Increasing awareness

Dad emailed me to tell me he was inspired to look up the meaning of Autism after reading about it in my blog. I'm glad to hear that I'm doing my little part to increase awareness of Autism, one person at a time! (I also wear the wristband above that my professor gave us as a "reward" for doing well on the exam. ;))

Despite the vast increase in publicity about the Autism in recent years, most people I've talked to still have very little (or worse, erroneous) knowledge of the disorder. Sadly, there is even less awareness of speech and language disorders, which is very bad because there are all these kids out there who have problems and need help, and people don't even know it.

So, quick tips for the parents or would-be parents out there:
1. If your kid doesn't respond to his name by 12 months, GET HIM ASSESSED (at risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder).
2. If your kid doesn't say 50 words by 24 months, GET HIM ASSESSED (at risk for receptive/expressive language disorders).

I'm not saying that kids who meet any of the above necessarily have a disorder. But they are at risk and it doesn't hurt to check. And if you're in the US, its also free. Note that I used "he" in all my descriptions above. Thats because boys are 3 times more likely to have developmental disorders than girls.

Do NOT "wait and see"! Every month you wait is a month your child is not getting the help he needs! Early intervention can work wonders.

Finally, don't always believe pediatricians or other people when they assure you your kid is fine. As well-meaning as I'm sure they are, they are not always experts on child development. There are plenty of cases where pediatricians have told parents their kid is perfectly fine even when its clear as day the kid has Autism (or some other developmental delay).