One of the hardest parts of being a parent of a child with Autism is figuring out the meaning of the different signs that my child shows me.
Some behaviors are typically signs present in a lot of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Other behaviors that might seem to be signs might be typical behavior for a child that age.
Examples might be a child that does not play with other children.
One of the first things to consider as a parent is how old the child is.
Parents would want to be a lot more concerned about a five year old that does not want to play with other children than with a three year old.
We would expect a three year old to be doing more parallel playing and be more demanding about possessing a toy.
It would help to know how much opportunity there is for the three year old or the five year old to play with other children.
If there are few opportunities then it would not be surprising to see issues in playing with other children.
When parents look at a list of signs of Autism parents have to remember to look at more than just the description.
They also need to remember not all children have even most of the items on the list.
Then when we have a handle on which characteristics our child has we look at what else might be going on in our child's life.
This process is not unlike what parents do with their typical children.
When issues come up they look at what exactly the issues or signs are.
Then we look at what else is going on in our child's life.
This is also a similar process that a careful medical evaluation will use.
Just the way no two typical children are alike, no two children with Autism are alike.
A careful medical evaluation will also look at compensatory skills our child with Autism has learned to be able to survive and keep up.
Parents are the first line at looking for issues their children are having.
With a little thought about the signs and their meanings, they can be the best reporters when participating in the evaluation process.
They have insight and information no one else has available.
Some behaviors are typically signs present in a lot of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Other behaviors that might seem to be signs might be typical behavior for a child that age.
Examples might be a child that does not play with other children.
One of the first things to consider as a parent is how old the child is.
Parents would want to be a lot more concerned about a five year old that does not want to play with other children than with a three year old.
We would expect a three year old to be doing more parallel playing and be more demanding about possessing a toy.
It would help to know how much opportunity there is for the three year old or the five year old to play with other children.
If there are few opportunities then it would not be surprising to see issues in playing with other children.
When parents look at a list of signs of Autism parents have to remember to look at more than just the description.
They also need to remember not all children have even most of the items on the list.
Then when we have a handle on which characteristics our child has we look at what else might be going on in our child's life.
This process is not unlike what parents do with their typical children.
When issues come up they look at what exactly the issues or signs are.
Then we look at what else is going on in our child's life.
This is also a similar process that a careful medical evaluation will use.
Just the way no two typical children are alike, no two children with Autism are alike.
A careful medical evaluation will also look at compensatory skills our child with Autism has learned to be able to survive and keep up.
Parents are the first line at looking for issues their children are having.
With a little thought about the signs and their meanings, they can be the best reporters when participating in the evaluation process.
They have insight and information no one else has available.
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