Picture this:
You are sitting in the doctor’s office filling out a questionnaire about your child’s development and whether or not they are showing signs of autism. With your mind running on four hours of sleep, it might be hard to remember just how often your child points to objects or if the number of words they say is growing every week. You just wish someone would give you a simple explanation about what to look for and next steps if you had concerns.
Well look no further…
If exhibiting traits of autism, your child may…
Display differences in social interaction and play
They may or may not engage in consistent eye contact, limit their involvement in interactive games (such as patty-cake), prefer to play alone, or focus on parts of a toy rather than the toy as a whole.Demonstrate language skills that are delayed or absent
The child may not respond to voices or their own name, they are not smiling by 6 months, they do not babble, point or use other meaningful gestures by 12 months, they do not have at least one word by 16 months, or they are not combining words into phrases by 24 months.Enjoy routines and/or have specific interests or preferences
They may line up objects in a certain order, only participate in activities or focus on topics that are of interest to them, eat certain foods that are similar in color, texture, or taste, or prefer consistency over changes in routine tasks (For example, if bedtime consists of “1. bath 2. brush teeth, 3. pajamas” and it was changed to “1. bath, 2. pajamas, 3. brush teeth,” the child may exhibit a big reaction to that change).
Engage in repetitive movements to an extreme
The child may flap their hands, rock, or spin throughout the day or may repeat words or phrases that they have heard without a known cause or context.Regress in speech or language skills that they once demonstrated
The child may be consistently using a variety of words and then suddenly stops using them.
If your child is displaying any combination or all of these signs, never fear…SLPs are here! Speech-language pathologists are experts in language development and specifically trained to help children with a variety of language differences thrive in all aspects of life. Early assessment and intervention are key to identifying each child’s needs.
Contact us for a free
phone consultation:
Northern Virginia:
info@owlstherapy.com
(703) 470-6957
Philadelphia’s Main Line:
philadelphia@owlstherapy.com
(610) 579-0914
About the Author
Janene Besch
Director/Speech-Language Pathologist
Janene Besch, née Martin, holds a Master's degree in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences from San Diego State University and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of California at San Diego. Janene is a member of the American Academy of Private Practice in Speech Pathology
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Welcome back to our last post in the series “Milestones: Navigating the Numbers”! This series was inspired by the updated American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s (ASHA) Developmental Milestones. Read more on the expected speech, language, social-pragmatic, and feeding milestones expected by age 1, age 2, age 3 and age 4.