Discussion: We don’t want to say, “Let’s wait and see” regarding a challenge a child is facing; that makes the challenge harder later. “Parents cannot tolerate this answer any longer,” argues Dr. Greenspan.

Parents need to lead the way and educate themselves with regard to their children’s health and well-being. In pediatric trainings, there is little time given to developmental problems or autism spectrum disorders.

“Most pediatricians have very little background,” Dr. Greenspan notes, “and sometimes none. The doctors are being asked to do something that they aren’t trained to do, which is unfortunate.”

To improve autism diagnosis rates, there needs to be a two-fold approach where pediatricians are given more training in developmental disorders, and parents are given more information on how to assess their child and begin services.

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Discussion: For a parent who suspect their child may be delayed, it’s hard to know how early to intervene. A child’s speed or level of development is not always easy to determine, but you don’t necessarily need to pinpoint it to improve it. Turn the observations that concern you into action.

Dr. Greenspan tells us, “If a child is not fully engaged or exchanging gestures, it shouldn’t be of concern to us if the child is autistic, or pre-autistic. It’s enough that the child is not mastering that healthy building block.”

The most important thing is to get that child back on a healthy developmental pathway. The absence of a developmental building block should be enough to cause us to work on it. We don’t want to ask ourselves, “Will the child catch up?” and then wait to see.

“We don’t do that with reading or math. We don’t say: let’s wait until the child is a teenager and see if he catches up with reading. We don’t do that with athletic skills either. Why wait and see for something as important as social and intellectual skills?” Dr. Greenspan astutely remarks.

Floortime encourages healthy development in all children. Doing Floortime when you have a concern can only help your child.

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The best suggestion Dr. Greenspan can give to a parent? “Trust your own instincts,” he advises. Do your homework and “draw your own conclusions” when it comes to suspecting autism, or an autism spectrum disorder, in your child, says Dr. Greenspan.

As a parent, you know your child better than anyone else, since you observe their behavior when they are at their very best, and know what they are capable of. After you’ve observed your child, approach professionals who are oriented toward your way of thinking about what your child needs.

But ultimately, “Don’t worry so much about the diagnosis; worry about how we help the child master their foundations and processing challenges,” encourages Dr. Greenspan. Becoming engaged with your child will open up their world.

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