Expert: Trey McGowan - 11/28/2008

Question
I WANTED TO KNOW THE EARLY S/S OF AUTISM. MY BABY GIRL IS 4 MONTHS OLD HAS RECEIVED ALL HER START OF VACCINES. SHE IS AT ALL HER MILESTONES FOR AGE AND ON 90% on growth chart in all areas.What is my concern is she rocks alot when she sits up and is being held up.I have read alot of s/s but nothing on infants .It is a consants rocking but she follows eye contact,babbling turning over and even sitting up already and being sppon feed.Is there a need for concern please help to answer my concerns.....thank you

Answer
Hi there, Raquel!

I have mentioned in the past, and mention again here: autism is not just about a single symptom. It is a disorder that is characterized by a number of them. The main ones being social issues and general developmental issues.

Now, at 4 months old, it is far, *far* too early to be able to tell whether a child is genuinely autistic or not, unless the signs are extremely severe or the autism is very profound. And as you, yourself, have mentioned, your child has reached milestones just fine.

There are a million and one toys out on the market that will rock a baby. This is because, at young ages, babies like to rock and be rocked. It is a very soothing thing, reminding them instinctively of the time they were in-utero, being rocked by the motion of their mother's body. In addition, they haven't yet got this important thing for walking called 'balance'. By rocking, they can practice that sense of balance and spacial awareness that later on they will need for the actual act of standing up on a pair of long legs, balancing on nothing but a pair of tiny little feet. If you think about it, it's really quite amazing how we do this. And part of it comes from learning how the act of motion, AKA rocking, feels at a very young age.

What I'm trying to say here is that while rocking in youngsters can be a sign of autism, 'youngsters' tends to indicate children around a year old or somewhat less. In addition, at this age, the rocking would have to be very profound to be able to definitely be a sign, or joined by a number of other signs, a strong aversion to being held being the biggest one that would be seen at this age, and the missing of a large number of milestones.

I wish you all the best! Questions, comments, feedback, follow-ups, are always welcome!

Trey