ASD- only from birth or from toddler stage ?

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I posted this on another thread but think it needs its own thread.


Is autism strictly defined by occurring ' from birth' or 'at toddler stage'? What about those whose traits are not present or obviously present till a later age ?

I believe it might depend upon the "type" of autism.

I am guessing that what might be called " classical autism " is quite distinctive and would have been readily picked up even from the late 50s.
My first school in Thailand picked up problems enough to suggest I be tested for what is now called cerebral palsy but that of course is not autism related.

It's hard to remember the early years (0-4) and asking my father uncovered scant info and nothing particularly untoward or pointing to autism. The few points were (1) I was pretty precocious because I rushed into the kitchen to share the news of the Kennedy election (2) I stuttered (3) I didn't like big dogs (4) I didn't go to bed early. I had to have one my parent stay with me till I fell asleep and I tended to wake up with nightmares.

Between the ages of 5-8 the only info I could get was that I did very well at school. There is mention of having 'friends' at school but this could be wishful thinking on my father's part. I went to an English speaking school and the English and American children of diplomats etc went there. My father goes on to say " I don't think there were any friends except at school in Bangkok because of course the E nglisjh and American families were scattered relatively thinly about thee town. No nearby neighboring children, as there had been in lHe UK."

Even with being thinly spread out I would surely have seen these 'friends' out of school but the evidence suggests not . I struggled to speak anything other than English so it's doubtful I would have had the linguistic skills to form friendships with non English speaking children.

The other thing that was said was that I was physically not too well coordinated.

From 8-18 I went to boarding school and only had one friend. Our friendship didn't last past my going from prep to public school and we lost contact then. I was very much a loner,bad at gymnastics/sports and very much into solitary activities. My thoughts on wanting a sex change kicked in around the age of 9. This sounds late compared to many transsexuals so could it have been an autistic like obsession?

There is little info in school reports from prep/public school other than mention of the poor coordination, being bad at drawing and writing and being disorganised and messy.

Also my balance was probably not good as I struggled with the balance beam at school and didn't learn to ride a bike till I was nearly 14.

Bump. Thoughts anyone?

Birth, and or toddler stage, on one hand....verses some later stage on the other?

You are right that a person is not supposed to "go autistic" in their 20's, or their teens, or even the upper grades in grade school at being NT.

Though I suppose a high functioning autistic might not become distinquishable as such until entering grade school, and after the toddler stage. My parents didn't send me to shrinks until around nine or ten. But my third grade teacher told me that she talked to previous teachers I had and "they all said he was in his own shell". So I suppose that I stood out as far back as first grade, and age six.

I get confused on WP sometimes, when people are so against mild/moderate/severe autism and functioning labels, but then on threads like these people admit that there IS such a thing as mild or severe or inbetween.
I don't know.

Anyway, I didn't show any signs of ASD until I was almost 4 and a half. Before then I was as normal as any NT baby/toddler. I don't think I was born with it. I think I must have just banged my head really hard at some point in my forth year of life, making my wonderful NT brain rewire itself to an Aspie brain, killing a few essential cells that I could do with right now.

I was a classically-autistic toddler and preschooler. One doctor called me a "vegetable."

My mother seems to think I was a "normal" baby before the age of 1 year.

Back in the age of the dinosaurs when I went to school,
they didn't diagnose anyone with Asperger's Syndrome.
I never heard of it until I was an adult.
Instead, I was labeled or treated as:
"gifted" or "weird" or "brainiac" or "Einstein" or "teacher's pet" or "outcast"
and of course, the ultimate Star Wars / Star Trek fan,
considered myself to be pretty much a Vulcan at age 3.

Definitely showed signs as a little kid,
but people didn't pick up on such things back then
the way they do now.

I was described as an outgoing, social little girl before I started kindergarten. There were definite traits long before I started school. I already had distinct special interests. My favorite book as a child was about a Siamese cat. I guess some things never change. I was a born cat lover and always will love cats.

Same here, about being described as an "outgoing, social little girl before I started kindergarten." On my first day of kindergarten, I was shocked when people started laughing at me because apparently I pronounced words differently than anybody else in the class. Before kindergarten, people had always treated me as if the way I talked was normal.

I think you make a good point. Certainly we nowadays live in much more of an information age,or where
information is more readily available.

My first school obviously picked up on something which was perhaps unusual for a school in the early 60s .

I think my parents probably just thought "That's Tim" with regards to any idiosyncrasies/ problems I had. They noticed certain things I would guess as intelligent parents but didn't think to join any dots together.
My mother always described me as an awkward baby/toddler/child/teenager etc and saw me even just before she died, when I was 53, as awkward.

I think school also spotted things but again no one saw fit to join the dots. Certainly I think now with the internet parents and teachers are more likely to come across articles that inform and lead them to attempt to join the dots.

Of course this increased access to information doesn't help if like me you have come under the psychiatric system . A system that by and large fails to take a holistic approach, and sees all issues as being related to any psych dx they may have given you.
In that situation there is little impetus for any professional to consider new information that challenges the "It's all down to his psychiatric/psychological make up" thinking that is so entrenched.

Indeed if you question whether everything leads back to the psych diagnosis you are likely to be seen as being in denial/lacking insight and that such thinking is a product of your illness.

Read and appreciated your whole post, cut it down for brevity in replying.

What you say is exactly why I'm glad I don't have an official diagnosis. I've learned the hard way to keep quiet about it and do my best to pass for NT ... which of course I can't quite do, so I label myself "an eccentric artist."

it depends on how the brain develops. although people are finding more traits that can be detected earlier in life>

You see, at the toddler age most children start to develop complex social skills such as interest in peers, using and understanding nonverbal body language, and also developing executive functioning skills. so while autism was present at birth its only really noticeable at the toddler ages because its evident the autistic child isnt developing the skills they should be

so my answer is, autism is present while in fetal development but it only is apparent at the age of 2 because the child is lacking the skills they should be developing.

as for regressive autism i think its the same; autism was present but dormant.