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HERE
are nine red flags every
parent should know:
1
No connection.
Even when too
young to talk, kids do all sorts of
things to get attention from their
caregivers: Smile, babble, move
their arms and legs, etc. No effort to
connect is a red flag.
2
Poor eye contact.
By 2 months,
babies should be making eye contact.
By age 1 or 2, more interest in gazing
at objects (including mouths) rather
than gazing into eyes is a red flag.
3
No words.
A toddler’s babbling
is a sign that language skills are
developing. No babbling by 6 months
(or babbling beyond the age when
toddlers should have started using
words) is a red flag.
4
No name recognition.
By
6 months, babies should be quick to
look up when called by name. If there
is no or infrequent response to being
THE
ASD Early
Identification Team
would not be possible
without the community
support, programs and
efforts developed in
collaboration with the
InterMountain Educational
Service District, the Center
for Human Development,
OHSU and Grande Ronde
Hospital’s (GRH) Community Benefit
Program. The local ASD Team grew
out of that effort.
Here for our community
“The Community Benefit Program
has specifically underwritten efforts
to create Patient-Centered Primary
Care Homes, which in turn has made
the case management programs in
our primary care clinics possible,”
says Wendy Roberts, GRH
Community Benefit
Officer. “We are excited
to see the results of
these efforts in stories
like the Winn family’s
and others. This is how
we envision using these
resources—to determine
the unmet health care
needs in our communities,
and then do everything within our
power to fulfill them as best we can.”
Cindy Hamilton, RN, is one of
three GRH RN Clinic Case Managers,
each operating in a different care
setting within the clinics. In this
case, the case manager position was
specifically designed to meet the
needs of children in the community.
As the GRH Children’s Clinic site
coordinator, Hamilton, with the help
of clinic management and providers,
reviewed the patient population for
areas where additional coordination
of care could improve patient health
and well-being.
Fulfilling unmet needs
“To truly be a patient-centric
organization, we embraced the
medical home model early on and
built clinic case management into
the model,” explains Tammy Winde,
who manages the Patient-Centered
Primary Care Program for GRH
and oversees the case management
programs for the organization. Her
program is, in fact, an outgrowth of
the corporation’s coordinated move
toward a greater focus on meeting
the unmet health needs defined
by the statewide initiative driving
GRH’s Community Benefit Program.
called by name, that’s a red flag.
5
No smiling.
Babies as young as
2 months should smile back at least
some of the time. Consistent failure
to reciprocate others’ smiles or
laugh is a red flag.
6
Lining up toys.
Children with
autism often find strange things to
do with their toys—spinning them,
flicking them or lining them up.
A tendency to do so over and over
without any apparent purpose is a
red flag.
7
Arm flapping.
Arm flapping
is a well-documented red flag for
autism, as well as other strange body
movements and postures. Repeated
stiffening of arms or legs or wrist
twisting are also red flags.
8
Repeating words.
Habitually
repeating part or all of what others
say is cause for concern. Parroting
TV programs or commercials rather
than using words to communicate
with others is a red flag.
9
Imitation, imitation.
Babies and
toddlers love to imitate the actions
of others, making a social game of
it. It’s how they learn to laugh,
eat and play. Appear-
ing more content
to observe, while
imitating others
infrequently and
more seriously, is
a red flag.
Could your child have autism?
We keep you at the center of your care
Wendy Roberts, GRH
Community Benefit Officer