Dorene Ciletti was concerned when her young daughter, Sabrina Filipek, wasn't developing the way all the parenting books predicted.

"It seemed she was always a few months behind on all her milestones," said Ms. Ciletti, of Mt. Lebanon.

"The 'average' age of walking is 14 months; she walked at 17. The 'average' age of sitting up was six months; she sat up at nine."

Before entering kindergarten, Sabrina would "parallel play" in a group but refuse to engage the others. She lacked social skills.

"The pediatrician would say 'Just relax. Why don't you read 'Leo, the Late Bloomer,' " Ms. Ciletti said, citing a children's book.

Sabrina, now 15 and a freshman at Mt. Lebanon High School, received a diagnosis of autism when she was five. Putting a name to her condition allowed Ms. Ciletti to pursue the kind of support that has helped Sabrina find a place in the world.

"She has learning support, and for the most part, she does have extra support in class, access to aides as she needs them.

"This has been a pretty good freshman year."

Both Ms. Ciletti and Sabrina will be on hand Sunday morning at 10:30 to speak on their experiences when Jacob's Ladder presents an autism panel discussion at Temple Emanuel of the South Hills.

The Mt. Lebanon synagogue created Jacob's Ladder several years ago to help families and communities "prepare children to meet the many challenges of today's world by fostering resilience, promoting acceptance and encouraging respect," according to its mission statement.

Program coordinator Meredith Cohen said "we are hoping to give an overview of the spectrum of autism, aimed at parents and educators."

Dr. Cohen, a developmental and educational psychologist, noted that previous topics of discussion for Jacob's Ladder included grief counseling and a talk by clinical psychologist Wendy Mogel, a best-selling author of the parenting guide "The Blessing of a Skinned Knee."

Ben Handen, an Upper St. Clair psychologist and autism expert, will moderate Sunday's panel discussion.

"What we're trying to do is get out the information about services children may need, early diagnosis. [Now] this usually happens before preschool."

Speakers will discuss everything from preschool programs to support services for college students at Carnegie Mellon University.

"One of our speakers is someone who works with services of early intervention, to discuss the options families can pursue. Another gentleman is an expert on how families can work with schools, and what their legal rights are," Dr. Handen said.

The panel includes Brenda Tatano and Ryan Dunbar, educational specialists from the Bureau of Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services of Allegheny County; Carolyn Komich Hare, an advocate of support services for college students; and Jennifer B. Alfieri, clinical coordinator of the Early Intensive Behavior Intervention Program, and the Theiss Early Autism Program of Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.

Ms. Ciletti said she plans to talk about "the importance of inclusion, and the fact that being different is not a bad thing, it can be a good thing.

"It used to be the metaphor that society was a melting pot, where everything blended together. But now it's viewed as a salad bowl, all these different cultures. You put everything together for something good, without losing the individual ingredients."

Instead of a question-and-answer session afterward, the speakers will be available for an informal meet-and-greet over coffee and bagels.

The diagnosis of autism used to be hit-or-miss: as recent as 20 years ago, parents of children with a form of high-functioning autism known as Asperger Syndrome usually couldn't put a name to it.

Even today, evaluating a preschooler with developmental delays or just "quirky" behavior can be difficult.

"I'm a parent, not a doctor, but I think pediatricians are better trained today at [detecting] autism," Ms. Ciletti said.

Sabrina, who has excellent memory, excels at reading and speaking but has difficulty finding the nuance in some kinds of writing.

"She understands things very literally," her mother said.

Sabrina has been involved in a digital art program at Duquesne University and has become much more involved socially, she said.

"Sabrina has just started putting together her talk [for the program]. She wants everyone to know that 'people with autism have good hearts.' "