Expert: Trey McGowan - 4/17/2008

Question
Hello,

I've recently become concerned about my 13 month old son having autistic tendencies.
I've been driving myself slightly insane reading all of the different things I find online and I'm not sure what to believe.
We've scheduled a doctor's appointment with the family doctor for next week but I would like some advice in the meantime. I realize
that it's probably too early to tell, but there are just certain things that make me wonder.

Here are a number of things about him:

Pros
-------------
•Responds to name 60% of the time
•Feeds himself most of the time
•Engages in play activities with parents (pushing a car back and forth)
•Does not mind being cuddled, likes being tickled
•Enjoys reading
•Cruises along furniture, sits, etc.
•Smiles and makes eye contact
•Shows 'some' interest in other children
•sleeps through the night
•babbles frequently

Cons
---------------------
•Does not show an interest in sharing
•Does not point to objects to show interest
•Twists hand in front of mouth frequently
•Does not use any words with meaning or context
•Does not show same interests as other children (i.e. at play group instructor brings out a number of toys which all children reach for, but our son does not seem interested at all)
•Likes spinning things
•does not always grasp objects properly (i.e. won't bang on a drum with a drumstick, would rather eat it).

Am I just jumping the gun and/or being paranoid? Will these things remedy themselves in the next few months? Should I be worried? Does
he just like to 'march to the beat of his own drum'? ...!

Thanks in advance.
Bill from Vancouver  

Answer
Hi there, Bill!

I think that if you are concerned about your son, the best thing that you can do is to do exactly what you are doing: taking him to an expert. By bringing in the information that you have, you should be able to get some better answers than someone like me can give. After all, I am a million (well, maybe thousand) miles away, and unable to do some observation, and I am not a doctor myself. As I have, indeed, mentioned in the past and will again.

Remember that not all children develop at exactly the same rate. Your son shows a lot of typical development milestones, including some that a lack of are usually the 'big scares' in autism. What does this mean? Unfortunately, an expert is the only one who can tell you for certain, but I can say myself that no expert in the world will fault you for being worried about your child's development, and getting it checked out. If there are, indeed, some slow points, then they will be able to take note of them and help bring your boy back up to speed.

The big thing to remember is that at a year old, your young man is extremely new to this whole 'world' thing. He is still exploring himself and the world around him, and that means a lot of the exploration may take the form of unusual things. In addition, a lot of things like sharing are not a 'natural' development, but must be taught to children as they go along. So it is possible that with some extra lessons, some of the 'cons' you mention will fade, or at the very least will be recognized as genuine issues and worked on by the people who are trained in such things. And indeed, some children do extremely odd things. It may very well be that in a few months, or a year, these will fade and he will do more 'usual' things. Or that he will always be a little eccentric, and still move through life without a problem. But if you as a parent are concerned about the tendencies, nothing harmful can come of getting them checked out.

Wish I could give you a more solid answer on this one, but the problem is, at this age? Unless it's a severe case, only time will tell. :) So just bring up the issues with your doctor, and in the meantime enjoy the eccentricities, rather than becoming panicked about them. It should be easier on everyone!

Any feedback, follow-ups, questions, comments, or other fun things, can be directed back this way! Good luck and be well!

Trey