March 29, 2024
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 How to recognize the early signs of Autism

All children are prone to being born with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Most parents are unprepared when their child is born with the condition as there really is no telling until children reach a certain age. The key to helping children cope with the condition to lead normal lives is by detecting the condition early and helping them develop as soon as possible.

The National Mental Institute of Health notes that 1 in 54 children have ASD. The risks may be significantly small but you shouldn’t take it likely. Although it is taxing to do so, it’s important for you to check for the signs of autism in your child. There are a few symptoms that you can check out at an early age.

Social Differences For Children With Autism

Children with autism tend to be indifferent with people as they find it challenging to socialize with others. That being said, most parents detect autism in their children through their social skills. Children with autism will act fairly normal around those that they know such as their siblings and you, the parents.

For starters, children with autism don’t keep eye contact with others. It’s not just with strangers though, as they’ll find it hard to maintain eye contact with you as well.

A child with autism may not respond to facial expressions and smiles, even those coming from you. They themselves don’t have the appropriate facial expressions at times. That being said, children with autism find it hard to determine what a person is currently feeling simply by looking at their facial expressions alone. Sadly, most children with autism also don’t show concern for others.

Also check if your child responds or even looks at the objects that you are pointing at. If they don’t respond at all, then that could be a sign of autism. They also don’t point at other objects to get you or others to look at them.

Last and most important, children with autism find it hard to make friends or to even socialize with others. This is one of the reasons why most of them play alone or only with people that they are truly comfortable with.

Communicative Differences For Children With Autism

Children diagnosed with autism will also have trouble communicating. Not just with others, but they may have trouble talking in general. Most children with autism don’t say any words at all by the time they reach 16 months of age. They also suffer from regressions which prevents them from making any significant communicative milestones between 16-24 months of age.

They usually have no will to communicate with others. They rarely start conversations even when they are finally able to speak. At a young age, they usually don’t respond to their name being called. However, they do react upon hearing other sounds such as a cat’s meow and even a car horn.

When they begin to communicate more properly, children with autism tend to repeat what others say without understanding what it actually means. This is called parroting or echoing. As such, you may want to be careful about what you say around children with autism. They also tend to refer to themselves with “you” and others with “I.” They will mix up pronouns from time to time but they can be taught to use proper pronouns as they get older.

On the bright side, they also have a good memory. They can often easily memorize numbers, letters, TV jingles, or any catchy song’s lyrics. If you want to teach them at a young age, you want to keep the words as simple as possible.

Behavioral Differences For Children With Autism

Children with autism will also behave differently as well. With regards to communicating and socializing, they tend to prefer being alone and quiet. However, their physical actions are very different. In fact, they can be more discerning and playful.

For starters, they tend to make routines and “rituals” before doing things. You can think of it as a mild obsessive-compulsive behavior. They showcase repetitive self stimulatory behaviors which makes them more comfortable when doing things they normally do. For them this is normal behavior so you shouldn’t reprimand them for doing so.

When playing, children with autism tend to be very particular with how they play. For instance, if you give them a toy car or truck, they might focus on spinning the wheels instead of playing with the entire toy. They’ll also tend to focus on specific toys instead of playing with several ones throughout the day.

They may also be either very sensitive or not sensitive at all to smells, lights, textures, and sounds. You’ll find that most children with autism are great investigators. They can spot the tiniest differences between objects because of their sensitivity to some things.

On their own, children with autism tend to be very active when playing. They’ll jump around and flap their hands if they get too rowdy. As their mood changes very quickly, you’ll often see that this behavior of theirs will change abruptly without warning.

Why It’s Important To Detect Autism Early

According to experts at The Conversation, detecting autism early is important for the development of children. If you are able to detect it early, you can have your child trained by specialists at an age where their brain’s plasticity is more pronounced. This means it will be much easier for them to understand the things that they are being taught.

The chances of them living normal and healthy lives will be much better if they are taught at a young age. Most of today’s fully functioning adults with autism are able to be like that because of early detection. As such, it’s vital for you to check for these symptoms above as soon as possible.

Checking for early signs of autism is important. It will help you begin to understand your child’s condition as soon as possible. Other than that, you can help them develop earlier as well. Although there’s no cure for autism, acting fast will at least help them leave full and normal adult lives later on.

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