Spotting signs of Aspergers in toddlers starts with parents’ awareness and acceptance. There are Asperger’s symptoms in toddlers we can watch out for to see if direct Aspergers testing for our toddlers needs to be done.
Parents never want to believe that their child has any type of problem. However, whenever it comes to autism it is really important to catch it as early as possible. This will make a big difference in your child’s life because the younger they are, the more impact the treatment will have on them.
You will also be able to minimize problems by catching autism in its early stages (by the time your child is 18 months old). Unfortunately, it isn’t easy to recognize the signs of autism early on but it can be done. When your baby is an infant but they can be noticed.
A Parent’s Role In Detecting Autism and Aspergers
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As a parent, it’s your job to detect the earliest warnings of autism, especially since you know your child better than anyone else does. It really is up to you to notice any behaviors that don’t seem natural or normal. Whenever you visit your pediatrician they may be unable to notice any of the quirks or behaviors that you can because they won’t see them for as long as you do. For this reason, you cannot simply rely only on them. While they will be very helpful, it’s important to make sure that you do everything that you can in order to notice things yourself.
Early Signs Of Autism and Aspergers In Infants Or Toddlers
Some of the early signs of autism in infants or toddlers include:
- Your child doesn’t make any noises in order to get your attention.
- He is 6 months old and still will not smile.
- He will not make any type of eye contact with you. Whenever you do attempt to make eye contact with him, he will avoid doing so. While you may get a few seconds of eye contact, that’s it. At the other end of the spectrum, there are also some children who will stare at you for a long period of time.
- Your child doesn’t want to reach out to you or anyone else in order to be picked up or held.
- He will not copy your movements or expressions.
- Your child will not react to anyone’s facial expressions. For instance, you may smile at him but he will not smile back.
- He will not point at things or wave to anyone.
- Your child is 12 months old and still will not respond to his name.
- Your child is 16 months old and still is not speaking. Once your child does begin to speak he will quickly develop highly skilled vocabulary and advanced sentence structure. However, your child still is not social. He doesn’t want to interact with you or anyone else whenever he is talking. Therefore, he will oftentimes have one-sided conversations about what he is interested in. While people may comment that he speaks well, you will notice that he has a flat tone.
- Your child is 16 months old and still not walking. This is because Asperger’s Syndrome affects a child’s gross motor skills. Therefore, these children are late walkers and have trouble climbing on structures or playing with balls.
- Your child is 24 months old and still doesn’t speak any two-word phrases.
- Your child will oftentimes have a “meltdown” whenever their senses (scent, light, or noise) are overloaded. He may have an extreme fit that includes crying and throwing himself on the floor or he may roll up into a ball and not allow anyone to comfort him. This can be shocking since these things did not affect any of the other toddlers in the room.
In Conclusion to Recognizing Aspergers Symptoms in Toddlers
Make sure that you watch your child closely. Don’t take the “wait and see” approach even if you are told to do so. This can actually be the worst thing that you could do if you suspect that something is wrong with your child. Instead, make sure that you take action immediately and get help so that you can make sure that your child is healthy and is living a normal and natural life in the best way that they can. Don’t believe those who tell you that your child will grow out of it because now is the time to get something done if you feel like there is something wrong. After all, you can never be TOO careful whenever it comes to your child’s health.