12 Signs of Autism in Babies

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My 24 yo grandson had a lot of these features, he always seemed lost in his own world, he would entertain himself for hours focused on toy cars but did not actually play with them in typical ways but instead memorized the make and models and spun the wheels like you mentioned… he taught himself to read by studying new car adverts in the newspaper, he was also fascinated with maps, google earth and begged to be taken on random trips in the car, memorized all the routes and road signs, he could already read in preschool and in grade school his IQ was tested at genius level and he was put in advanced classes but because had no real interest in the subjects, being taught got average grades, except for music, geography and languages…played clarinet in band but taught himself drums, piano and guitar, was In Spanish club also all through hs … Went away for college graduated with a degree in linguistics, lives on his own, and is going to China to teach English this fall… some levels of autism are really an advanced degree of fierce concentration for self learning

As a late diagnosed (going on 40) autistic woman, this made me sob. I don't have my mom or dad to ask as I lost them 10 and 30 years ago, but this even covers "The Stare" I've been trying to explain to people. "It's like my mind is a thousand little tiny fingers, and wants to take in and understand all what I see as important or fascinating." That's how my mind gets lost. When I'm volunteering at the farm/doing horse therapy (it's an exchange), sometimes I'll just stare at the fields. What people don't seem to get is most of the time I'm actually evaluating little details in the fields to make sure a fence post isn't out of order due to my pattern recognition skills. I've lived with very high masking level 2 autism my whole life, and at one point. I just collapsed. I always have at least low level anxiety, live in the moderate to high anxiety range. It's interpreted by our brains and our bodies as abuse, regardless of the intent, when our needs are constantly unmet as children. When we are not supported, or shown how to support ourselves as adults, like neurotypicals are, we flounder. I think there's a term for it: The lost generations. It's the generation where people who score 98th percentile in the sciences in the United States are facing consequences of the lack of support. These consequences have resulted in the following: Can't stay at properties for more than a year or two because I get priced out. The constant threat of poverty if you fill out your disability form wrong. Liver damage from severe chronic gastritis because of my anxiety levels. I don't even drink. Multiple SAs as a child because I was not protected. Multiple SAs as an adult because I didn't know how to protect myself. Multiple concussions from head banging as a child throughout early adulthood, and currently being evaluated for CTE. And now having NO IDEA who we are because our parents tried to use psychiatric medications and therapy to get the then unknown thing called "Just existing with autism" out of us. Please support your autistic children so we have a chance to be able to cope with the normal hard things, like grief, loss, and trauma. Those are already difficult and can sometimes break just regular people. Imagine coming at it from a different angle, like how your kid would hold up a car to the light at a neat angle. I used to do that with lego trains btw. We already are at a disadvantage because therapy does not usually integrate being autistic as well. Please take this to heart, and please take *her viewpoint to heart*. As activist and model Chloe Hayden says in her book title, we're "Different, Not Less."

449 months, and I still haven't learned to social-smile. 😂

I can think of 2 other signs. The first is joint attention. If your baby is sitting in a high chair and they drop their spoon before they have object permanence they don’t know the object still exists. That is typical. However, most babies will look at mom when she says “Oh oh” and she looks down at the object most babies will look where mom is looking (joint attention) this is how babies get important information about the world. Children with Autism do not know to look where others are looking so they miss important information. The second is point following. When dad says, “There’s a puppy. “. And points does the child look where dad is pointing? Children with Autism often do not follow a point. I love the video you made and I love how you love and accept all of your children for who they are!

I wish my autistic son didn’t cry. He cried non stop the first 2 years of his life and barely slept. He needed to be held constantly and would scream immediately if we put him down. We finally decided to cosleep with him which allowed us to get our sanity back. He finally slept (not great, but better), because he felt comforted touching one of us at night.

I have a 40 year old autistic son. He is a treasure. He is completely independently at this point in time. Self employeed and doing a job he loves. He was already showing problems in the 4 days we were in the hospital. saw other signs along the way. I believe on top of many mental health problems his father was autistic. I remember being at church on day and a woman started talking to my husband and he turned his back on her and left. A home he complained that no one talked to him! Had my son in the grocery store one day and a child he went to kindergarten with came up and started talking to him. He turned his back on him! Back then autistism was rarely diagnosed so although he did go to special school from 18 months, he was officially diagnosed at 19. I only went through that in case he needed help getting a job. As he got older and saw his differences compared to others he worked on some of the problems he had. You didn't mention your kids having food problems, and my son did. I will give a tip that I used with my boy as a young adult. I would watch him watching TV with the laugh track and laughing. We ended up with DVDs of The Office, King of the Hill, and Monk. With just the two of us in the room we would watch the shows and whenever he laughed I would ask him what was funny. At first he never knew. After a year of intensive watching these DVDs he was comprehending the humor, etc. so much better. In King of the Hill there is an episode called Isle 9, where Connie who was left at the Hills while her parents were out of town and Peggy was away from home, Connie had to tell Hank that her period had started. I think they did everything in that show to help answer questions such as Isle 9 with the sanitary products. Who would have though that slowly going over these, my son learned so many things. It was just the two of us in the room as I would never embarrass him in front of others, but he sure learned a lot. It has only been in the last month that I have heard of autism being numbered. My son didn't talk until two weeks before his second birthday when he came over to me and patted me on the cheek and said mama. I cried, He never talked babytalk but immediately started speaking in sentences. He hung around while I was helping his older brother with reading homework. What I didn't realize was he was teaching himself to read. One day while driving in town he pointed to a siign and told me an old lady from our church lived on that road. We had NEVER been to her house. I had no clue where she lived. He had memorized the entire church directory when he was 4!!!

