Autism could be a common complicated neurobiological disorder with a large spectrum of displays, a powerful familial genetic pattern, and an uncertain cause. the case history is incredibly necessary as is ensuring there are no hearing or vision issues.
Published statistics for the prevalence of autism continue to increase. The most recent statistics suggest prevalence to be between 1 in 68 and 1 in 40 for school-aged children. The cause of this increase in prevalence is uncertain. Likely, increased awareness about autism and improved diagnostic capabilities have led to the prevalence increases.
Autism is a major global concern that is not limited by geography, culture, or ethnicity.
It is found much more commonly in boys than girls (5 times more common in boys than girls) but it is felt many girls with autism are underdiagnosed because of relative scotch of social and communication skills. Children from socio-economic teams who have restricted access to medical, instructional, and developmental services also have a lower prevalence due to a missed diagnosis.
Children and adults with autism have core deficits in communication, social skills, and typical behaviors. The reactivity and regulation issues that accompany these deficits usually lead to behavioral challenges for both the individual with autism and the family.
About one-third of children and adults who are diagnosed with autism also have an intellectual disability. Two-thirds have normal to above-average intellectual skills and very high functioning capabilities are seen in many individuals with autism.
Three primary deficit areas include social reciprocity, language, and repetitive patterns of behavior, activity, or interests. Patterns of interest embrace distinctive or uncommon fascinations, excessive attachment to objects, sensory aversions to sounds, food, and vesture, and repetitive motor activity like hand flapping or running, or spinning in circles.
Skills that suggest your child does not have autism include reciprocal smiling by 2 months, laughing and giggling by 5 months, and name response by 12 months. Reassuring social skills include eye contact during early infancy, playing peek-a-boo by age 9 months, and the ability to copy your gestures such as waving, clapping, and pointing by 12 months and waving bye-bye by 15 months of age.
For toddlers, an interest in imitating you is also a sign of normal development. The ability to share focus and attention by pointing at objects before 18 months is another reassuring skill. Remember, all infants and children are different and it is best to not over compare developmental milestones in children. If you have doubts about your child’s development you should talk to your pediatrician.
Autism traits vary with age. For infants and toddlers irritability and a lack of social interaction interests are common. Delays in language, shared gaze, and interest or pleasure are the most common complaints. Excessive, unusual, unique, peculiar, or repetitive behaviors, activities, and interests are also common. For the school-aged child, a delayed ability to connect with others and a rigid and inflexible behavior pattern is the most common historical complaints.
Social issues include being overly bossy, a lack of interest in being with people or preferring isolation. Language delay and abnormal language patterns such as word or phrase repetition, repetitive questioning, and unusual speech tonality are the most common language difficulties.
For teens and adults difficulty with social relationships, shared social interests, communication, rigidity, a lack of social cue awareness and executive function disturbances are the most common signs.
Autism Early Signs
A close relationship with your pediatrician and participation in appropriate developmental surveillance are the most important ways to ensure an early diagnosis of autism is made. You and your pediatrician are at the perfect vantage point to collaborate in the early diagnosis. There have been numerous published reports about the early signs of autism.
The key is for both of you to take the time to look for the signs of autism, know what these signs are, and have a strategy to systematically evaluate the developmental trajectory of your child. This, however, is the easy part. The hard part is being aware of available regional community, educational, and medical resources and then collaborating with your pediatrician to pursue and obtain the services you and your child require.
Key signs relate to atypical language development and social deficits that include delayed or absent joint attention (JA). These children appear to lack connectedness. They are often content being alone and show decreased eye contact. They initiate and maintain social contact with gestures, vocalization and eye contact less than expected for age and have difficulty sharing emotional contact with others in play or group activities.
Joint attention delays are frequently seen in infants less than one year of age who do not show enjoyment from looking back and forth in a sharing fashion between a person and a joint object of interest. By age one year most children with prompts will look in the direction that their parent points and will then look back to the parent with a shared expression.
For infants under age 1 year, they may have difficulty with self-soothing and appear irritable and unable to regulate themselves. They also may be distant and not respond to being looked at, touched or hugged. For the preschool child there generally is a delay in language although in children who are eventually diagnosed with High Functioning Autism, there are usually normal early language milestones.
Language reciprocity is lacking in terms of joint attention (pointing or looking at an object to direct another person to look at it) and turn-taking. Often gaze will be distant and it appears the child is looking through people and not looking at the face and eyes of the person they are interacting with. Shared pleasure is lacking as are the qualitative patterns of non-verbal communication.
