I have started to research Autism in infants and toddlers for early intervention. I have never had experience diagnosing or referring a child thus far in my administration time. However I do feel that there is a child that could fit the spectrum. Could anyone give me any pointers of identifying autism in children.
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Professional opinions
Hi Jennifer,
First off, I must say that I have no real experience with autism. However, since my school has a self-contained K-2 autism class, I have a few observations to share on that. Plus, I'm part of my schools student intervention team, which sometimes makes decisions about referrals to special education or "program" changes.
I think what should be strived for when considering a referral is to get all the unbiased, professional opinions you can. (Unbiased opinions would be professionals observing the kid more than listening to you and agreeing with your statements.) At my school, the speech language pathologist (SLP) is very knowledgable about autism. Not all SLPs will be knowledgable about autism, but they should all have language tests to do that would demonstrate how far off a kid is from average language development. All this information would be useful when talking to parents about concerns or referrals.
Good luck,
CCG