As parents from England with a 4 ½ year old child who was desperately behind with his development with no language and strange behaviors, it is hard to describe the frustration and worry we experienced. With no clear diagnosis and out of desperation we looked on the internet for help and was extremely lucky to
Hello to my family at ECTC, My heart compels me to share this with you… after leaving ABA/speech therapy this morning we arrived at Darian’s school about 15 minutes early. I parked in the lot and Darian discovered how to open my car’s sunroof. His school friends were walking towards the entrance gate where we
Dr. Pantea Sharifi-Hannauer was recently featured in an UC Health article on autism: If you suspect your child is not developing normally, speak to your pediatrician. “Seeing your baby’s first social smile is one of the joys of early parenthood. But what if your baby hasn’t reached that critical developmental milestone by six months? Should
There is a simple screening tool for pediatricians/family practitioners for finding early signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder. The Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT™, Robins, Fein & Barton, 1999) is available for free downloads for clinical, research and educational purposes. The M-CHAT™ and scoring instructions are available for download here: M-CHAT and M-CHAT
Autism is a neurological disorder, and it may be characteristic of many other different diseases. Dr. Sharifi Hannauer is a specialist in the evaluation and monitoring of children with developmental delays.
Estimates show that up to 25% of children in a primary care practice show developmental issues (American Academy of Neurology-AAN 2000). Often, children don’t get the appropriate help they need until after the age of 3yrs. Repeated studies have shown that it is imperative to diagnose children early with any form of developmental delay in
Males are 4-5 times more likely than females to be diagnosed as autistic.
Many school districts offer diagnostic testing services to identify the nature of a child’s behavioral challenges at no cost. Aks your school adminstrator for contact details at the school district level.
The Characteristics Of Autism Include Difficulty relating with people Inappropriate laughing/giggling No fear of real dangers Apparent insensitivity to pain Extreme attachment to objects Disturbances in communicating Repetitive or ritualistic behavior Hypersensitivity to the senses Selective hearing Emotional distress for no reason Resists change in routine Appears to “look through” people Resists normal teaching methods
Routine screening for autism should occur at a child’s well-care visit to the pediatrician at ages 18 months AND 24 months. The second screening at 24 months increases the likelihood of correctly identifying and intervening with the concern as the mean age for “regression” is 20 months.