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Expert: - 10/26/2005


Question
I am a child-care worker and I have a child in my care who is 16 months old.  I'm a little bit concerned about her as she seems to display some odd behaviour.  She doesn't babble, in fact she hardly makes any sound, except she cries (very rarely) when her mum leaves her.  She doesn't make very good eye contact and she sometimes sits in one spot for a very long time, seemingly frozen and just staring.  She sleeps well and when she wakes up she just lays there until someone gets her.  She's a reasonably good feeder and can feed herself well. I live in Melbourne, Australia and my e-mail address is  

Answer
Hi,

You are correct, this is not normal behavior for a 16 month old child.

Australia seems to have a pretty good handle on diagnosing autism and I would encourage the parents to seek an evaluation.

Her hearing should be tested, first.  I suspect it's normal, but always important to check.  If it is, then an evaluation for an Autistic Spectrum Disorder seems to be needed.

Perhaps if you do a web search for a diagnosis checklist and mark it then give it to the parents, they will see what you see.  When the child is a first-born, many parents don't have any normal behavior for comparison, so they don't realize something is wrong.

Best wishes,
Catherine

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Catherine Ridenour

Expertise

I can answer your questions about parenting your High Functioning Autisic or Asperger`s Syndrome child. In particular, questions about family life, discipline, siblings, finding resources, and working with (sometimes opposing) the educational system are welcome.

Experience

I am the parent of an Asperger's Syndrome child who is now 22 years old. She went undiagnosed for 14 years of her life, so I have done extensive reading and Internet research into the possible cause of her difficulties. Even a short 8 years ago, A.S. was practically unheard of by the public educational system.

We fumbled our way through her childhood and early adolescence without any effective outside support. In some ways, that may have been a blessing as we were focused on her abilities rather than a label for her disability. However, I can think of many times when knowing WHY would have been comforting.

Had we known very early on, some social skills interventions might have made her life in school easier. At this point, I like her for who she is so I do not regret how things have turned out. More importantly, she likes herself.

Education/Credentials
I have a Bachelor of Science in Education.

I have worked to educate myself about Autism in general and HFA/AS in particular.

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