Does a quiet baby mean it's got AS/Autism?

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I don't mean a generally quiet baby (since all babies are different), I mean a really quiet baby. I did know a very quiet baby a few years ago. I saw my friend (who was her older sister) every weekday, and so I saw the 1-year-old too, and I've never heard her cry or scream or even babble. She never smiled either, and she never stared at you (I've seen babies stare at people when nearby). Even when she was 2, she was still mute, and her mum always said that she was a very easy baby to have, even at night.

But then I had a fall-out with my friend, and so didn't see them for a few years, but I've thought about them the other day, and I looked on Facebook on their pictures. The little girl is about 7 now, and is smiling in all the pictures, and looks social, so she can't have AS or Autism. If she is NT, I just don't know why she was so exceptionally quiet as a baby.

I was just curious, so I thought I'd give an example.
If I decide to have a baby and it's quiet, does it necessarily mean it's got AS/Autism? Would I have to worry?

I think generally speaking, if a young child appears quiet and not very responsive socially, then usually the recommendation is to have them checked by a doctor. It doesn't necessarily mean there is ASD, though. Some children are more quieter than others, or it could be a hearing impairment, or a processing issue...I'm not totally clued-in with paediatric issues, but quiet doesn't automatically equate to ASD.

Also, how the child appears in photos might not be indicative of how they actually are. Also, you can have pretty socially-motivated individuals with ASD. I think if you were to see photos of me on FB, you wouldn't think of me as being on the spectrum because I would describe myself as fairly socially-motivated.

I don't think there's a perfect correlation between the two (quiet baby & autism), otherwise it would probably be used as a fail-safe diagnostic tool. As with most things, you'll need to look at a wide variety of signs in order to tell. Quiet baby + lots of other symptoms may be a good indicator.

Here, have a list of early signs of autism.
http://www.autismweb.com/signs.htm

My parents said I screamed when picked up or held. I would also cry non-stop for hours after contact with anyone.

Not necessarily. From the moment I was born, I was crying. My mom even told me she once begged the nurse to take me shortly after I was born so that she could get a couple hours of sleep. From the second I came out, I was having meltdowns...and nothing stopped me.

You could end up with a lazy baby. Or a sleepy baby, a content baby, an observant baby or one who has his or her mind on matters he or she is more interested in.

Not to forget that the way the baby's parents react to his or her are a major influence on its habits already - including how quiet or noisy it is (or if it will scream for the sake of attention because it just knows you will get it and cuddle it sooner or later).

A quiet baby doesn't necessarily have autism, no.

More likely if the parent has AS too? Perhaps, but there's no proof that every baby who later turns out to be on the spectrum was quiet (or noisy) just because it is on the spectrum.

I changed back and forth between quiet and noisy as a baby. So I could start saying I was noisy because I have ADHD and quiet because of autism - or just assume that 3/4 of the reasons for being noisy and quiet are as easily found elsewhere. Like being bored, because I did not agree to sleep through the night just because mom decided it was time to. Or wanting to do what I want to do NOW and not later. Or doing things I wasn't allowed - quietly, 10-months-olds can have surprising amounts of intelligence. Or I wasn't in the mood to be entertained with a particularly unattractive toy and just went bleh, go to hell, I'll ignore you and pet the blue elephant on my blanket. So many fun reports of what I did!

There are so many reasons for the behaviours of babies and toddlers already. It's like science to figure it out.

A quiet baby means a quiet baby.

It said on the link a list of symptoms an AS baby may have, and one of them said ''it may not know how to play with toys''. I played with toys as a baby, but all babies don't play with toys properly. They just grab them and bite them and throw them about (I'm talking about babies under 2). Then when they start walking, they are into everything. My mum don't like friends or family bringing their babies over to the house (who are between 12 months to 2 and a half years) because they touch everything, not just their toys.

And I've seen toddlers have violent tantrums in the street. There was one on the bus once, and it was having the most massive temper tantrum you ever heard, and it was screaming and crying REALLY loudly for the whole journey (which was 35 minutes) and it was still doing it after I got off. They are worse in shops. I saw a toddler throw itself on the floor and wouldn't get up, and the more the parent told it to get up, the more it screamed, ''NO!! !!'' and when the parent finally picked it up it screamed so loud that everybody glared at it, and usually people try to ignore toddler's screaming tantrums because it's ''socially acceptable if they are under a certain age''.

There is such a massive list of Autistic symptoms in a baby that I keep wondering what does a typical baby do?

The majority of toddlers come in to our clinic with those symptoms the OP mentioned in addition to playing with toys in unconventional, repetitive ways.

It certainly does not mean anything other than it being a good idea to get it checked out.

I was the opposite. I babbled constantly, I screamed and cried A LOT, I smiled a lot, and I stared at people. This is according to my parents. However, when I was about 2 and a half, I had MAJOR meltdowns, and when I was 3, I used to get very frightened if other kids at the playground wanted to play with me, however, I wasn't exactly shy around adults, I mean, all children are a bit, but I wasn't EXTREMELY shy. I saw a 2.5 year old who was very shy around teenagers and adults at a party on Saturday night. However, around my peers, I was incredibly shy and I would hate it when they came to the park. I would get scared and yell at them. I have heard this level of anxiety around peers as a toddler with a normal or less than normal level of anxiety around adults is extremely rare, so I just don't know.

I was a loudish child.

Though I wasn't born crying 'cause I was choking.

It could go either way, too quiet or too loud and inconsolable. I was definitely not a quiet baby. I also didn't like to be cuddled.

I was anything BUT quiet as a baby. I didn't cry but would scream all the time and my mom swears she thought I was going to make everyone deaf.

My parents say I was quiet as a baby. I babbled and then I stopped. My husband says our baby is quiet too but he cries and babbles everyday and makes other sounds and he cries less when he is with his dad. So it makes me wonder what do my parents mean by I was quiet baby. Did I not cry often or babble much?

Apparently I cried all the time as a baby. I had sensory issues that made me extremely ornery.

Or it just hates everyone.