Some
early signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are usually seen in the first two years of a child's life.
It is important for parents to know the early
warning signs of an autism spectrum disorder and to seek medical evaluation if they have concerns about their child's development or behavior.
By no means am I saying you should be looking for
signs of autism in your child, just giving you some pointers on red flags.
However,
while signs of autism have been observed in infants as early as two to six months of age, the disorder is difficult to diagnose before age 2.
Some of the main social communication and
behaviour signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in middle childhood and adolescence are listed below.
If your child exhibits these symptoms or
other signs of autism, talk to your doctor about psychological testing and treatment options.
Researchers at Marcus Autism Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University School of Medicine have
identified signs of autism present in the first months of life.
The researchers have already found biological and social differences in how boys and girls
exhibit signs of autism, but the misconceptions around the disorder have been a long time in the making, and undoing them won't happen overnight.
Scientific American reported in 2009 that a joint U.S. / Swedish study looking into the effects of household contaminants discovered that children who live in homes with vinyl floors — which can emit hazardous chemicals called phthalates — are twice as likely to develop
signs of autism as kids in other homes.
The researchers were surprised to find that many of the babies who had averted their gazes and showed signs of nystagmus as infants did not display warning
signs of autism at age 2.
But the
unexpected signs of autism, the things that we actually can help with are children who have problems with sleep and they're up all night screaming, or they go to sleep, and then they wake up at 2 and then they're up for the rest of the night; or children who have chronic diarrhea or chronic constipation or always have ear infections or sinus infections; they have immune system problems — they have problems with allergies and allergies to food and the environment.
Identifying autism in any child is difficult for many doctors, and although parents may notice some early
signs of autism before their child is 18 months old, even the most educated moms and dads don't always know when to get help.
Just to clarify:
Basic signs of autism: LACK OF joint attention (pointing, looking when someone else points, etc), LACK OF eye contact, and so on.
The earliest autism intervention study in the world that uses video to provide feedback to parents of babies at family risk of autism, has indicated a reduction in the severity of
emerging signs of autism.
One year after the child was born, he or she was assessed for early
signs of autism using the Autism Observation Scale for Infants (AOSI).
A tool intended to
detect signs of autism in high - risk infants can be used to help identify and treat patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), a genetic disorder, who most need early intervention.
For instance, many people continue to believe that childhood vaccines (especially those containing the preservative thimerosal) cause autism because the usual time for vaccinating children — soon after they turn one — comes just before the first
signs of autism typically become evident.
This study shows that children exhibit
clear signs of autism at a much younger age,» said Thomas R. Insel, M.D., director of NIMH.
If a child still has
signs of autism past the second birthday, such as withdrawing from peer relationships, lack of speech, using repetitive language, and a persistent fixation on certain objects, it could mean he or she has autism.
Furthermore, researchers from the California Institute of Technology found that some mice exhibiting autistic behaviors no longer showed
signs of autism when given probiotics.
Lori Warner, PhD, director of Michigan's Beaumont Hospital's HOPE Center, works with premature children who
shows signs of an autism spectrum disorder.
This video from the Kennedy Krieger Institute, in Baltimore, features three children who show early
signs of autism spectrum disorder playing with toys and interacting and communicating with others.
The AOSI was designed primarily as a research tool to identify early
signs of autism in high - risk infants who have an older sibling with autism.
In a small study, Johns Hopkins researchers found that DNA from the sperm of men whose children had
early signs of autism shows distinct patterns of regulatory tags that could contribute to the condition.
Child Psychologist Allison Kawa, PhD, explains for parents what the earliest
signs of autism or other developmental delays are in babies
And a DAN doctor helps you come up with a protocol to eliminate
the signs of autism.
This could be
a sign of autism.
In part two of our series on Autism, we'll speak with a psychologist about the early
signs of autism.
But there are some real warnings
signs of autism.
But if your child's obsession with a certain color is accompanied by behavior that includes avoiding eye contact, not sharing interests or achievements with you or others, or difficulty understanding facial expressions, body postures, and gestures, these might be
signs of autism and early intervention can make a difference.
Autism is rare (despite the publicity), but because autistic children may be delayed in their achievement of developmental milestones, from infant development to adolescence, parent education about
the signs of autism, and coping with the condition, is extremely important.