Gaze may be peculiar in the angles chosen to look at objects as well as the monitoring of gaze with certain objects being stared at for extended periods. Repetitive mannerisms including finger movements and hand flapping may be present as is a lack of interest in initiating social interaction with peers. Pretend play is lacking as is imitation and imagination. Finally, patterns of over-reactivity or under-reactivity to sensory stimuli or events are often present.
By 15 months most children will point to request a desired object and soon thereafter will point to share a joint object of interest. While pointing the child will look back and forth between the object of interest and the parent showing a shared social experience. This sharing is often absent in children with ASD.
The absence of joint attention affects language development and the “showing” of positive affect and social connectedness. The ability to attend and turn to a person who calls your name is often deficient in toddlers with ASDs and in children with hearing impairment. This is why hearing testing is necessary.
By preschool, inappropriate peer and social interactions are present. Preschool interests are limited and usually specific to that child. These children have difficulty understanding the context of situations and events and the perspective of others. This makes it even more difficult for children with ASDs to sense the “big picture” and engage in appropriate social interactions.
This leads to limitations in the ability to perceive the intent, purpose, and meaning of others as well as the ability to sense and respond appropriately to humorous situations or comments.
The warning signs of autism change with age. Since children pass through numerous developmental stages and skill sets as they age it is important to look at warning signs in terms of the age of the child. The most common age ranges are infant to preschool, school age, and young adult years. A previous blog entry focused on the first signs of autism. This entry will focus on the appearance of autism over a developmental continuum.
For the school-age child, patterns are often much more visible. They continue to be rigid and inflexible in their interactions with others. Transition and change lead to discomfort and result in these children acting unsettled. They often separate themselves from social interactions and stand at the periphery or engage in an activity separate and apart from the group.
They have difficulty joining into play routines with others and are often frustrated when peers do not want to engage in an activity and tend to be disengaged or in control. Their awareness of expected behavior in the classroom or playground makes them appear to be uncooperative and unwilling to listen to the directions of others and at the same time are often overwhelmed by social situations.
They can become upset if their social space is breached or if they are hurried. Language issues include unusual vocabulary for age as well as frequently having strong or extensive interests or knowledge about specific topics. Speech musicality is often impaired and the repeating of words and phrases is often present.
For the young adult, patterns may be very elusive and difficult to quantify for the high-functioning individual without a learning disability. Issues with social behaviors and communication continue as do responses that appear naive or lacking of common sense. Although academic skills may be advanced for age social intelligence is deficient and the ability to perceive the intent, purpose, and meaning of others.
In conversations, they may direct the discussion with little regard to what the other person is saying and they may show extensive knowledge about various topics. Speech quality may be unmodulated, repetitive, and flat, and certain phrases may be used repetitively. Understanding of metaphors, humor, and sarcasm is often lacking as language is interpreted in a literal or concrete fashion.
Body language and facial expression including eye contact and gestures are often inappropriate as is general social interaction and the ability to initiate and maintain friendships. Finally, there is often an interest in keeping routines the same with a reliance on rituals and other repetitive behaviors while having a limited ability to utilize imagination and executive function skills for future planning.
Faqs About Signs Of Autism
1. What are the early signs of autism in children?
Early signs of autism in children may include:
- Lack of or limited eye contact
- Delayed speech or language development
- Repetitive behaviors, such as rocking or hand-flapping
- Difficulty with social interaction or making friends
- Sensory sensitivities, like being bothered by loud noises or certain textures
2. How can I recognize autism in infants?
Recognizing autism in infants can be challenging, but some early signs may include:
- Limited or no response to their name
- Rarely smiling or showing joyous expressions by 6 months
- Delayed babbling or gestures like pointing by 12 months
- Lack of interest in playing interactive games like peek-a-boo
- Not making eye contact or maintaining it during interactions
3. What are the behavioral signs of autism in toddlers?
Behavioral signs of autism in toddlers can vary, but some common ones include:
- Difficulty understanding and using nonverbal communication, such as gestures and facial expressions
- Resistance to changes in routine or environment
- Fixation on specific objects or topics
- Difficulty with pretend play or imaginative activities
- Impaired social skills, like not responding to others’ emotions or initiating social interaction
4. Are there physical signs of autism?
Autism is primarily a developmental disorder, so there are no specific physical signs. However, some children with autism may exhibit certain physical characteristics, such as:
- Unusual posture or gait
- Repetitive body movements, like hand-flapping or spinning
- Sensory sensitivities, like covering ears in response to loud noises or avoiding certain textures of clothing
5. What are the signs of autism in older children and teenagers?
Signs of autism in older children and teenagers may include:
- Difficulty understanding sarcasm or jokes that are not literal
- Struggling with making and maintaining friendships
- Intense focus or obsession with specific topics
- Difficulty with organization and time management
- Anxiety or depression related to social challenges and feeling misunderstood
