what are the signs of autism

I am a father of two autistic children. At some point my wife and I noticed differences between my oldest daughter at her age, and my oldest son (who now serves in the U.S. army) when he was just a toddler. I guess the first “red-flag” we noticed was her lack of speech. She would repeat some words we would say to her over, and over. But she never seamed to have comprehension of what those words meant.
Over the next few months we noticed she was not reaching benchmarks in her mental development as she should be. She was not pointing at things, She had no interest in normal activities that a girl her age should. She did not want to learn to use utensils when eating. And when an activity was disrupted she became EXTREMELY upset.

http://dovaccinescauseautism.blogspot.com/ Some skill sets she accelerated at. Like stacking her blocks. She could stack them very high without them collapsing, and she would take them down, and repeat this task over, and over. Her level of excitement over mundane things was sometimes extreme. She would “flap” her arms as if a baby bird taking flight. (an act she still does today at 4yrs old).
To this day she does not come to us for affection, fear, hurt, or any of the reasons a child would seek the love, and affection of a parent. Almost as if she was without parents for these times.
Our doctor tried to reassure us in the beginning that this may only be a speech delay. And that speech therapy would most likely clear this up. As of today she only speaks less than 5 words, and only uses them when asked to repeat it for different items (eat,drink,etc..).
This was unfortunately NOT the case. she had autism. Little did we know during that time my wife had become pregnant with a baby boy, who would also turn out to be autistic.
so, what are the signs that your child may have autism? they differ from child to child. And just because a child shows some of these behaviors, it in no way means that your child has an autism spectrum disorder.
Only a doctor can really diagnose a child for autism spectrum disorder. However, some of the warning signs are:

• Doesn’t make eye contact (e.g. look at you when being fed).
• Doesn’t smile when smiled at.
• Doesn’t respond to his or her name or to the sound of a familiar voice.
• Doesn’t follow objects visually.
• Doesn’t point or wave goodbye or use other gestures to communicate.
• Doesn’t follow the gesture when you point things out.

• Doesn’t make noises to get your attention.
• Doesn’t initiate or respond to cuddling.
• Doesn’t imitate your movements and facial expressions.
• Doesn’t reach out to be picked up.
• Doesn’t play with other people or share interest and enjoyment.
• Doesn’t ask for help or make other basic requests.

--> If your child shows any of these warning signs, contact your doctor as soon as possible.

Oh, and one last point I must share with you. My wife and I were “those parents who did NOT get their child vaccinations, due to the fear we had about them causing autism.  Ironic isn’t it.