I was laying with Mia last night. I brushed her hair across her forehead. I noticed it protudes out slightly. So much time I wonder what's going on in hear head, I haven't paid as much attention to whats on the outside.

Six months after she was born, we had her first well child exam. The nurse took many measurements of her body. I was surprised to see them wrap the cloth tape measure around her forehead. The doctor came in with a series of graphs. Mia measured in the 90th perentile for height, 70th percentile for weight. They saved the head measurement for last. She was in the 101st percentile for head size.

"Is that bad?" I asked. "Well...It could be an indication for some things but I think most likely she just has a big head". The doctor said. I breathed a sigh of relief. I never had any worries about her health, from my perspective there was never any need to be concerned. I put it out of my mind and used the measurement as an anecdote to tell friends and family. "Mia is gonna be a genius" I'd say. "Her head is in the 101st percentile".

With the benefit of hindsight and further education about Autism, I've found that an enlarged head is typical. Dr. Temple Grandin had a CT scan of her brain and found that there were some abnoralities on the anatomical level that could account for her short term memory problems.

Head size measurement is the first step that a parent can take to early intervention with their child. We discovered Mia's Autism fairly early, she was still two. I do wonder what if we would have pursued it after that first six month appointment.