What does your gut feeling say?

A young mother at my son's school cornered me last week with a rather embarrassed air about her. She said that she once overheard my conversation with a friend about autism and autism supports at school. She told me that she has been observing odd behaviour patterns in her 3-year-old child. She does not understand what she is seeing in her child who, she's certain “is just not behaving like my other child and I just know that this is something a lot different about him.” But her extended family members (we've heard that story time and time again) think that she is over-reacting to the situation and that “it will all straighten out in the next few years.”
This is where experts' advice about trusting your instincts come in. When there is cause for concern, then the next step, without a doubt, is to get the child assessed by an expert or experts in the field. But, from my personal experience, that too can be tricky. One of the first "experts" we met told me to "wait and see" for another year. He said to me that having my child assessed for autism would be "labeling" him and in his opinion “opening a can of worms”. But I trusted my own instincts and insisted on a referral to see a developmental paediatrician for an assessment. Needless to say, my son got the actual appointment to see the doctor nine months later and that, too, because someone cancelled and he got the spot. He received his evaluation confirming my suspicions and was placed on the waiting list for treatment.
Unfortunately, almost three years later he is still on the said waiting list but that's another story. Meanwhile, following the evaluation report, my husband and I lost no time in getting him locally available, though scarce, supports and services and I am happy to note that my son is making huge progress today.
I suggested to the young mother that she should trust her instincts and go for an evaluation for her son as soon as possible. It's an important first step. Her child's only three and the sooner she takes the first step, the brighter the future of her child will be.