Expert: James Michael Roan - 7/30/2008

Question
My son is a fraternal twin, born at 39 weeks.  He will be ten weeks old in 2 days.  For the first few weeks of his life he didn't really cry.  He would grunt to let you know he was unhappy.  At abour 4 or 5 weeks he started crying.  What I am concerned about is that he won't make eye contact consistantly.  If I hold him up close to me he looks away and I can't get him to look at me.  If I lay him down and stand back I can get him to look and smile and laugh.  He will watch baby einstein and laugh at that.  He is comforted by being picked up and does not stiffen up, but his reluctance to look into my eyes scares me because he is really turning his eyes to avoid it.  What other signs would I see if this were a sign of autism?

Answer
Hi Sheila;

He's really too young to tell. I have talked to mothers of much older children who told me they knew something was wrong from the start. These mothers usually said their child avoided them altogether: averted eye gaze and turning their backs to them. Here are some red flags to look for over the next six months:

Possible symptoms at 6 months:

• Not making eye contact with parents during interaction

• Not cooing or babbling

• Not smiling when parents smile

• Not participating in vocal turn-taking (baby makes a sound, adult makes a sound, and so forth)

• Not responding to peekaboo game


Kind regards,
James