Autism can be described as a complex developmental disability that reduces the quality of life in a serious manner. This neurological disorder affects the normal brain function adversely to create serious behavioral problems. Generally speaking, this disorder becomes visible during the first three years of a child’s life. Advanced research studies say that parents can identify autism signs in a baby less than four months of age and more visible signs can be detected within eighteen months. If you can identify autism signs at an early stage, treatment becomes more effective, and the recovery process also becomes faster. In other words, early detection and intervention always contribute towards making the treatment highly effective.
Children, who are suffering from autism, may not show exactly similar symptoms. Some children may display more severe symptoms while some others may show relatively mild symptoms. Generally speaking, non-verbal communication issues and reduced social interaction skills can be described as the major autism symptoms.
Many children with autism become non-responsive to loud noises, and you can identify this symptom at an early stage itself. Many parents misinterpret it as a sign of hearing loss or deafness, but it can be described as a major symptom of autism.
6-month old children usually smile back at you when you offer them a smile. If your child does not smile or show reluctance towards making happy expressions even after six months, you need to consider it as a sign of autism.
Normal children imitate social clues like facial expressions, sounds or laughter when they turn 8 or 9 months old. You need to check whether your child imitates the movements and sounds of others because children with autism display reduced imitation of social clues.
Poor eye contact is a major sign of autism. You need to realize that an eye contact is a form of communication and comprehension and, autism limits the ability of your child to follow objects visually.
Normal children always start cooing and babbling at a tender age itself (by 12 months) and unwanted delay in cooing and babbling can be considered as an early symptom of autism.
Autism-affected children do not grasp and hold objects correctly. When they hold an object, it may fall immediately. You need to check whether your child is experiencing any difficulty in holding objects.
Children with autism always display repetitive behaviors in the form of hand flapping, stiffening, shaking and clenching. These children also show strange body movements like rotating hands or wrists frequently, and they always stand or sit using uncommon or strange body postures.
Normal children always make efforts to grab attention by making noises or cuddling, but this behavior can never be associated with children suffering from autism. For them, the basic problem is the inability to relate to others, and as they grow up, this problem becomes more intense and complicated as well.
A 10-year old normal child always makes gestures at people or objects, and it can be described as a form of communication. He/she makes efforts to reach out for objects and, gestures like shaking head, pointing towards objects or waving goodbye can always be linked with a normal child. Children with autism show reduced gesture production ability, and it is being considered as an important symptom of autism.
Motor development milestones are always considered as a vital factor in determining the physical and mental health of a child. Children with autism always experience significant delays in motor development milestones like rolling over, crawling or pushing and it can be described as one of the most important indicators of autism in children.
Generally speaking; when your child turns 12 months, he/she must acquire the ability to stand when supported. Autism-affected children cannot stand even if you support them and this inability is undoubtedly a prominent sign of autism.
Other major symptoms of autism include the inability to follow simple instructions, delayed age-appropriate language development and increased reluctance to play normal games and, all these signs always help you identify whether our child is suffering from autism. Most children show a combination of these symptoms, and you need to identify the signs at an early stage to make the recovery process fast and effective.
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