Expert: James Michael Roan - 12/4/2008

Question
QUESTION: My 10 month old son responds to his name, smiles, has good eye contact, waves and does hands up signal to be picked up.  No concerns there. However, he likes to turn toys over, and approaches EVERYTHING with a hand movement that I can only describe as checking to see if the object will spin.  He also disengages his visual attention to stare or "zone out" on nothing until I wave a hand in front of him (about 3x's per day) and when I am rocking him to sleep he scratches my arms and pulls the skin on my face very aggressively, almost desperately.  Are these things to pay any mind to? If so, what should I do?

ANSWER: Hi Lauren;

The only research validated predictor of autism at this age is "failing to orient to name." Other behaviors include unusual finger movements, zoning out in front of television, and spinning self and/or objects.

Is he responding to name more than 60 percent of the time when you walk in to a room where he is playing?






James Roan Bio:

James Roan (roanpsych@gmail.com) has been consulting in the areas of autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, and learning difficulties in the United States and in Ireland for over ten years. James Roan has traveled to Galway, Limerick, Mayo, Clare, Dublin, Cork, Waterford, and other cities and counties across Ireland assessing children and adults, and consulting with solicitors (lawyers) in defense of children with disability and with enforcement of their rights. James Roan was the consulting psychologist responsible for many of the autism and ADHD screening tools and other content for www.accessspecialneeds.com. James Roan is the past president and current board member of the autism Spectrum Disorder Foundation. James Roan consulted with the graduate department of the Waterford Institute of Technology in the development of their graduate program for the certification of private autism tutors.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi, Thanks for your response.  Yes he responds to his name much more than 60% of time when I walk into a room where he is playing.   You said "other behaviors"- so should I be concerned about spinning objects, zoning out (he does this with the one video we watch with him).  In your opinion, are these things to pay attention to at all?  i know they are not validated predictors, but I also know that many Moms whose have children diagnosed with Autism have said they had early concerns in hindsight...
thank you in advance for your thoughts on this...

Answer

Hi Lauren;

Yes, spinning and zoning out in front of T.V. is associated with later diagnoses of autism. This does not mean that he is, just that you should seek early intervention services now.

Here are a few articles to read, then get back to me if you like:

http://sfari.org/news/sibling-studies-reveal-early-signs-of-autism

http://depts.washington.edu/uwautism/pdf/Early%20recognition%20of%20one%20year%2


Kind regards,
James






James Roan Bio:

James Roan is a school psychologist and has been consulting in the areas of autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, and learning difficulties in the United States and in Ireland for over ten years. James Roan has traveled to Galway, Limerick, Mayo, Clare, Dublin, Cork, Waterford, and other cities and counties across Ireland assessing children and adults, and consulting with solicitors (lawyers) in defense of children with disability and with enforcement of their rights. James Roan was the consulting psychologist responsible for many of the autism and ADHD screening tools and other content for www.accessspecialneeds.com. James Roan consulted with the graduate department of the Waterford Institute of Technology in the development of their graduate program for the certification of private autism tutors.