How Autism is Diagnosed

A infant with Autism doesn't act like a normal infant. The child won't raise arms in anticipation of getting picked up, cries when help or picked up, and doesn't really mind having little or no human contact. The infant won't learn childhood games such as the common game of peek-a-boo and won't form any attachment to parents. Usually young children will show shyness and anxiety when being handled by strangers, children with Autism will just go along with it.
A child with Autism will become more noticeable around the age of 12-36 months when they are falling behind in development of children their age. Autism can range from mild to severe and affect all children differently. A child who can read well may have problems socializing while another child can't do either. Although Autism affects social, communication, and behavioral patterns; each child diagnosed with Autism will be affected in different areas but all individual patterns fit into the diagnosis.
Children may have unusual responses to sensory experiences and can also reject people and start to lose language and social skills they once had. The changes can be experienced over a short period of time and are noticeable by the parents. The earlier that Autism is detected, the sooner treatment can start resulting in improved outcomes of those children who are diagnosed.
In order to be diagnosed with Autism, the child must show problems with one of the following areas: communication, socialization, or restricted behavior before the age of 3. There are 2 stages to the diagnosis of Autism; 1. Developmental Screening and 2. A thorough evaluation.


http://www.mychildwithoutlimits.org/?page=how-is-autism-diagnosed