7 Early Signs of Autism Every Parent Should Know

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I'm on the spectrum, but I've been diagnosed as an adult because, luckily, in me is not very visible. I'm high functioning and my academic results have always been very good so noone has ever thought I could have a problem. They thought I was a little eccentric and that's all. My main problems are being over sensitive and having problems in reading other people intentions or being able to react properly. My family doesn't know I've been diagnosed because I have my indipendent life and I don't see how this can help anyone, but they have often talked about my early years laughing about how I was a little eccentric. I will write what they have told me in case it can help anyone. - when little I couldn't stay in noisy or crowded places. And with that I mean a room with more than two or three family members. Every time it happened for more than half an hour I used to become literally sick and vomited. - I didn't play with the other children. I had two cousins my age living with us and they were very fond of me, smiling and happy to stay with me. In every video or photo I don't pay them any attention. I only focus on something different, don't smile, don't look at their face. - even though I started talking early I didn't say mama or dada as first worlds. I said the name of the family dog. - my usual game was this: I used to open a cabinet and take out, put in a line, put back and start again, some small cups my mother kept there. I used to do that for hours, all by myself, never asking my mom to play with me. - in almost every foto from 1 yo to 5 yo, not only I almost never look at the camera, I'm always looking at my fingers. I had this thing where I used to play with my fingers as I was having a small object in my hands. Again and again. - I used to play by myself even though I wasn't at all shy. And my favourite games where picking up small pebbles, sand, or organise my toys as to create a scenery to play and then not playing but putting everything aways and start over. - I almost never cried. My mother says I was a perfect child because she could leave me in a corner and I would find something to entertain me quietly for hours. The teachers of the kindergarten and first years of elementary school used to say the same. - touching was a no no. I didn't like other children or adults touching me. I only let my parents do it, and both have never been too much cuddling. I only let my father brush my hair, not even my mother. - I didn't copy. I wanted to do my things by myself, but if someone was doing something I didn't copy them. Later on, I almost never did fantasy game, those where you pretend to be someone, like playing the family or the store ecc... - I had sensory issues. I have taken off my clothes many times because the fabric or a tag was driving me insane, couldn't sleep in a room with noises or lights (I was eager to stop sleeping with my parents while most babies want to keep staying with them), had problems in crowded, shiny or noisy places. Luckily my father was like me, so we usually avoided those situations. In my case, it's pretty probable that my father was on the spectrum too (he was dead when I found out, so we can't have a diagnosis), so I had the luck to live in an autistic friendly environment. This meant, for me, that my meltdown where extremely rare because I was never overstimulated, since all the things that were too much for me, were too much for my father too, and we avoided them. I have had a very normal life, actually pretty successful, but I have to say that I've had it at the cost of a breakdown at a certain point of my life. When I couldn't stand the normal world anymore and I had to go to therapy and then got diagnosed. Today I create my autistic friendly environment by myself and things go smoothly. It's about balance and learning your needs and meeting them

My daughter is 5 now but I'd like to say thank you, this is the most accurate video on autism I have ever seen! It includes more info then most and the info is suitable for both genders best video

Thank you so much for this video. There are so many videos like this they seem more vague, which makes you question everything. You explained things so well. You have been helping me raise my little one

Hi! I’m autistic, and here are my suggestions for parents of autistic kids: - Don’t just talk to doctors or parents of autistic kids. Talk to autistic people. They can give you insights no one else can on how they want to be treated. And follow your kid’s lead when appropriate! - Let them stim. It’s a way of self-soothing. If the stim is potentially harmful, redirect it, for example, getting a spinner seat so they don’t spin into furniture. - Watch the way you talk to and about your kid. They are not sick, and they are not less. They’re just people. And we wanna be treated like just people. Not aliens or inspirational angels or pets, but people. I was raised undiagnosed, and I’ve seen a sad difference in those who were diagnosed early, namely that they tend to feel lesser or limited. I’m just as autistic as they are, and yet because I was raised “normal,” I grew up with the mindset that I could do anything I set my mind to. So can your autistic kid. They’ll probably go about it differently than most, but they can do it. - Let them be autistic. Autism is not something to discourage or cure. It’s not going to go away. If you fight it, the kid will just end up frustrated and insecure. Work with the autism. Earplugs, soft things, down time, stimming, routine, it’s all great! The more I’ve learned to work with my autistic brain rather than against it, the happier and more successful I’ve been. You guys got this! I know it’s uncharted and uneasy territory. There’s still a lot of stigma against us. But I believe in you :) and to those who are trying their hardest to understand and empathize with and support their autistic kids, thank you so so much!

