When toddlers are inattentive, hyper focused on certain topics or items, or extremely hyperactive,
both professionals and parents wonder if it's normal, if it's just a phase, or if it's ADHD
or autism.
Today, I want to discuss the differences between autism and ADHD symptoms in very young children
and the treatment for both.
Each week, I provide you with some of my ideas about turning autism around.
So if you haven't subscribed to my YouTube channel, you can do that now.
Back in the late 1990s, when my son Lucas was two, he was very impulsive, inattentive,
and darted away when we were out in the community or out in the yard.
He also was diagnosed with a speech delay and saw a speech therapist weekly and attended
toddler preschool two mornings a week without too many issues.
At that point, I was hoping that Lucas's issues were related to just the speech delay or at
the worst, just ADHD.
I thought autism was a death sentence with no hope for improvement, let alone recovery.
I did a blog on recovery from autism in the past so if you haven't seen that, you may
want to check that out now.
After two decades in the autism world, I know that recovery from autism is possible and
I've also been a part of preventing autism too but acting at the very first signs of
any delay when your child or client is very young is key.
As you may know, Lucas was diagnosed with moderate to severe autism one day before he
was 3, after I was in denial for over a year.
Over the past 20 years, I've learned that there is a huge overlap between early signs
of autism, ADHD, speech delays, and mental health issues like OCD and ODD.
And many professionals, including me, believe that ADHD may be on the edge of the autism
spectrum.
In fact, the early signs and symptoms of both autism and ADHD as well as developmental delays
overlap a lot.
Typically developing kids have lots of tantrums too, and many toddlers and preschoolers who
have language or other delays early on, do catch up either on their own or with just
a little early intervention.
Even really bright kids with high IQs without delays often have sensory and social differences.
So it is no wonder that everyone is confused.
Some signs of autism and ADHD in toddlers are nearly identical, including inattention,
hyperactivity, being constantly in motion, impulsivity, and refusing to wait, share,
or take turns.
But these behaviors are also present in most typically developing 2 and 3 year olds in
general, as these young kids are learning abstract language and transitioning to cooperative
play.
The addition of a speech delay , failure to point by 18 months to show you things, and
failure to play at age appropriate levels is more indicative of autism.
But a lot of times it's very difficult to tell.
There's also a lot of false reassurance going on in the medical and educational fields with
people saying he's just a boy, my son didn't talk until he was four, and don't worry he'll
catch up.
No matter if you think your toddler is hyperactive, inattentive, having more tantrums than you'd
expect, or just seems a little behind in terms of talking, here are the same three steps
you should take today.
The first tip is know what typical milestones are and the ages when your infant, toddler,
or preschooler should be babbling, reaching for things, crawling, pointing, putting two
words together, and sitting for a book to be read.
The CDC's Act Early website is a helpful resource and that goes over typical milestones and
early warning signs of delays for kids from 2 months to 5 years of age.
The second tip is if after checking the milestones your child seems delayed in any area, make
an appointment with your child's pediatrician and get on wait list for further evaluations.
The third tip is to learn about ABA, Applied Behavior Analysis, which is a behavioral treatment
because even if it's just ADHD or a speech delay only, learning these proven strategies
will help your child get back on track or improve to some degree.
Wherever you're watching this, I would love it if you would leave me a comment, give me
a thumbs up and share this video with others who might benefit.
And for a free workshop focusing specifically on how to help toddlers with delays, with
or without a diagnosis of autism, go to marrybarbera.com/toddlerworkshop and I'll see you right here next week.