can someone please explain Autism to me please.

[fairydust]

dd is 3 1/3 yrs old and goes to a mainstream nursery she has CP and is mentally about 1 yr behind but is doing fantsticlly.

She's struck up a friendship with a little boy who has Autism - "A" seems to be totally hooked with our dd and his parents have invited dd for a playdate over the xmas holiday - of course we've said yes

with out sounding too ignorant can anyone please expalin to me what Autism is i've looked on the net and like most things it all seems gooblie gook to me and seeing as his parents made the effort to find out about dd's condition (was told thid by a good friend) it seems only right i do the same.

Playdates are a hole new experience dd has a few friends we meet regualrly but they've know her from date dot.

I hsvn't wrote this thread to offend anyone i generally want to know.

been lurking on this thread all day, very interesting and informative, so thanks for that everyone.

wondered if anyone was able to identify tendencies in their younger toddlers?

also in the last few days ds has started taking my hand and using it to point at things in books, also points himself, had noticed but not thought anything of it until reading this, is it a AS trait? is 15 mo

mazzzystar, at a young age like that without actualy seeing a child I wouldn't be able to say what was typical behaviour and what was unusual behaviour. Certainly the pointing with your hand thing, my oldest boy did that at about the same age, and he's pretty much normal, my younger boy only started doing it in the past few months, he's 3 and a half and dx with autism...

BUT any concerns about any childs health, development etc should always be looked into, if you have any worries speak to your GP or HV, they might be useful... itsbetter to be over cautious then to bury your head in the sand.