Anonymous wrote:When talking to Mom about her little brother who had schizophrenia first signs were smart, quirky and talking to himself.
She specifically mentioned quirky as in he was different than most males of his age bracket.
The quirky part is common for ASD and ADHD so I am surprised that is what she emphasized over "talking to himself." When I got some training with schizophrenia the parents mentioned long before the break seeing things like the teen was becoming more isolated, slightly paranoid, caring less and less about hygiene, talked to him/herself, etc. Now many may have started off with the diagnoses you think of with quirkiness, but over time they were seeing more concerning symptoms, though the person was still handing attending school and carrying out every day activities.
**I am no expert, but I did get some training from experts and I didn't want parents with quirky kids to panic. Being quirky on it's own is not a red flag for future schizophrenia.