Expert: James Michael Roan - 12/22/2008

Question
My niece turned 3 in October this year and barely speaks 10 words, she had been diagnosed with a larger than normal head circumference at 6 months,when you call her name she will not respond until you call at least 2 or three times. I am concerned about autism but her mother seems to be in denial.

Answer
Hi Lucy;

The best thing to do is complete the M-CHAT (see links below) and provide comments on each question as necessary. That will give me enough information to help you further. Does your niece live in the U.S.?

http://www.utmem.edu/pediatrics/general/clinical/m-chat.pdf
http://www.firstsigns.org/downloads/Downloads_archive/m-chat_scoring.PDF


Kind regards,
James








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.