What are the signs of autism in an infant?

Depends on age: Typically parents and providers start to notice signs closer to a year as they realize there have been delays in milestones and speech is not developing. Prior to that you may notice that a child prefers not to be held or does not seem to make eye contact and smile and is missing milestones. Alternately you may see an inconsolable child who does not sleep much combined with delays. Low tone also.

Depends on age: It's hard for parents to recognize diminished eye-to-face gaze, but they can detect lack of: social smile by 2 mos., reciprocal gooing & cooing by 4 mos., raising arms to be picked up @ 6 mos., imitating " pat-a-cake" & "peek-a-boo" & turning to name @ 9 mos. See firstsigns.Org & the aap's healthy child app for signs of decreased social reciprocity & social communication at different ages.

In infancy: Core symptoms of autism look different at different ages, but always include delays in social communication. A 4-month-should goo and coo " in sync" with mom, a 6-month-old should raise his arms to be picked up, a 9-month old should respond to his name. The diagnosis includes much more, but these are things parents can notice early. Firstsigns.Org has good checklists for parents. Check it out!

Autism in infant: Autism occurs in 1:68 us children. The first sign of it is poor eye contact with the parent after infant is 3-4 months of age. These children usually will not coo and goo or smile. Later they may have significantly delayed speech. Have your ped screen him not later than 18 months with an mchat or other tool. The earlier the therapy, the better.