Video: Detecting autism: tips for parents
Dr. Alanna Levine, a pediatrician with the American Academy of Pediatrics, examines the latest autism numbers.
>>> joining us now, dr. levine, aped pediatrician based here in new york, and he's a mother herself. good to have you here. what should parents be looking for in their children in the early developmental years.
>> they're supposed to screen for signs of autism at 18 months and 24 months, but there are things parents can look out for as well. by 18 months, most children should be responding to their name. if your child doesn't respond when you call out their name, you want to seek medical attention for that. also, children at this age will be able to point to objects. they should wave bye-bye when someone leaves the room or when they're prompted. they tend not to tune out other people around them. this is when they're social and interacting. they should be interacting with other children as well, and this is also a time where children should be -- should be interested in children and also making eye contact with them.
>> you can imagine certainly how difficult this is for parents to hear this kind of news, these kinds of numbers. one thing we should take away from the study, what is it.
>> there's an increase identification. this is going to help us allocate resources for research and studying what the causes are of autism spectrum disorders . it's also going to help communities understand what resources they need to have available for their children.
>> good to have you on tonight. thank you for being
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