You might focus on the speech delay which would be less threatening and if there is more there they will tell her. Can you be ready with where and how she can do it? I had mine done in Chicago by Easter Seals. Now I'm in Austin, Texas and Easter Seals and Any Baby Can do evaluations. Good luck. It is a huge gift you are giving her whether she can appreciate it or not right now.
Pat
That's a hard position to be in. I'm glad that you are watching out for him and paying attention to what can be easy for many parents to miss.
My stepmother, who has an autistic child my age, approached me earlier this year. I'm glad she did. The sooner the child gets speech and other therapies the better. My ds has already improved a lot on speech w/ his therapy, and he was practically nonverbal not long ago. I am told there is a window, and if you catch them while it's still open you can get further. 3 is still young and so it's good to bring it up to them. Or like mentioned above, talk to the daycare and have them mention it. Then if the parents say something with you there about the daycare bringing it up, you could take that time to chime in and say you've noticed concerns yourself.
When you brought up the ball thing that struck a note w/ me. Not saying that many kids don't love balls, but my ds is the same way. He often will only play w/ balls. He is not dx'd yet (waiting list until sept), but I believe he will be. At my father and stepmother's house the other day, they brought out a whole container of diff toys to play with. DD played w/ them, but ds had zero interest except the balls. So that just sounded familiar to me. I would say what you describe is enough to warrant at least having him checked, for the speech if nothing else. Best of luck to you.
Amber
My son is 4.5 and just recently dx. A friend who happens to be a ST noticed signs of autism when DS was 3. She didn't want to hurt the friendship so she said nothing. Another friend who is a RN mentioned to us that she thought DS may be autistic around the same time.
I wish the ST friend had been so honest too. The thought of autism always was in the back of my mind but never acted on it until we put him in preschool and the teacher came to us with her concerns.
Like tabitha said, just bring up screening. A good friend/relative should be honest but careful.
Maybe you can talk to the daycare providers and let them approach the parents. It is hard to accept the news no matter who gives it you. Like most of us though, once we get the evaluations done we already knew there was something wrong just hearing it makes it more real.
I hope the best.
Hi and welcome.
I think it is great that you care enough about your nephew to want to say something. My sister was actually the first person to say something to me about Adam. It hurts when a family member notices things that you may not but I have to be honest here....I thank her for doing it. I think you just need to approach it with caring and concern. They may get angry but if you don't say anything they may just go on thinking that everything is fine. Obviously if a child is 3 years old and not communicating then there is something going on. I can't say what it is but it's definately something. Most 3 year olds have lengthy conversations with you. I would just let them know about your concern and that your concern is there because you love him etc. Sometimes us parents don't see what others do..and until someone does say something...nothing is done. Take care and good luck.
karrie
I have a nephew who is almost three years old and I feel he is exhibiting signs of autism. He does not talk at all or connect with anyone. He is in a daycare but does not socialize with other children at all. He will only play with balls and no other toys. I know his parents are concerned about him not talking but don't seem to be concerned enough to have him checked. I want to help out of love and concern for this child but I am not sure how to approach the subject of autism with his parents. Any suggestions?
Maybe bring up them doing a early childhood screening. It could be your nephew has autism or it could be he has speech delays or any other delay with children. The early childhood screening should be able to tell where the child's delays are at.
Tammy