检测自闭症的早期预警信号
看来人们比以往任何时候都更加意识到这一点autism这些天。
When I go to the bookstore there are multiple shelves reserved for books written about this disorder.
There are more news articles, more research and more public discussions about autism than ever. This greater awareness may be due to the growing rates of children being diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.
一些估计报告称，每150名生活在美国的儿童中就有一名可能被诊断为患有自闭症谱系障碍。
Yet with all this greater publicity and awareness, autism continues to be a most perplexing and mysterious neurological disorder.
我认为自闭症不是一种很容易在早期发现的疾病，因为孩子可能不会立即表现出所有的症状。
Add to this, every child on the autism spectrum is unique and may show vastly different symptoms than another child on the spectrum.
我们真正需要诊断自闭症的是一系列可能的行为，孩子在任何时候都可能表现出来，也可能不表现出来。
我的两个儿子可能是这种混乱中的一个案例。
我最小的儿子患有自闭症。
My eldest son does not.
Yet early on my eldest son showed some of the early warning signs of an autism spectrum disorder.
他不太喜欢拥抱，有时会
straighten like a
在被接走的时候，board是一个很晚才开口说话的人（直到他四岁生日才开口说话），他对火车着迷。
但当他接受测试时，我们被告知我的长子没有自闭症。
So when my youngest son also showed delays in talking we were not as concerned and just thought that he was following in his brother's footsteps in being a late talker.
我们错了。
There were distinct differences in my two boys with regard to their early development which I want to highlight here in hopes that it may help parents and caregivers to know what things to focus upon as far as early warning signs of autism.
当我们叫我患有自闭症的儿子时，他没有回应他的名字，但我没有自闭症的儿子总是转向他的名字。
My son who has autism did not point to things to show us things in his environment. My son who does not have autism consistently pointed to things. I would say that this was one of the huge indicators that my youngest son had autism. Both of my boys lacked verbal language but my oldest made up for it with pointing and gestures.
My son who has autism had never asked the question, "What's that?" Although my eldest son lacked many words early on, this question was a part of his verbal repertoire.
My son who has autism seemed to show more imagination than my son who does not have autism. This is just one example of how difficult it can be to diagnose this disorder. I remember one of the "tests" they did upon examining my youngest son was to hand him a baby doll and brush where he was expected to brush the baby doll's hair. If he brushed the baby doll's hair this was seen as a sign that he had imagination. My son had very little experience and interest in baby dolls and since he always used a comb for his own hair, I failed to see how this test had any functional value whatsoever. After the testing session was over my son set out play dishes of pretend food for stuffed animals but this did not count as this behavior did not occur during the "testing times."
My son who has autism never lined things up in his life. My son who does not have autism used to line things up all the time like cars and trains. Lining toys up in a row can be part of normal play for some kids. It doesn't always indicate autism.
两个男孩都不擅长眼神交流。但当我的长子确实进行眼神交流时，这是一种共同的联系。有时，当我患有自闭症的小儿子与我眼神交流时，他就像是直视着我。
我患有自闭症的儿子在早期从来没有表现出需要相同和常规。这是他多年来养成的行为之一。但我的儿子没有自闭症，他对一些保持不变的东西非常着迷。例如，当他的旧鞋变得太小时，我们无法让他穿新鞋。我真的不得不把他鞋子上的脚趾剪掉，这样他就不得不穿新的，甚至他还想穿他的旧鞋子，剪掉脚趾等等。我儿子小时候患有自闭症，我们从来没有遇到过这样的问题。
My son who does not have autism was always interested in other kids and always wanted to play with them. My son who has autism might watch other kids but would rather stay on the fringes without interacting.
除了缺乏指向性之外，我最小的儿子患有自闭症的另一个重要迹象是，他对周围环境中的刺激有着不同寻常的反应。他非常讨厌汽车喇叭、火警和吹树叶的声音。他要么沮丧地哭泣，要么完全闭嘴，然后就睡在那里。他也会对某些刺激表现出不同寻常的吸引力，比如想直视灯光或打开或关闭灯光开关。我的儿子没有自闭症，他从来没有表现出这些厌恶或困扰。
我患有自闭症的儿子总是喜欢拥抱，他会向你塑造自己的身体。我没有自闭症的儿子在这种情况下更加冷漠，他总是想面对外界，这样他就可以情绪低落或与周围环境互动。因此，这是我的两个儿子挑战定义自闭症症状的传统方式的另一种方式。
My point in writing this is not to confuse you but to tell you that sometimes a bullet point list of possible symptoms of autism is not always going to be a sure and fast way to know if your child has this disorder.
我认为，对我来说，那些表明可能存在严重问题的行为是，我最小的儿子没有指向我们或向我们展示东西，他对其他孩子没有太大兴趣，他从来没有问过这个问题，“那是什么？”
And he had some unusual reactions to sensory stimuli.
But for another parent and another child, this list may be different.
如果你对孩子的发育有疑问，请立即联系孩子的儿科医生。
此外，你可以联系当地三岁以下儿童的早期干预机构或三岁以上儿童的公立学校。
您也可以通过以下方式联系国家残疾儿童和青年信息中心：
1-800-695-0285.
你呢？
如果你是一个被诊断患有自闭症谱系障碍的孩子的父母，你的孩子有哪些早期预警迹象？
一定要在这里分享你的故事。
你可以在这个过程中帮助别人。
