Autism 1 year old video

Early detection and early intervention can have long term implications for children with autism. Detecting autism can be challenging as there are no biological tests available to detect the disorder. The diagnosis is based solely on behavioral symptoms or features.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that every child should be screened for autism at ages 18- 24 months. Autism can be diagnosed by 24 months or sometimes by just 18 months, depending on the case. However it is not typically diagnosed until 4-5 years.

Significant social, language, and cognitive deficits, as well as maladaptive behaviors can appear as a result of the deteriorating effects of early autism warning signs not being detected soon enough. This is because unchecked symptoms tend to create damaging effects on brain development the longer they are not dealt with. This is why it is crucial to detect and diagnose autism early.

1. Lack of Eye Contact. If it’s hard to get your baby to look at you or make eye contact, this can be an early sign of autism.
2. Rarely shares enjoyment with you. Babies readily engage you and share pleasantries in their own way with you by smiling or laughing and looking at you.
3. Rarely shares their interests with you. Showing, pointing and reciprocating sounds and words with you are some ways babies share their interests. Lack of this kind of interaction is a warning sign.
4. Rarely responds to their name when called. Babies usually respond to you eagerly when you call their name, as this is a part of typical development.
5. Lack of showing and pointing. It is typical for babies to draw your attention to things they’re interested in using tactics such as gestures, showing and pointing by 12-14 months of age
6. Hard to look at you or use a gesture and sound. The integration of gestures and sounds from 9-16 months is highly typical, as a way to let you know what they want or don’t want, and what they’re interested in.
7. Lack of imitation and pretending

Children begin to learn by observing others and copying what they do and say by 13 months.

8. Using hands as expressive tools. Common gestures like giving, reaching, raising arms, showing, waving, and pointing are ways a baby begins to express him or herself as they develop
9. Unusual interests in objects rather than people. Babies are usually eager to interact with people rather than objects, but may use objects as a form of attention seeking.
10. Atypical moving of their fingers, hands, or body. Babies with autism may exhibit unusual stiffening or flaring of their fingers or unusual body postures and movements.
11. Repeats unusual movements with objects. Babies with autism repetitively fiddle with objects in unusual motions such as spinning or wobbling, knocking over and rolling, and lining things up, or other repetitive actions that are atypical for their developmental stage.
12. Rigid toward change in routine or schedule. Babies learn morning and nighttime routines with your help. Predictable routines are safe and reliable, however ASD children find deviances from routines as anxiety inducing events.
13. Unusual and intense interest in particular activities or objects. Babies usually give their attention to both persons and inanimate objects. However, ASD children give unusually intense attention to objects over people.
14. Very focused on or attached to unusual objects. Babies on the spectrum can be very attached to objects that are unusual for their age, such as long strips of cloth, utensils, chains, rocks, sticks, flowing water, or gadgets they can take apart and put together.
15. Unusual reaction to sensory stimulation. Babies with autism can either be hypo or hyper-sensitive to smell, touch, taste, sound, movement or a combination of these.
16. Intense interest in unusual sensory experiences. ASD babies can exhibit very intense interests and interactions with sensory stimulations such as excessive rubbing of certain textures, looking out the side of their eye or closely inspecting a block or toy train as it rolls by, or licking objects.