My son has autism. I didn't spot it first, my mother did. He was my first child, my first baby. No amount of babysitting had prepared me for having a child of my own, I didn't KNOW. I didn't know anything.
He cried all the time. So fussy babies, colicky babies cry a lot. He was different. He cried ALL THE TIME. If I was holding him, he would sleep in my arms for perhaps an hour at a time. Or not. One day he cried for 8 hours straight while I rocked him in the chair and listened to my headphones to drown him out. 8 actual hours. He hated to eat, he was always hungry, he hated to be put down, he hated to be held.
He liked music.