| One of the hardest parts of being a parent of a child | | | | have to remember to look at more than just the |
| with Autism is figuring out the meaning of the different | | | | description. They also need to remember not all |
| signs that my child shows me. Some behaviors are | | | | children have even most of the items on the list. Then |
| typically signs present in a lot of children with Autism | | | | when we have a handle on which characteristics our |
| Spectrum Disorders. Other behaviors that might seem | | | | child has we look at what else might be going on in our |
| to be signs might be typical behavior for a child that | | | | child's life. |
| age. | | | | This process is not unlike what parents do with their |
| Examples might be a child that does not play with | | | | typical children. When issues come up they look at |
| other children. One of the first things to consider as a | | | | what exactly the issues or signs are. Then we look at |
| parent is how old the child is. Parents would want to | | | | what else is going on in our child's life. |
| be a lot more concerned about a five year old that | | | | This is also a similar process that a careful medical |
| does not want to play with other children than with a | | | | evaluation will use. Just the way no two typical children |
| three year old. | | | | are alike, no two children with Autism are alike. A |
| We would expect a three year old to be doing more | | | | careful medical evaluation will also look at |
| parallel playing and be more demanding about | | | | compensatory skills our child with Autism has learned |
| possessing a toy. It would help to know how much | | | | to be able to survive and keep up. |
| opportunity there is for the three year old or the five | | | | Parents are the first line at looking for issues their |
| year old to play with other children. If there are few | | | | children are having. With a little thought about the signs |
| opportunities then it would not be surprising to see | | | | and their meanings, they can be the best reporters |
| issues in playing with other children. | | | | when participating in the evaluation process. They |
| When parents look at a list of signs of Autism parents | | | | have insight and information no one else has available. |