Should I Wait to Have My Child Diagnosed with Autism?
Friday January 12, 2007
With so much publicity about autism, parents are worried. A six-month old doesn't make eye contact. A three year old is more interested in toys than in other children. A two year old has fewer words than most of her peers. Are these signs that something is very wrong?
Of course, many children have delays and differences that are either outgrown or unimportant. Some kids are shyer than others. Some develop more slowly. But then again, as we're learning, many delays and differences can and should be taken more seriously.
How much should parents worry? How quickly should they act? Find out more!
Comments
My advice is don’t wait. Go to www.cdc.gov/actearly and find out whether your child is meeting his social, cognitive, emotional and language milestones. Than talk to your pediatrician.
Don’t be like me and wait until you’re sure there is a problem, and then expect a diagnosis overnight. In our case, the evaluation process here in Norway took a whole two years.
Life has gotten easier now that we have the diagnosis and can thus understand his challenges better. We wish we had gotten the diagnosis sooner.