Signs Of Autism

It can be hard for parents to come to grips with the emotional problems their children may have. While it is important for all parents to seek out real advice from qualified health professionals, autism is something that may not be so easily diagnosed. Catching autism early can make a huge difference in the quality of life your child enjoys down the road, with early treatment being the best hope for his or her independence and happiness. By watching for early signs of autism, you can potentially make a big impact on how well your child is able to cope with this syndrome.

Ideally, you want to catch signs of autism by around 18 months. Since this is the beginning of how your child will learn to interact with and perceive his or her environment, the odds of positive treatment greatly increase around this time. Even if you don’t catch it early, it’s never too late to help your child enjoy the quality of life you have always hoped for.

What Exactly is Autism

Autism isn’t just one thing, it’s a mixture of things. Signs of autism present themselves in a wide range of different ways, and normally starts to appear at around 18 months of age. This early development is especially terrible since it means that it will impact the way that your child’s brain develops. This can negatively impact everything from how they talk to how they interact with others.

The autism signs are highly variable, with the effects being notoriously difficult to discern. While some autistic children may present obvious impairments and issues, others will have a more mild presentation of symptoms that makes their diagnosis even less likely. The most likely areas in which you find autism signs in children are:

• Being able to think or act in response to fluidly changing situations
• Verbal and non-verbal communication
• Relating to the world around him or her, as well as relating to others

There are a lot of different opinions regarding the genesis and best treatments of autism by everyone in the medical and lay communities. The truth is that no one really does know how or why many of these symptoms present themselves, however there is one thing that everyone does agree on. Everyone understands that early intervention is key to the providing an afflicted child with the best quality of life.

The Role of Parents in Early Detection

No one in the world is in a better position to detect autism signs early in your child than you are. As a parent, you have unfettered access to your child on a daily basis, and as a thinking adult you have the common sense to understand when something is amiss. Pediatricians, in a quick consultation, cannot possibly get the perspective on your child that you can provide. While the advice of a qualified pediatrician or child psychologist is invaluable to the long-term health of your child, you should never forget your own role in the health of your child. As such, it is important to train yourself to understand what is and is not an early warning sign of autistic behavior. Below are a number of autism signs that you can use to help discern whether your child could possibly have autistic tendencies.

• Keep an eye on your child. Developmental “setbacks” are a hallmark of autism, and will present themselves in a number of different ways. Keep in mind the specific things that your child should be getting a good handle on at this stage in his or her life, and see how well you think he or she is getting along. For example, if your child isn’t quite in the same league as other children in terms of socialization, it could be something you should pay attention to.
• Step up and say something. There is no “one thing” that can tell you that your child has autism, and no one should simply assume that a child has any developmental disability. However, you should still voice your concerns if you feel it’s necessary. Simply asking your doctor a question or bringing up something that’s bothering you could make all the difference in the long run.
• Make sure that you’re heard. There will be times when you are told to “wait and see” how things pan out for your child before you attempt even the most banal of therapy treatments. The risk of doing these minor treatments is non-existent, but losing those precious months and years to waiting does carry very real risk. If a delay is caused by autism, children are unlikely to simply grow out of their problems.
  Believe in yourself. There are always doctors that miss potential issues that are then caught by other doctors. It’s OK to be a little forceful with your doctor and help them see what you see, and you should not be afraid to follow up with your doctor or ask for a referral to a child psychologist.

Symptoms of Autism During Infancy

The younger your child is, the more able he or she is to get over their autistic tendencies through proper therapy. Since young minds “spring back” and fight through things much more vigorously than adult brains, early treatment can end up being very successful. Even though it’s difficult to tell if a child is autistic before 24 months, there are autism signs that start to crop up much earlier– sometimes within 18 months. Treatments that are done within this early time-frame are much more likely to result in success.

