Parents, caregivers, family members, teachers, and others who spend a lot of time with children can look for “red flags.” Some may mean a delay in one or more areas of development, while others are more typical of ASDs. A list of red flags appears to the right.

Possible Red Flags for Autism¹¹

• The child does not respond to his/her name.
• The child cannot explain what he/she wants.
• The child’s language skills are slow to develop or speech is delayed.
• The child doesn’t follow directions.
• At times, the child seems to be deaf.
• The child seems to hear sometimes, but not other times.
• The child doesn’t point or wave “bye-bye.”
• The child used to say a few words or babble, but now he/she doesn’t.
• The child throws intense or violent tantrums.
• The child has odd movement patterns.
• The child is overly active, uncooperative, or resistant.
• The child doesn’t know how to play with toys.
• The child doesn’t smile when smiled at.
• The child has poor eye contact. The child gets “stuck” doing the same things over and over and can’t move on to other things.
• The child seems to prefer to play alone.
• The child gets things for him/herself only.
• The child is very independent for his/her age.
• The child does things “early” compared to other children.
• The child seems to be in his/her “own world.”
• The child seems to tune people out.
• The child is not interested in other children.
• The child walks on his/her toes. The child shows unusual attachments to toys, objects, or schedules (i.e., always holding a string or having to put socks on before pants).
• Child spends a lot of time lining things up or putting things in a certain order.

In addition, your child’s health care provider will send your child for an evaluation if you report any of the behaviors listed below; such an evaluation would consider ASDs, among other possible causes.¹²

If the child…

• Does not babble or coo by 12 months of age
• Does not gesture (point, wave, grasp, etc.) by 12 months of age
• Does not say single words by 16 months of age
• Does not say two-word phrases on his or her own (rather than just repeating what someone says to him or her) by 24 months of age
• Has ANY loss of ANY language or social skill at ANY age