Sara Anne: Hi! I'm Sara Anne from Magna, Utah. What should I do if I'm told my toddler may have autism?
Catherine Rice: Sarah Anne, if you're told your toddler might have autism. The first thing I would suggest is to get a little bit more information, about what are other toddlers typically doing at that age? And how does your toddler compare?
One resource would be the CDC's website with information called Learn the Signs. Act Early, which you get at www.cdc.gov/actearly. If you go there, you'll get information about common developmental milestones and you can see how your child is doing.
What I would then do, is bring that information to your child's healthcare provider and have a discussion about the things that were either pointed out to you or that you're concerned about. And have your pediatrician or healthcare provider do a developmental screening.
At the same time, as your screening for skills to see if they're in the norm of what should be occurring or if autism is concern, you could also contact your states Early Intervention Program. They provide free evaluations and intervention for children with developmental issues. And they can help you sort out whether autism is a concern for your child or not.
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