Expert: James Michael Roan - 10/17/2006

Question
Not sure if my daughter is delayed or a if is something more.  she is 14 mos, walks along walls, a few steps here and there, sometimes on tippy toes.  screams when taking a bath like its fire and not water. points and grunts when she wants something. doesnt say any words. mimics very little.  few facial expressions and noises but does so from time to time, very high stranger anxiety, couldnt crawl until 11 mos, didnt sit up until 10 mos, didnt hold on bottle until 13 mos . . .  her mother doesnt agree with me that my daughter is delayed, says she just behind a little because she was 3 1/2 weeks early, she claims thats a preemie.  I have scheduled a development assessment with Early Childhood Family Education . .do you think they can detect if its more then a delay . .do you think its more then just a delay . . what else can I do to help my daughter.

Answer
Hi Steve;

You have taken the first important step. Please make sure the Early Childhood Family Education group is the Birth-to-Three special education group (Part C of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act IDEA). Under Part C of IDEA school districts in which you live are financially responsible for the assessment and service delivery of children between the ages of 0 and 3. It's important to get this going right away.

In the meantime, I recommend lots of interactive play like peek-a-boo, head to tail rubbing for stimulation of the developing nervous system. Rub those little feet and hands too. Lots of verbal interaction with exaggerated facial expression and vocal inflections.

Stay in touch. In autism at this age we are looking for signs of low eye contact, low awareness of parent presence, not reaching to be picked up.It's too early to separate Autism from Asper's Syndrome.

Kind regards,
James