Suspected Autism - Parents in serious denial

[pink]

I have two children with autism, my children where diagnosed at an early age. One of the signs is speech, eye contact, hand flapping. My children have come a long way and frankly unless I told you, you wouldn't know, early intervention is key. You are in a very tough position, any parents does not want to know that their child has something wrong with them. I would express my concerns to the parents, suggest that they see their doctor, they will need to see a psychologist and he/she will run a series of test and they will determine the diagnosis. Best wishes to you and your daycare family.

[nschildcare]

I agree with Bright Sparks. You are with their child all day. Even without training, you should be able to notice if a child is exhibiting differences from others his age. I think it is all in the way you present it to the parent. I just wrote an email to a parent about a child I had concerns with. I framed it in the sense that I was wondering how dcb was at home because I had noticed here that x, y and z. Did she see these behaviours at home?

She responded well to that approach. I'm not sure what she will do with the info. I don't know if this child has autism, or anything else. I am not qualified to diagnose a child. I wouldn't attempt to. I have no formal training on any of these conditions. I DO have experience with children and I just know that what I was seeing was unusual enough that I wanted to let the parent know. If I was the parent, I would want to know. And that is how I frame all my "is this something that needs to be discussed with the parent?".