It’s important to remember that the biggest autism signs in small children is not that they have “abnormal” behaviors. Rather, it is the lack of “normal” behaviors that is the key indicator that something is wrong. This can make early detection very difficult, since the “normal” behavior of a baby generally involves crying and screaming. A lack of these “normal” behaviors can lead parents to just feel like they’ve got themselves a good, quiet baby– not one with autism.

Autistic babies will generally display obvious antisocial behaviors as signs of autism even from a very young age.

Some of the Early Signs of Autism

• Won’t smile
• Won’t use gestures
• Won’t make eye contact
• Won’t try to get your attention through noises or overt actions
• Won’t respond to a familiar voice
• Won’t respond to cuddling
• Won’t imitate your facial expressions or movements
• Won’t show interest or enjoyment in normal activities
• Won’t make basic requests for help or other such needs
• Won’t visually follow objects or gestures

Early Signs that Should Entail Some Form of Medical Evaluation

• If there are no overtly joyful or warm expressions made by your child at six months.
• If there is no imitation of sounds, gestures, or facial expressions by nine months.
• If he or she does not respond to his or her name by twelve months.
• If there is no attempt at speech or “babbling” by twelve months.
• If there are no basic gestures– such as pointing– being made by twelve months.
• If he or she is not speaking by sixteen months.
• If there is no real development of independent thought and speech by twenty-four months.

Signs of Autism in Older Kids

Obviously, as a child becomes older their developmental disabilities become much more apparent. Even without keeping an “eagle eye” on your child’s development, some of the more obvious deficiencies will start to become very obvious.

Social Difficulties Often Found with Autistic Children

• They don’t care about anything that’s going on around them, either at home or in public.
• They do not like to be touched in either an aggressive or nurturing way.
• They don’t listen to the things that you tell them, even when talking about subjects that interest them.
• They don’t understand how to make friends or make human connections with others.
• They never want to be a part of a group and are very averse to playing group games or “pretending” creatively.
• They don’t understand basic human emotions, and have a hard time expressing their emotions.
• They do not seek praise or approval of their various accomplishments.

Language Difficulties Found with Autistic Children

• The tone and rhythm of their speech is obviously different than normal. A good example of this would be if he or she were to tonally end all of his or her sentences as though it were a question.
  When asked a question, he or she will generally just repeat the question instead of actually answering it.
• They repeat the same words ad nauseum.
• They have a hard time articulating the things they need, even when it comes to basic needs like hunger.
• They refer to themselves in the third person.
• They lack the ability to detect and comprehend subtleties in language such as humor or sarcasm.
• They don’t understand very basic directions, and are dumbfounded by even the most basic questions.

Non-Verbal Communication Issues Found with Autistic Children

• They don’t understand facial gestures of people they interact with.
• They avoid all eye contact with people they interact with.
• They use odd facial expressions that do not match up with their tone or the context of what they’re saying.
• They don’t make very many gestures while talking, giving them a very stiff and cold appearance.
• They often have abnormal ways of carrying themselves. This is often expressed through odd postures while sitting or through walking and running in eccentric ways.

Inflexibility Found with Autistic Children

• They lack the ability to change their routine to suit variables, such as sleeping in different colored bedsheets.
• They are unusually attached to objects like keys, paperclips, rubber bands, or other such things.
• They often exhibit an intense obsession with very specific subjects, such as memorizing books, maps, or sports statistics.
• They will often arrange things in specific orders obsessively.
• Will devote a large amount of time to staring at moving objects like fans and the moving wheels on toy cars.
• They engage in “self-stimulatory” behaviors, which are simply physical behaviors that are done repeatedly. Some common self-stimulatory behaviors are: rocking back and forth, flapping of hands, picking of fingers, staring at lights, moving fingers in front of eyes, spinning things, repeating noises, scratching incessantly, tapping his or her ears, snapping his or her fingers, and flipping lights on and off.

What Causes Autism?

