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Autism/Stressed OUT 12 Month Old

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Expert: - 11/2/2007


Question
Just tonight I thought I'd try to get me daughter to orient to her name with her back to me, she refused to acknowledge me though we do this a lot because I work in a Physical Therapy Practice where we see many Autistic children and before tonight she 80% of the time turns to her name. She always acknowledges me when I walk in the room she imitates, points, plays peekaboo, her favorite game is for me to chase her as she looks behind to see if Im coming to get her. SHe can make sounds that sound like look as she points with her index finger and points at the puffs she wants to eat. She Smiles and laughs alot and plays putting bows in her hair or putting them in  mine. She does make eye contact and prefers to play with others than alone. Should I be very worried about tonight and her not orienting to name?

Answer
Hi,

I'm not sure if I understand your question. Is your daughter diagnosed with autism (which would be very early, most kids aren't diagnosed until they are around 3 years old, as far as I know) or are you worried she may be autistic (from what you wrote I wouldn't say she is, though)?

If your daughter is diagnosed with autism, this would be nothing to worry about I think. I have a friend who is usually very verbal and social who - if stressed out or overloaded - is still sometimes not able to speak or even to react /move or show in any way that she has heard you.  
Still if this worries you, you could monitor her behaviour more closely for a while to make sure she is not regressing and ask her doctor about it.

If you're worried she is autistic you could do the same (monitor her behaviour for a while and eventually see a specialist). From what you wrote, however, it doesn't sound like autism to me. Did you get her ears checked ? She could have difficulties with hearing.
I don't know much about normal child development. It may just be a phase and totally normal.

Hope this helps.
C.

Autism

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*DISCLAIMER*

Please note I am not a healthcare professional or a doctor.
I cannot provide a diagnosis or give any medical advice.
Therefore I cannot answer questions like "is my child autistic ?" other than by telling you to go and see a specialist
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Please be aware that if you are in the US it will usually take at least 24 hours until I can answer your question, as I'm in Europe and don't have access to my email during the day. I also cannot answer questions concerning the US educational or law system (other than by looking up things on google, but that's probably not the expertise you need), as I'm not in the US.
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Please also be aware that I'm a person with autism. My answers may sometimes be very blunt and direct and I may tell you things you won't like to hear. Diplomacy is certainly not among my talents. I'm never being rude on purpose, and I always try not to hurt or offend people, but it has happened before and may happen again. It's NEVER on purpose. I just want to help.
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What I *can* do for you is gather information on any aspect of autism and therapy of autism you're interested in and give you my personal oppinion about it (if you want to hear it) or, if it applies, tell you about my personal experience. I can answer all questions about what life is like for an autistic person.

I can also answer questions asked in German or French (but will have to answer in English to questions asked in French as my French is a bit rusty).

Ich beantworte gerne auch Fragen auf Deutsch.

Vous pouvez poser des questions en Francais, si cela ne vous dérange pas que je responds en anglais.

Experience


As I'm not doing well right now and am not in the shape of answering questions well - I recieved a few low ratings lately - I'll take a break from AllExperts for the next few weeks/until I'm doing better

I am an adult diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome/High Functioning Autism and ADD.

In the past years I have also read a lot about autism and its comorbid conditions and related subjects (as I am experiencing symptoms of most of these or know others who do) , so I have accumulated a lot of layman knowledge in this area (AD(H)D, Tourette's Syndrome, OCD, sleep disorders, allergies, sensory integration dysfunction, learning difficulties, left/right-brain, giftedness, Irlen Syndrome, prism glasses, executive dysfunction (aka. "inertia"), "special" diets).

Education/Credentials
None in the field of autism, apart from being autistic myself !

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