I’m well into my 40s and I still need to consciously remember to make eye contact.

Interesting. As a Nana with a 10 year grandson with Autism, it has been a learning time for me. I knew what normal child was like, and I saw the signs way before my daughter did. With 3 other grandchildren around I could see the differences. My daughter would get angry if I said anything. So for about 2 years I watched, and waited as the parents went through all the testing. Finally coming to terms with the diagnose of her son. Our grandson is doing amazing. Excellent reader, he takes piano lessons, he loves gymnastics, and has OT every week. So I would say he has it mild Autism.

My son is not diagnosed, but people meeting him can tell right away. He is a sweet hyper focused kid that will tell anyone who will listen about math and planets and human anatomy. I knew he was not typical and now he does long division for FUN at 5.

I have two boys with high funtioning autism. They're both completly different. My eldest doesn't give eye contact, never liked being in his papoose, he used to lean away when being held, had an obsession with cars, made screeching noises to cover noises he didnt like, didn't answer to his name (when young. Hes now 17), difficulties getting off to sleep and would run off regularly. My youngest was very cuddly and still is (he's 13), gives some eye contact, used to spin his toys, never played make believe games, hates sharp noises, bright lights etc... has had difficulty with food since birth and has been diagnosed with ARFID, has difficulty following three step instructions eg.. pop upstairs and bring your cup down from your room. I love them both with all my heart. I love your openness and your transparency with what to look out for. Thank you. From the UK 🇬🇧

My twin grandsons are autistic. Son and his wife didn't want to hear it. They go to a school for autistic children. I pray that they will do well in life.

My 34 year old son was misdiagnosed with AD/HD and ODD when 7, and I never thought those matched him. He was diagnosed with Asperger's and Tourette's at 14 by a psychologist. Asperger's was new and I had previously been told by a dr that he was not autistic because he was affectionate and loving with me. My son pretty much looks like everyone else and people expect him to be normal. I learned to advocate for him and numerous times had to stand up for him with the schools He is my first child, so I pretty much winged it raising him. One of the hardest things was I really didn't have any family support, though I sure was told what I should do when negative things happened to Nic. He was the most sleep deprived child I knew of. I'm so glad I followed his lead raising him and did what was appropriate for his needs. I understood the developmental delay's, and knew he would not be as mature as a typical 21 year old till he was in his 30's. Unfortunately, after they are 18, it is challenging to be able to protect them. I now am his power of attorney for whatever is necessary. He has had some meth issues. He finally found rehabilitation where they teach a 12 step program and got him on the meds he needs to function normally. He is doing great and gets out next Monday. Follow your instincts and always research what the Dr's attempt to diagnose your child with. They are not an expert on your child, and are only guessing. Tell them when they are incorrect, I did it numerous times when they tried to diagnose Nic with all sorts of "behavioral disorders", when it was all neurological. Remember you are the expert on your child. No one else.

I'm autistic and 31 years old. This is a great video. So accepting of the autistic traits, which is invaluable for the children!! I have video footage of autistic traits in me as a little one too!

My concern is a 73 year old autistic spouse. I realised 7 years ago. Life is so hard.

As a baby, I knew something was different about my son. He would scream the moment he was in a car, from birth. But he also didn't really play until age 4...he just lined up his magnets, legos, cars, crayons...didn't put stuff in his mouth and only seemed to enjoy 3 activities: swimming, swinging, and making messes. He liked to sit with me, but didn't want me involved with eating once he weaned, made up language despite understanding us for a very long time, and just woke up one day potty trained. From 11 months old, we had to be very careful about what our words literally meant or we would have surprising results. I'd previously worked in childcare and he was not like any baby I ever met before. I just didn't know what any of it meant, and he was so darn happy in his little world that I didn't think it meant anything. That is till he got older and he wasn't charming people with his quirky intelligence anymore, and he was frustrating his teachers and relatives and had difficulty telling jokes or understanding sarcasm. Once society had expectations of him, things got a lot harder and it became clear he had no idea what the "rules" were. I wish I would have had more education and vocabulary back then, to communicate what I was seeing.

I had 5 children also. Number3 and 4 are on the spectrum. 3 has autism . Both boys. I’m grateful that it wasn’t my first. I wouldn’t have known any better. Both grown now. Asbergers son has a bachelor’s degree. Autistic son has a great job that he loves. I would have never guessed they would be where they are now if you had asked me when they were little. They WILL suprise you.❤️ I taught both of them to drive at night. Too many distractions in the daytime. No problem now. Both great drivers. They are also each other’s best friend. It’s really nice to have siblings. One of the best things for your boys too. They are lucky to have you as a mom. 👍

Hey 7ahead. Thank you for posting this information. It really helps the community. We really want ppl to understand us and youre really helping us accomplish that. Thanks guys.

Thank you for blessing us with information and your loving leadership.

You are a strong mother. Thank you for sharing the knowledge. God bless you & your kids