The truth is that no one really knows what causes autism. However, there is a well-documented body of research that has found a genetic link with autism. There is also a growing body of study pertaining to the effects that a child’s environment has on their development of autism. One of the more popular theories states that many people are genetically predisposed to having autistic traits, but that these traits only manifest themselves once certain environmental parameters are met. While there are many theories, there is no scientific consensus as to what the exact causes of autism are.

For many parents, “I don’t know” simply isn’t good enough. Sadly, there is no other answer to give parents that want to understand the how’s and why’s of their child’s condition. While there is a natural human compulsion to learn about the causes of these things, that is no reason to detract your attention from the treatments out there for autism that have been clinically tested for efficacy.

Genetic Triggers for Autism

The genetic causes for autism are two-fold, relying on both inherited genetic traits and spontaneous genetic mutation. These genetic mutations are common with all people, but they can very rarely lead to ill-effects. The current research states that between 5 and 20 different genes are responsible for contributing to autism, with others being found with new research. Statistically, older parents are at a higher risk for having an autistic child.

Environmental Triggers for Autism

Genetics can’t possibly explain all of the issues caused by autism, and it makes sense to take the local environment of the child into account as well. There are a number of possible environmental contaminants that can possibly contribute to autism, including pollution, mercury, insecticides/pesticides, genetically modified foods, and even flame retardants on furniture.

The Autism/Vaccine Link

There has been a lot of controversy over the past few years as to the possibility of vaccines causing autism. However, the top scientific research on the subject has found no causal link between vaccines and autism. This information has been taken from a large body of research that has been conducted worldwide, and none of the studies found a link between autism and vaccinations. Making sure that your child is vaccinated on schedule can actually protect them from other illnesses that may impact their developing brains and cause autistic tendencies.

If You’re Worried

Once you’ve taken all of this information in and you’ve looked at your child, what do you do if you’ve found any of these early warning signs? The most important thing that you can do is schedule an appointment with your child’s physician as soon as possible. Even if your child is doing perfectly well, the Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all children have developmental screenings throughout their youth, as well as screenings specifically for autism at 9, 18, and 30 months.

• Schedule a screening for autism. There are a number of different tests that have been developed to help identify autistic children, or children that are at risk for autism. These are very quick tests that will involve you giving an in-depth assessment of your child’s behavior.
• Schedule an appointment with a developmental specialist. Your child will be referred to one of these specialists if your pediatrician feels that your child warrants further examination for autism. Since autism cannot be detected through blood samples, the perspective of a mental health professional with developmental health experience is necessary. Even though they won’t normally diagnose a child as autistic before they are 30 months old, they may still provide you with home therapies that you can conduct in the meantime.
• Find early intervention services. It is no easy task to diagnose a child with autism, since there is a very fine line between the strange behaviors that normal children express, and the strange behaviors that abnormal children express. However, there is no reason to not take certain preventative, theraputic measures to help your child if you are suspicious that they have autism. These services are federally funded, and they will go a long way toward helping your child live a normal life when they’re older.

Don’t Wait for Permission to Help Your Child

Autism is rarely diagnosed before the child is 30 months old. However, this is no reason to not seek theraputic treatments for your child if you suspect that he or she could be autistic. You don’t have to wait for permission from your doctor before you start to act upon your own instincts regarding your child’s social and emotional development. There are many non-invasive, non-drug treatments that you can start on your own as early as infancy to help steer your child away from autistic tendencies.

Despite the many instances where autism can make a child seem introverted and untouched by human emotion, there is a growing body of evidence that shows a strong bond between autistic children and their primary caregivers. This attachment should be nurtured, and will become increasingly important over the years as you strive to help your child overcome tendencies that could cause a cascade of negative effects that will impact his or her life throughout its entirety. The quality of this bond varies from person to person, but there is no denying the incalculable effect that it can have on both the efficacy of autism treatments, and the desire of your child to overcome the stark adversities that autism has introduced into his or her life. Above all, be sure to nurture this bond, since no clinical treatments for autism can ever really be fully successful without this amazing bond.