A lot of children who are on the autism spectrum might exhibit developmental issues in their toddler and infant years, particularly in the areas of language and social skills.
There could be some difficulties with spoken language or in the way they interact with their peers. But, children on the autism spectrum tend to sit, crawl and walk in a timely manner. Therefore, the more subtle variations regarding the growth of gesturing (pointing) and pretend play, and social language tend to be ignored by the parents and medical professionals.
This article provides information on three early signs for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) for children who are just beginning to develop.
The delay or the lack of the collective focus or lack of joint
One of the biggest differences in development among children with autism spectrum disorders and children who do not have ASD is a deficiency and/or lack of joint focus. Indeed, a lack of joint attention are seen in the majority of children who have ASD.
What is the meaning of joint attention?
Joint attention is the process of looking back and back and forth between an object or an event and another person, and interacting with the other person. It’s a fundamental building block to later social and communication abilities. Engaging in a lot of back-and-forth social interactions, like exchanging lots of emotions, sounds, and gestures, is known as reciprocal social interaction.
Joint attention stages for toddlers and infants
There are various stages of jointly paying attention. Autism in children generally exhibits through delays or lack of social communication abilities at every stage.
As an example, here are the ages at which toddlers and babies typically make use of and comprehend gestures during the following times in comparison to children who are on the autism spectrum.
Making use of and understanding gestures, like the act of pointing
At the age of 12 months
A majority of children are able to immediately look towards the object that a parent is looking towards. They will then glance at their parent’s face and imitate the expression of their parent typically smiling.
Children with autism can appear to avoid parents. Parents may be concerned about their child’s hearing.
At the age of 15 months
The majority of children can point out objects that are out of reach.
An autistic child spectrum might instead grab the hand of a parent and lead the parent towards the object, without making much or even any eye contact. Sometimes, the child might hold the parent’s hand on the object.
Aged 18 months or older
The majority of children will point at objects that they find interesting. Children are likely to look around between the object and a parent in order to ensure that the parent is in tune with what they are seeing.
Children who are on the autism are often drawn to an object in order to get parents to purchase their attention, and not because they want their parent to be able to look at the object together.
Language delays and differences in ASD
The majority of children on the autism spectrum exhibit delays in nonverbal communication as well as spoken language. You may observe differences in the following:
Labels and labels are used to identify products.
A child who is on the autism spectrum might have words they use to describe objects, for instance, but they do not use them to ask for items. They may also use words for objects prior to using words to refer to family members or people.
Repeating and echoing
The majority of children in the early years go through the stage of repeating what they have heard. Children with autism spectrum can repeat the things they hear for long periods. They may also repeat the conversations from films or movies using the same tone of their voice. This is known as echoing or parroting.
Children later diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum appear to have achieved milestones in their language in the early years of toddlerhood. However, their usage of language could be different. For instance, they could speak more like an adult than the typical toddler.
The regression in milestones of development and capabilities
Around 25% of the children identified with an autism spectrum disorders might develop a language is suddenly stopped or slowly use. It is common for this to happen between the age of 15 to 24 months. It is also possible that they become socially isolated. This can be described as the regression of skills.
The screening of toddlers to detect ASD
The AAP suggests that all children are examined for autism spectrum disorders at the time of their 18- or 24-month check-ups for well-child health along with regular developmental monitoring. Studies show that implementing the intervention process as quickly as possible will improve the outcomes for a lot of children with autism.
Remember
If you have questions about the way your child plays or learns, talks or acts discuss it with your pediatrician. Keep in mind that you are the best parent of your child so your worries are crucial.
Together with your pediatrician, you will discover the most effective way to support your child. Don’t wait. Early intervention can have a huge impact in the growth of your child.
