Development

Edith has reached nine months and every day we tick off another milestone. We watch her like a hawk, looking for signs that she is developing "normally" or crucially, signs that refute autistic development. We often video or photograph moments which we think are key. So tonight she sat on the bed, giggling at Bea's Tiny Tears doll and I said "kiss baby". She grinned, leant forward, have TT a big slobbery kiss and, critically, turned to her daddy and smiled. That one subtle, natural, usually unnoticed step in development, a missing part of the autistic jigsaw, is so clearly in place. Joint attention. I've never met a baby who shares their experiences so readily. We know James developed this skill, though I'm not sure it was quite this early and certainly never at this intensity, and we have video footage of him reference pointing, cheerfully checking we had seen what he had. Joint attention is so critical in "normal" development yet it is rarely asked about at this young an age. The CHAT test, which has been validated above 18 months, screens for children at risk of developing autism and joint attention, or rather lack of it, is a major red flag. But at 9 months it's not mentioned in the various developmental checks. Simon Baron-Cohen believes you can tell in the first tear of life whether a child is autistic and I was once sceptical. Now I wonder....