Expert: James Michael Roan - 9/25/2009

Question
Hi there,

I have a 8 and half month old baby boy. Since reading an article online about the 'autism' roll I've been worrying myself sick that he might develop autism. It was an article titled 'Movement analysis in infancy may be useful for early diagnosis of autism.' Basically my baby does a roll where his whole body goes over and doesn't corkscrew like the normal babies in the study.

Apart from that , he's wonderfully communicative, babbles, smiles, makes heaps of eye contact and intercts really well with his 2 year old sister. However, he isn't crawling yet but is trying hard and doesn't seem too afraid of strangers.  

Things have gotten so bad I'm not sleeping with worry and it's affecting my realtionship with him - I'm always looking out for autism signs even though I don't find them.

Should I take him to be evaluated? How reliable was this study? I noted they only analyzed 17 children but all the autistic ones had this roll.
Many thanks and looking forward to your reply,


Answer
Hi Carolyn;

Please understand that I do not, at any time, attempt to diagnose or rule out a diagnosis or condition over the Internet.

Please relax. Your baby sounds to be typically developing to me. Autism spectrum disorders are primarily social disorders that result in significantly impaired verbal and nonverbal communication development, significantly impaired eye contact, sharing, and joint attention. I read the article and found it to be interesting but clearly only useful as part of a comprehensive evaluation someday for that population. Currently, the only predictor of autism at ages 6-12 is a "failure to orient to name." To set your mind at ease, email me at: roanpsych@gmail.com and I will send you a social screening instrument for determining his approximate level of social development. Please include his birth date.

Kind regards,
James


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Bio

James Roan is a certified school psychologist who 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 (http://www.jamesroan.com). James earned his M.Ed. in School Psychology and M. Ed. in Adult Education and receives ongoing post graduate training in autism at the University of Washington’s Autism Center. 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 disabilities. James Roan was the consulting assessment professional responsible for many of the autism and AD/HD screening tools and other content for Access Special Needs.Com. James Roan consulted with the graduate department of the Waterford Institute of Technology in Waterford Ireland in the development of their graduate program for the certification of private autism tutors. James has conducted formal assessments of students in the Autism Unit in the Claddagh National School in County Galway Ireland.