Red Flags of Autism

The following red flags may indicate that the child is at risk and should be screened to ensure that he/she is on the right developmental path. If your baby shows any of these signs , please ask your paediatrician or family practitioner for an immediate evaluation:

- NO BIG SMILES OR OTHER WARM , JOYFUL EXPRESSIONS BY SIX MONTHS OR THEREAFTER
- NO BACK AND FORTH SHARING OF SOUNDS , SMILES OR OTHER FACIAL EXPRESSIONS BY NINE MONTHS OR THEREAFTER
- NO BABBLING BY 12 MONTHS
- NO BACK AND FORTH GESTURES SUCH AS POINTING, SHOWING, REACHING OR WAVING BY 12 MONTHS
- NO WORDS BY 16 MONTHS
- NO TWO WORD MEANINGFUL PHRASES (WITHOUT IMITATING OR REPEATING) BY 24 MONTHS
- NO RESPONSE WHEN THE CHILD'S NAME IS CALLED BY 10 MONTHS
- ANY LOSS OF SPEECH, BABBLING OR SOCIAL SKILLS AT ANY AGE

Deqlan did not show any of these signs originally - he developed normally up until around 10 months ( 2 or so months after he started chemo for the neuroblastoma) . our first red flag was the spinning of wheels on cars and spinning of any object he could get to spin. He was interested in the repetitiveness not to play with a car like it should be played with. Deqlan regressed from here. He could say 6 or 7 words and they disappeared. He did say Mama by 8 months, but that to disappeared. So our big que was the loss of skills.

There are many other red flags which i will mention during the course of the week, but these are the most important to consider!