I appreciate this video, having grown up undiagnosed untill age 50. Observing these signs and understanding them helps with supporting the child. However I don’t like using the term ”red flag”. Autism is nothing to be afraid of, just aware of. ”Red flags” are for things that indicate potential danger (narcissism, psychopaty, et sim). In future videos, concider substituting ”red flag” with simply just ”flag” or rather ”potential sign” or ”indicator” that your child may be on the autism spectrum. Thank you

My daughter didn't have any of these symptoms as a toddler. But she was often upset and would cry desperately over things and I wouldn't know what the trigger was. She also had sleep problems, could never soothe herself and was very sensitive to sound and foods. It was necessary she was with me all of the time or she would be even more upset. She is very smart and learned to mimic others and would not be upset with other adults, and I had to fight for years to get her diagnosis She is now a teenager and stills struggles with the same symptoms and has more autistic behavior, especially struggles socially and with language (she speaks just fine but needs for the listener to do nothing but completely engage in what she is trying to say). She has been burnt out and missed a lot of school because no one but me recognized her struggles. There's so much more knowledge about autism in girls these days but it varies on who meets your child. So it's very possible to have an autistic child without symptoms like in this video and these symptoms are clinicians more aware of and check for today. It's the others things that still needs more attention. ❤️

Very nice and precised information.thanks alot.

Thank you for this! x3 When my firstborn was little, I noticed something was little off, specially after his sister was born about year later. It was really hard to pinpoint what was wrong, specially since I had very little experience with kids, and it gnawed on me, when people didn't take me seriously. Thankfully, once my boy got to school, he got a teacher who had experience working with special needs kids, and she actually helped me to get my boy checked up and we found out that he indeed had Aspergers. He ended up in smaller class for children with Aspergers and has been thriving ever since, now when he gets right kind of support, when previously poor boy was so anxious he would hide in class cupboard during school days when he got overwhelmed. Now I'm waiting for my third child, it's nice to have a checklist, so if the little one has similar problems than his big brother, it'll be easier to pinpoint what is wrong and how to communicate it. x3

Early signs are very important. Informational video. Thank you.

I think it's important to point out that a child with a cortical vision impairment (CVI) will also display variations of most of these same signs but for very different reasons. It is important to have the right diagnosis as the approach to helping these two different types of kids will often be quite different. Dr. Christine Roman has a good video describing the similarities and differences. One of the school districts my son attended insisted on putting him in their autistic program (he had CVI), which worked part of the time but wasa problem at other times because they didn't adequately address his different needs.

As a audiologist I see a lot of children before they have a diagnosis of autism. Usually because they do not respond to their name and have language development delays. I usually point out to parents when the child does not use gestures to communicate . Children who have language development delays due to hearing loss, typically have good non verbal communication. This realisation usually helps the parents seek the right help.

hi Emma. I wanted to know if the course videos provide a subtitle? Cause i may need to check the words sometimes

Lack of pointing, not responding to her name were our big red flags.. we were waiting for her to point, but still nothing, then the hand flapping started. She was diagnosed just after her 2nd birthday.. As a parent you know!! Don’t deny it and get help!

This is the most useful video on the subject I have seen . Thank u 😊

I'm in a journey and I will be helping people with autism so that they catch it sooner rather than later and teach others about it more as I learn Teaching each other is best so I probably will be a teacher in special needs department Wish me luck on school!☺️

Great informations ! I would like to ad that these are the signs of heavy forms of autism. Mild forms or autism are much more subtle and are diagnosed later in life. Hypersensitivity to noise, light, smell, touch or taste can be one of the earliest indicators but they are not specific to autism.

Great information and very helpful as always Emma, I would however love to see some diversity in your visual content.

Thank you for the video, it’s very helpful, my three year old grandson exhibits all of these behaviors plus he doesn’t talk, plays alone even if others kids are around, shows no affection, eats very few foods that he like or will eat. He hasn’t been tested yet but we are in the process of of doing that.

How many babies of today do you think get the loving, interested one-on-one attention you show in this video? When I see parents and young children, the parents are glued to the phone. Plus few children are at home with a parent - - to get by in today's economy, both parents work and kids spend much of their time in daycare.