What were your kids first signs of autism or OCD? What age and what symptoms?
Contrary to some beliefs, autism or other neurological signs can start showing up rather early on depending on the severity of what theyre going through, of course.
Severe autism can come with a slew of things such as a lack of developmental milestones. Not liking to be touched, held, not making eye contact, all of which can show up rather quickly.
As they grow, you may notice a sensitivity to things such as textures, tags, certain clothings, foods, a disinterest in things others may like, a discomfort or rather strange reaction to louder noises or being startled (many kids get jumpy or cry a bit but neuro divergent ones react almost violently, with deep crying that takes a lot to calm, covering ears, etc), they avoid other kids or situations with other people and rather partake in activities by themselves, may lack a basic or deep feeling to pain so typical actions where regular kids would cry/whine/show signs of it hurting theyd show no signs and sometimes laugh, have no sense of danger or fear. Breaking routines can be absolutely nightmarish for them, surprises are a huge no, and tantrums for them are usually a lot stronger than an average child. Content to not speak, walk, crawl, etc.
Huge signs are slow to reach milestones or developmental areas that others are, even within an adequate time frame, and show concerning signs compared to others around them.
Some kids can just be needing time to reach their developement and a few of these may just be a quirky child but if ever concerned then by all means seek an evaluation. My son is not ‘average’ but is said to not have anything cognitively wrong supposedly, but does have delays.