What's so important about a baby fascinated with spinning a cup, or a toddler flapping his hands, or a preschooler walking on her toes? Parents and even doctors sometimes miss these red flags for autism. Now there is a new online video "glossary" which helps in the early identification of a child's developmental delays and disorders.
This important new tool defines and depicts these "Red Flags" symptoms. There are side-by-side behavior comparisons which can be startling. Others are more subtle. For example, you can learn about "stimming," "echolalia" and other confusing-sounding terms that describe autistic behavior. Stimming refers to repetitive, self-stimulating or soothing behavior including hand-flapping and rocking that autistic children sometimes do in reaction to light, sounds or excitement. Echolalia is echoing or repeating someone else's words or phrases, sometimes out of context.
The new site tool is sponsored by two nonprofit advocacy groups: Autism Speaks and First Signs along with the collaboration efforts of Florida State University. They hope their sites will promote early diagnosis and treatment, which can help young children with autism lead more normal lives. Access the new video glossary through any one of these links http://www.autismspeaks.org/, http://www.firstsigns.org/, and http://firstwords.fsu.edu/
