sooner you can start looking into treatment options.

Anger

Anger is one of the emotions you might feel when you get a diagnosis of Autism. You might be angry with yourself, or angry with God. Why is your child Autistic. You might be angry with other parents that have healthy children. This is a normal feeling to experience. Remember while you are feeling angry to think of all the great things about your child. Share your feelings with others. Keeping anger bottled up can be a bad thing.

Grief

Sometimes when a parent gets a diagnosis of Autism they go though a grieving period. They are sad that their child has something wrong with them. They may be feeling sad that the dreams they had for their child may have to change. They might be sad over the way the world will treat their child, and the hardships they will face. Grief is a normal emotion to go through. The key is to get through the grief, and on to the acceptance. Try not to look at the things that are wrong. There will have to be some adjustments made to your plans for your child’s future. That is what life is all about , change. If you find yourself unable to move past the grieving stage you might need to talk to someone. It might help having a few therapy sessions to deal with the feelings you are experiencing.

Acceptance

Finally coming to terms with the diagnosis of Autism can take awhile. Some people are just glad to have an answer to what is wrong with their child. Others have a hard time accepting their child is different from other kids. Eventually you will accept that your child is different, and that is okay. Once you have accepted the diagnosis of Autism you can start to help your child. Do all the research you can on Autism. Think about how hard it is for your child. They need you to be behind them in their treatments one hundred percent. The first step to doing this is acceptance.

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