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I have witnessed this first hand with a little boy I babysit. He is on the low side of the autism spectrum (describes a range of conditions classified as neurodevelopmental disorders in the fifth revision of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th edition). He has some social interaction difficulties and has trouble with too much stimulation. His verbal skills are not at the level they should be but, he is the sweetest, most loving boy I have ever met. He knows everything there is to know about trains. He just acquired a new baby sister and he is such a good big brother.
Autism occurs in the early stages of brain development, although we are not entirely sure what causes this to occur we are on our way to finding out. The more "visible" signs of autism can be seen around the ages of 2 and 3.
Here is a list of signs from autismspeaks.org
- 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
- 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 meaningful, two-word phrases (not including imitating or repeating) by 24 months
- Any loss of speech, babbling or social skills at any age