Autism Red Flags- What Made Us Seek Help For Our Son

Hi Friends! I wanted to write a follow up post on the red flags or signs of Autism Isaiah has in more detail to better show an example of what led us to peruse a diagnosis for him. I explain more about the process of getting him seen by a neuropsychologist in my last blog, don’t forget to check that one out! These are the symptoms that we noticed in my 2.5 year old Isaiah- if your child does share characteristics with him that doesn’t necessarily mean they have Autism. Definitely do your research and look up the common character traits per the autism speaks website (linked below) and if you’re concerned, start with your pediatrician and your local early intervention program. Again, this post is just for information purposes, advocacy and awareness.

Lining Up Toys: Isaiah has been doing this since he was 12 months old and still does this to this day. He loves lining up and arranging his toys or different objects (rocks, coins, spoons, cups...) in long lines that stretch across the room. This is a very common trait among autism kids and one of the very first red flags many parents notice.

Attachment To Non Toy Objects: I haven’t seen this trait yet on any of the blogs or youtube videos I’ve watched on red flags but it's worth noting! The second thing that I thought was odd was Isaiah’s fixation on non toy objects. He loves collecting sticks or leaves and if he’s asked to put them away he would cry as if he lost his absolute favorite toy. He was attached to pens, coins, papers... even food items and would just hold onto them forever and be attached to them in a matter of seconds.

Hyper Activity/ Poor Sleeping: Kids with Autism tend to be very hyperactive, excelling in gross motor skills. Isaiah was walking before he was one and running came quickly after. He dropped naps quicker than most children and is on melatonin to help him settle him down at night. He is A VERY active two year old! He is currently on a 5:30PM-4:30AM schedule usually with no naps and boundless energy.

Limited/ Non Existent Social Interaction and Missing Milestones: Isaiah started missing milestones at around 10 months old. Thanks to therapy he now claps, points and waves but none of that came naturally. The social emotional milestones are very important for babies to feel connected to their caregivers; naturally copying what they see. Isaiah never showed any interest in interactions and if he was he had poor eye contact often turned away from the person he was trying to engage with. He finds typical social games hard like pretend play especially if it’s a non realistic scenario.

Picky Eating: Isaiah will usually eat anything carb or fruit related willingly, veggies and even foods like oatmeal and spaghetti could have him in tears.

Late Talking: This also goes in hand with missing milestones but wanted to make a separate category for it to mention that it wasn’t just words but also gestures Isaiah was missing. Non verbal communication wasn’t something Isaiah did to help express his wants. Even with him learning words he wouldn’t always use them functionally and that also peaked my interest into getting him seen professionally.

Hand Flapping/ Spinning/ Screaming: These are all self stimulating behavior called Stemming. We would see hand flapping if he was happy, spinning if he became bored and of course vocal stems to help regulate his emotions. We thought at first it was a behavior issue but now we know he uses these stems to help process his surroundings and feelings throughout the day.

Sensory Seeking Behavior/ Sensory Avoidance: I would say Isaiah is a sensory seeker, he loves soft textiles and crashing into objects, weighted blankets and stuffed animals. He definitely craves touch and is always giving hugs to be squeezed or needs something to hold. This is a red flag because it’s to an extreme measure that he needs sensory input. You may also see a child on the spectrum who does everything they can to avoid sensory experiences. They don’t like being touched or hugged, they don’t like the feeling of different textures or tags on clothing or toys. They scream when they get water or dirt on their skin; definitely a red flag to look out for!

Looking At Toys/ Books At Odd Angles: Isaiah likes to look a wheels on his cars upside down, turn books upside down or will physically put himself in a upside down position to play with toys for a long period of time. He will also put items super close to his face or look at toys from the corner of his eye.

Obsessive Interests: Kids on the specrum tend to obsess over one topic and only want anything to do with that topic. For Isaiah it was Finding Dory/ Aquatic Fish for over a year. He only wanted to watch the Dory movie and would do so over and over again. He would script lines from the movie and would say them at random times. He would stare at books with fish/ ocean animals for hours. For kids who are verbal they would probably only want to talk about their topic of choice only.

Academically Advanced: Autism kiddos can have a knack for academics and cognitive skills. Puzzles, letters and numbers can come easy to them usually being leaps and bounds ahead of their peers. Isaiah knew his entire alphabet, how to count and group objects as well as shapes and colors when he had his evaluation. But when asked what his favorite color was or how old he was he couldn’t answer or most of the time didn’t understand the question.

Heres a link to the autism speaks website on some other more common autism traits you may see with kids on the spectrum.

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/signs.html