Four-year-old Alyssa Grube takes great delight in blowing up balloons and watching them fly.
But her joy is as fleeting as the air in her new toy.
Is this just a tired little girl in need of a nap, or is it a sign of something more ... autism?
Alyssa quickly recovers from her outburst and continues to take part in an evaluation with Dr. Carola Meyer that will provide answers.
"So we see for one, how does the child play with toys, do they use imaginary play?" said Dr. Meyer.
"So that's just one specific part, but overall you look for what's the language level like of the child. Do they use language flexibly?"
Delayed language, lack of interest in interacting with others and repetitive play are symptoms of autism. But it takes expert assessment before a diagnosis can be made.
At home, Edward and Molly noticed lapses in their daughters development. Now they look for direction.
"We just don't know how to help her right now," said Molly. "I wish we had the results today."
"If we get like a game plan we could follow that game plan to help," said Edward.
"So just the waiting is killing me," said Molly.
To find out what testing revealed about Alyssa Grube, be sure to watch a Children's Healthlink special, "The World Within: Northwest Stories of Autism," tonight at 8 p.m.
