G. Frink's

If you notice that your child is somehow distressingly different, all of the available scientific data says act on what you notice. Do so immediately and constructively.

Whether you're seeing an Autism Spectrum Disorder, or something else, is a matter for expert diagnosis.

The American Academy of Pediatrics technical paper does an especially good job of explaining exactly what "expert diagnosis" means.

Even though there is no simple list of symptoms, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains with remarkable clarity , when something of this sort is amiss, perhaps 86% of of parents notice and are concerned.

The challenge, then, is to prevent natural, loving aspirations from turning into denial. Because denial helps no one and may do lasting harm.

Neither I nor my offspring suffer from an ASD. Nearsighted I am, though, and my own childhood visual memories are awash in colorful blurs.

Literally and mostly, blurs.

Until I developed the social skills to bring community pressure to bear on them, my parents refused me the corrective lenses required by anyone with 20/200+ vision.

For an autistic child, that kind of treatment delay is likely to mean a life denied.

Whereas sound expert diagnosis followed by 20 hours or more per week of behavioral therapy is likely to mean better behavioral control, a higher level of social skill and where retardation is potentially an issue, a higher IQ.

Certainly exact outcomes are impossible to predict, save perhaps one.

If you are alert and act promptly and with love, your offspring (or grandchildren) will know at every step that you sought with loving diligence the very best for them.