hi .  absolutely.  one flag is not talking, and especially if a child talks and then stops, which is what my son has done, though he's starting to talk a little more lately- probably due to speech therapy he's been in for a few weeks now. i really jumped to it with evaluation and assistance because i've read and been told that the sooner you act, the better. some kids with autism, if caught early enough, can function completely "normally" by the time they're school-age. another flag is lack of awareness of their place in the space around them. my son will run into things/people will little reaction or fear of injury to himself/others or fear of hurting others' feelings or getting a reaction out of them. another flag is not making eye contact. my son will babble but look the other way, or come up to me/my husband and point at us, but look the other way. another flag is sensory intergration problems. like my son will run with his head to the side- obviously looking for the sensory effect of things moving while he does or staying still while he passes. he will play with the pattern of paint on a wall or shadows, or he will study the outline of objects and run his hand along them over and over and over. or he will put a toy on the table and sit in front of it or lay on the floor with a toy, and move it back and forth toward his face/past his face, getting sensory stimulation from the changing perspective. let me add an aside here- some kids have sensory integration issues and aren't autistic, but all autistic kids have sensory integration issues- that's what his speech therapist told me, because we're not totally sure that my son is autistic, but we've identified the SI issue definitely. another flag is lack of imitation. another is ignoring people when they try to interact with them. there are lots. and some "normal" kids do some of these things, but i think that when your child is doing multiple, you should pay attention. another aside- autism is a spectrum in that some kids are highly-functioning autistic, and it goes across the spectrum in intensity. there are many websites to check out, such as www.sensoryresources.com, www.autism-society.org, etc. i've been told that a great book is The Out-of-Sync Child and i plan to get it. i would advise that if you have concerns, get it checked out. but a lot of older docs have old-school training on the subject, so if you can, find a younger doc, because so much has been discovered about autism in recent years and the younger docs are better-versed. even if your pediatrician poo-poos your concern, go with your gut feeling and see a speech therapist. the next step is to see an occupational therapist. no one is going to look out for your baby but you, so don't fear offending docs or ignoring their advice if you really feel concerned. my nurse friend has told me that she's talked to sooo many parents who didn't act when they knew they should've, out of fear/whatever, but it's so detrimental to children to deny their needs being addressed, no matter how scared you may be or embarrassed that it's happening (yes, that's a normal feeling, though not the most fun to talk about).

anyway, if anyone wants to ask me anything at any time, feel free- i'm a very open person and love to help. also, i live in grapevine, tx, so if anyone is close and wants a good reference for pediatrician, speech therapist or occupational therapist, i'll give you the info i have. my pediatrician is a God-send. my son had Croup last fall and he rocked my son in his office, and gave me his cell & home phone #s and pager # in case i needed anything at any hour. INCREDIBLE. he really cares about his patients and their families.

y'all be blessed

Thank you very much! It's interesting that some of the things you mention are being discussed in my "High-Need" yahoo group. (High-need is a term used by Dr. Sears http://www.askdrsears.com/  for some babies that are not "easy").  Some moms have discussed sensory integration issues, as well as the "The Out-of-Sync Child".

You have very good info here, consider writing an advice article so that a lot more moms can benefit.  

I run a forum for parents of children with a disability. Austism and aspergers are two of our forums anyone who would like to join can come to

http://disabilityasone.myfastforum.org/

We offer lots of links to support services and always welcome new faces.