Jim KwikFounder, Kwik Brain · Brain Coach

Don't ignore the early signs of autism

4 Jul 2024 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:59

In this segment of a YouTube interview, Jim Kwik asks about recurring challenges in the neurodivergent space, and Speaker B explains that early signs of autism can be subtle, appearing as early as 6‑12 months. Parents often hesitate to voice concerns or seek medical advice, leading to missed opportunities for early testing and intervention. The speaker emphasizes that early evaluation—triggered by speech‑language delays or atypical motor development—can provide crucial support even before a formal autism diagnosis, and that receiving a diagnosis now tends to open more doors for services than it closes.

Chapters

What are the common challenges that you see recurring in this space of neurodivergent?
Sometimes the early signs of autism are subtle. We know from research studies now that children even as young as 6 months, 9 months, 12 months are very often showing some of these signs. And yet parents might be scared to raise their concerns, bring them to their doctor. So one of the biggest challenges is that when those early signs appear, which in my view should then lead us to provide the right testing and evaluations and support because we know early support makes a big difference. Often those signs are ignored. I truly believe today a diagnosis of autism opens more doors than it closes. These early signs should be things that prompt parents and prompt pediatricians to get children evaluated. So if a child is showing speech-language delays, differences in how their motor system is developing, we can support each of those areas even if we're not sure yet if autism is present.