Early signs of Asperger's Syndrome in infancy

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I've been trying to find information relating to this, but I can't find anything conclusive, particularly in relation to the differences of expression in both males and females. I have only found one study so far that examines differences in females during infancy but this was primarily for autistic disorder. Interestingly, it mentioned supposed 'normal' development as well as normal eye contact, tolerance to being held etc.

Also, I know that Autistic Disorder has to be present before three years of age, is this the case for Asperger's Syndrome as well?

Any information would be appreciated.

Pixie-bell.

AS and Autism are all definitely things you are born with. That said, it is quite difficult to discern whether a child has it or not, due to the lack of brain development to, well, develop the traits of NT or Aspie/Autist.

Early symptoms I remember of myself would be a preference (or a contentment) to play by myself and difficulty in making pleasant social play with my peers (I'd piss them off pretty quick and be left by myself, can't quite remember what exactly I did wrong at that age). I was already fascinated by books at that stage (I'm talking about 3 years to preschool age) and I do remember organising my toys rather than playing with them. A big preference for stuff like Lego and puzzles and stuff that you can build things with (I would always build the same thing).

And, of course.. the stimming. Usually not as much an autie-like stimming as a repetitive movement that you consciously do (e.g. rocking myself forwards and backwards in my cot was a big thing for me, for HOURS, something I do remember, funnily enough, must have been quite small).

^ I guess that's one of our advantages with selective memory if we recall what we experienced as a kid!

I don't think I showed any aspie sings in my infancy. I know I took my things apart when I was a year and a half because my mother told me but she said that was something that deaf kids do and I was deaf from having chronic ear infections. When I was 2 I had OCD behavior. My food had to be served to me in a certain way or I'd refuse to eat it, my food had to be in the same spot on my plate, I had to take a certain step in each room.
I don't know how I played with my toys but I read my play skills were below the age level and the doctor made a big deal in my records about me I can rock my doll to sleep because eh wrote that. I think he wrote that because it was an improvement I made in my development.
I also wrung my hands around. That's all I know about myself.

I noticed when my daughter started walking she fell A LOT, like every couple steps, at first I thought "shes just learning to walk is why" then after a month or so of it I took her to a Orthropedic Dr. and he said "she's still learning and may just have a "clubfoot" or something."
Little did I know that the "uneven gait, and clumsiness" are sometimes asscioated w/ Autism. I always wonder if it would be different and in what ways, if I'd have known about that possiability then.
Forgive my spelling deleted my spell-checker accidently

I think that you should look for signs that your infant isn't as happy or showing the emotions that an average infant would. You know, like smiling by 2 or 3 months old and stuff. Also look for developmental delays like by a certain age, does your infant still not clap or jump off something as high as the last step or the curb?

Just stimulate him or her by playing and saying stuff back to them when they say is like "oooh, aahhh" and try to be as expressive as you can by smiling not only with your mouth and cheeks but with your eyes as well.

Here's one I saw some time ago:
http://www.drgreene.org/body.cfm?id=21& ... l&ref=1813

That tilt test is interesting. I would probably have kept my head straight mostly, because moving it would have been more trouble for nothing.

Still, AS people CAN hit milestones EARLY! I talked and walked between 9-10months, and read before 4years.

I don't have any children.

As a child I had a general delay in the development of my motor milestones, however, what happens if your parent/guardian remembers some things, (i.e. my Mother remembers my being very specific about the order of my routines, like bedtime, as a child. Other family members recall my hand-flapping) but not others.

For example, as an adult I rarely make eye-contact and throughout my life people have just put it down to the fact that I am obviously painfully shy and lack confidence.

So, I suppose what I am asking, primarily to those diagnosed as adults, were you able to be accurately diagnosed on the basis that family members may not always remember?

There were no early signs with me at all it devoloped more from when I was about 5 years old or round the time I started school.

for my son...
He preferred to line up his toys rather than play with them, he wouldn't make or maintain eye contact.

He started talking at 5 months and had 2 dozen words by 7 months and then he suddenly stopped talking. He started talking again at 15 months of age. He has a pretty wide vocabulary now but he still repeats words or phrases that he's heard from people or on television- sometimes months after first hearing it.

He couldn't bear being messy in the least and doesn't tolerate change well.

He's hypersensitive to touch, and walks on his toes. He insists on wearing socks at all times. He hates textures that are 'different' including sandy, slimy, etc. This extends to foods as well- to this day we still have never managed to get him to eat a piece of fruit (he's 3 and a half now).
He must wear long sleeved shirts and long pants at all times and you definitely can't have any tags anywhere or it will irritate him.

He hates loud sounds but he immitates the sounds of sirens and for a while he was obsessed with breaking glass! His displeasure for loud sounds often leads to behaviours such as watching tv without any sound at all and just looking at the pictures. He covers his ears whenever he approaches an area where he has heard a loud sound in the past.

He has an extremely long attention span and he's able to play with the same toy for hours on end without getting tired of it or frustrated with it. However, this is only with regard to trains.

When with several other kids his own age, he seems to choose one and follow that child around for the entire duration they are together, unfortunately this sometimes annoys that child.

Well when i was adopted, my mother said i would stiffen up everytime somebody tried to hold or touch me. They also said that I had a nasty temper, and when my mother adopted me, she didn't believe them until she brought me home haha. If i gave any eye contact, my mother said, "i just gave a blank stare, like there was nobody inside me." I also rarely smiled, and couldn't even sit myself up even at the age of 6months. I found out later, those are some of the traits in infancy for autism.

AS is also a developmental disorder so it is there at infancy to,but....often isn't noticed till around 8 onwards,it's usually why parents' think their AS child was 'perfect' till older as they were oblivious to the signs till they were able to compare them against other children.

For the first six months of life, the things infants do are controlled by the brainstem, not the cerebrum. Smiling, crying, feeding, and eye tracking are all controlled by the brainstem. This is known because when infants are born without a brain (just a brainstem) it is impossible to tell from their behavior until they reach the age of 6 months or so.

Born without a brain? I've heard stories about doctors having to reconstruct the skull and having problems because the brain was so big, etc... WOW, so you think all that is controlled by the most basic of neural functions? So how do people have comas, or go to sleep?

You sound as bad as my danish aunt. I SHOWED her how her dog has emotions, anticipates, plans, etc... yet she says the dog can't THINK! The hell it can't. It reacted the SAME way to the test that I have, and the same way ANY half way intelligent human does, and the same way all animals seem to. RIGHT DOWN to the look that means "OK, you are NOT fooling me! Throw the damn ball already!"! Just the fact that the dog didn't even flinch when I acted like I threw the ball, and looked at me that way(Though the first time he flinched and started to look), SCREAMS that he can't think.

Apparently, children are born with brains about 1/4th to 1/3rd their final size 25-33%! Yet the brain stem accounts for less than 2%!

http://cas-courses.buffalo.edu/classes/ ... ise4b.html