An Alabama mother has revealed the hidden sign that her daughter had autism when she was just eight months old.
Brandi Hogan’s three-year-old daughter Bella was diagnosed with level 3 non-verbal autism just before her third birthday, but the mother believes the little girl was showing signs as early as eight months, she revealed in a tiktok video.
In an old video, Hogan shows his daughter playing on the floor.
The smiling baby plopped down when her mother called her name and hit the ground to get her attention.
Except the baby didn’t respond to his name, and although he noticed the tapping, he avoided eye contact.
Hogan is convinced that these two things were “early signs” that his daughter was autistic.
“Some of the first signs of autism we had were not just not responding to her name, but her not responding at all,” he wrote in the caption.
‘In fact, we checked her hearing three different times and in one of those tests they had to put her to sleep. “He had perfect hearing but he didn’t respond to us at all,” he continued. ‘She didn’t make eye contact at this age. We kept thinking he would understand and eventually he sometimes responded.”
Brandi Hogan’s three-year-old daughter Bella was diagnosed with level 3 non-verbal autism just before her third birthday, but the mother believes the little girl was already showing signs as early as eight months, as her daughter did not respond to his name and avoided eye contact.
Although not responding to one’s name “may be a possible sign of autism,” it is not “definitive,” according to Dr. María Barberá.
“If a child has no other signs of autism, then he or she may not be autism,” he said on his website. “Many factors can affect a child’s responsiveness, including hearing difficulties, attention problems, or developmental delays.”
Children usually begin to respond to their name between six and 12 months. Barbera recommends screening if a child hasn’t begun to respond to his or her name within the first year.
While the child was professionally diagnosed with autism, commenters on Hogan’s video were divided on whether or not they believed the behaviors the mother had captured were due to autism or simply normal traits of the baby.
Some parents could relate to what she experienced with her baby.
‘My son looks exactly like her! I think he has autism,” one parent wrote, saying his son doesn’t walk, has speech delay and doesn’t respond to his name, among other symptoms.
‘My son was like that at that age and he was referred before he even reached one. “He received his diagnosis at two years old, he is three and a half years old and does not speak and has other developmental delays, but he is a happy soul,” another mother wrote.
‘My nine-month-old baby does not respond to his name, sometimes I can scream very loudly to get his attention and nothing, his hearing is fine, he responds to noises like knocks, claps, etc., noises that he likes,’ a third wrote.
However, others were not so convinced and thought that the girl behaved normally for her age.
‘I don’t see any sign. A perfect, beautiful baby!’ wrote one woman.
Another wrote: ‘This is normal! (Please) people don’t confuse parents who don’t know anything about autism.’
‘He’s just a little boy. There is no autism,” wrote a third.
Signs to watch for in babies during the first six months are “few or no big smiles or other warm, happy, attractive expressions” and “limited eye contact,” according to autism speaks.
Commenters were divided over whether the ‘early signs’ were worrying or not, despite Bella being diagnosed later.
According to the organization, at nine months, babies who show limited sounds and smiles could show signs of autism.
By their first birthday, babies should be babbling, gesticulating, and responding to their names.
Other symptoms of autism that may occur at any age include loss of acquired speech or social skills, avoidance of eye contact, persistent loneliness, difficulty understanding the emotions of others, delays in language development, persistent repetition of words. , restricted interests, stimulation, among others, depending on the organization.
About one in 36 children will be diagnosed with autism in the United States. About four percent of boys and one percent of girls suffer from it.
Boys are almost four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls, the organization said.
The average age at which autism is diagnosed in the US is five years old.
