New Autism App Offers Guidance for Parents

Worrying about your child’s development is part of parenting. There’s a such wide range in the timing of when children attain developmental milestones, it’s difficult to know whether your child truly has a problem.

A new iPhone app released in November is designed to help parents who worry that their child might be on the autism spectrum. The Questioning Autism? app was created by Michael McWatters, a parent of an autistic child who writes of his own family’s struggles to understand autism on his blog: ASD Dad. The educational app, which draws on this father’s real-life experiences, guides parents through 12 questions about a child’s behavior. Parents can easily record the answer to each question, along with their notes and questions. These notes can be emailed or printed out, so they’re easily available to share with a medical professional.

Parents who have used the Questioning Autism? app find the notes feature useful, since a child’s day-to-day behaviors can be difficult to remember. The app is not meant to diagnose autism, but it can help parents understand the signs and symptoms of autism and be ready to discuss them with a pediatrician. Parents can also use the app to review additional web resources on autism.

The Questioning Autism? app is free and available for download from Active Health Management at the Apple App Store now.

A recent study indicates that a connection may exist between the use of Prozac during pregnancy and an autism diagnosis. The study determined that children who were exposed to anti-depressants during the first trimester of pregnancy were at greater risk for autism. The connection between Prozac and autism must be evaluated further, but could be one of the Prozac problems your family is struggling with.

If you took Prozac during pregnancy, and your child has autism, you may be eligible for compensation. A Prozac problems lawyer, like Sokolove Law, can help you decide what steps to take based on your specific situation.

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