Autism is a psychiatric disorder found in the brains of young children, normally before three years old. Characteristics of it are shown by a deficit in communication, social interaction, flights of fantasy, and abnormal behavior, like attachment to certain objects and repetitive acts. It’s also associated with impaired intellect. Determining the early signs in a child will go a long way towards obtaining effective treatment.

Autism has no known cause, no known cure, and few effective treatments of its symptoms. Autism comes in varied severities, called autism spectrum disorder, the milder of which is called Asperger’s Syndrome. It affects many parts of the brain.

Currently, there are five early signs of autism. These are telltale signs to the parent or caregiver that something is wrong and that the child may have a problem.

1. Baby doesn’t respond to their name being called by their parent                      

Normally, babies respond to their own name by looking at who called them and smiling or just looking. This is especially done to the parents, whom the baby has formed a bond with.

Autistic babies usually look at the ‘caller’ only about 20% of the time, with a similar response to sounds. Some parents have thought of this as a sign of hearing loss.

2. Does the baby look at the same thing the parent is looking at?

At around 12 months old, babies engage in the ’show’ portion of the ’show and tell’ game. They may show their parent their toy, for example. They also are known to point to objects, such as a plane flying overhead, and look at objects pointed to by the parent.

Autistic babies have a particular difficulty showing these abilities. They also tend not to look back and forth between object and parent like the other children.

3. Does the baby imitate the parent?

Babies are mimics. By 8 - 10 months, the baby imitates the parent when clapping, gesturing or other movements.

Autistic children tend to imitate less with objects and with body and facial movements.

4. Does the baby respond emotionally to others?

Babies cry when others cry. They laugh when others laugh. They give an emotional response to an emotional outbreak.

Autistic babies generally show no emotional response to others. They may ignore or seem unaware of the emotions of others.

5. Does the baby play pretend?

Children pretend. It is creativity in its purest form. They may pretend to be someone else, such as mommy,daddy, a policeman or a firefighter. They may pretend to be somewhere else, also. They pretend to feed their dolls, eat food from empty bowl with a sroon, drink from an empty cup,etc..

Autistic babies don’t engage in pretend play. They seem to lack the ability to do so, especially in children under 2 years old.

If you recognize that your child may be deficient in any of these traits, they may be experiencing early symptoms of autism. While this may not be a guarantee, please have your child screened for autism spectrum disorder, or ASD. Early diagnosis of these early signs of autism can go a long way towards obtaining effective long lasting treatment that can improve the life of your child, and yourself as well.

You know how a movie will show you an accident in show motion? What is about to happen is really bad and you know that in reality it only took a spit second, but the film is slowed down so it takes 10 to 20 seconds to show you the entire event. That’s how I felt as I was preparing supper that evening.

Matthew’s tiny fingers s-l-o-w-l-y reached out and touched the boiling water as it dripped through the holes in the colander. I froze. Next I saw his entire hand under the colander. I was stunned and it seemed like it took f-o-r-e-v-e-r for me to set aside the pan of fresh cooked green beans.

“Oh, my God!” I screamed, as I grabbed his tiny wrist.

Erick, the eldest of our five kids heard the commotion and came running to see what had happened. I sent him across the street to see if any doctors were attending a church function at that moment.

“Cold water!” the command came from somewhere deep inside me. As quickly as I could, I turned on the cold water tap and held his tiny hand in it.

“Please God,” I prayed, “Let there be a doctor there who can tell me what to do.”

Poor Matthew! Born with Down’s syndrome and, as I suspected, autism, his sense of self was so undeveloped he never cried as a baby. At nine months of age he underwent heart surgery and the only sound he made during his recovery was quiet grunting. I had to plead with the nurses to give him an analgesic—they did not believe he was in pain: “Because he isn’t crying,” they said. The nurses could not understand that he had never cried, even as a newborn—he never cried when he was hungry or in wet diapers. I did every thing for him according to a schedule. Matthew received only one dose of Tylenol while in the hospital for heart surgery. Can you imagine?

Today he did not cry. He was oblivious to the heat of scalding water upon his tender skin.

My thoughts raced ahead to possible treatment for a burn and how he might react to having his hand bandaged. I knew he would not understand how important it would be to keep bandages in place! What will we do? Oh, hurry, Erick, bring help!

“There are no doctors at the church,” Erick reported.

My heart was pounding so hard! What could I do for him now? As I continued to pray and ask God for help, I caught sight of a canister sitting on top of the refrigerator. The label said, “Liquid bandage.” I gently dried Matthew’s hand and sprayed the liquid bandage all over his hand.

Closing my eyes, I prayed once again, “Please God, show me what to do!” When I opened my eyes, I held one of Matthew’s hands in each of mine. I held them next to eachother—wondering if I was just imagining things: Both hands were the same normal color. There was no way to tell for sure which hand he had placed in scalding water. They were both normal. There were no blisters, not even redness—not at that moment and not later.

I don’t know how to explain what happened that day—other than by praying for help and guidance Matthew was granted a miracle.

What this event did for me is also difficult to put into words. It felt like someone was orchestrating events beyond my control—events designed to prove that miracles can and do happen—to ordinary people—today!

 

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How can you create more miracles in your life? For an in-depth look at how to allow miracles to occur in emergencies and in ordinary everyday life, join Rebecca Hanson for the A Year of Miracles TeleCourse. Rebecca, founder of the Law of Attraction Training Center and author of Law of Attraction for Business, has used her unique blend of rational and intuitive gifts to masterfully assist thousands of people in the art of deliberately creating the life and business they truly want.