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A trained clinician may be able to detect autism at 18-months or even younger but the average age of a diagnosis is about four years old.© Shutterstock
In a recent research by Dartmouth College, researchers have identified a non-verbal, neural marker of autism. This is what the research states: "This marker shows that individuals with autism are slower to dampen neural activity in response to visual signals in the brain. This first-of-its kind marker was found to be independent of intelligence and offers an objective way to potentially diagnose autism in the future."
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or autism is a neurobehavioural condition that impacts a person's social interaction, affects his developmental language and communication skills and shows repetitive behaviours. In India, it has been observed that more cases are being reported nowadays. Increase in awareness and availability of special platforms to deal with autistic children might have shot up the number of reported cases in our country. However, early intervention still stands as a problem. It could be because of a number of reasons: Absence of a specific tool to diagnose the disorder and inability to understand the severity of early signs can count for two major reasons. But if you, as a parent, are able to keep your eyes open, and observe your child very closely, you will be able to identify the behavioural and functional difficulties that he faces in his daily life. Take cues from your little one's challenges to spot the early signs of autism.
Autistic children are restless around people. They are rattled when people interact with them. This is because their communication skills do not develop like other children. They are unable to understand thoughts and feelings and can't express themselves. This makes them fidget in when people try to interact with them. They may seem to ignore, hideaway or at times reach angrily. If you find your child being alone in a group or shying away from people, make sure you keep a track of his social activities.
A child as small as 18 months might not have legit life issues to feel frustrated. Therefore, if you see your child constantly irritated, it could be because of some underlying irritation. Inability to express and understand the basic rules, it might rile your child up. Finding themselves being different from people around them can stress them. This could lead to severe mood swings and it may get serious as they grow up.
Children with autism have difficulty in following instructions. They show annoyance towards basic day routine. Because of broken communication, the flow of activities in their head breaks which make that unable to follow a pattern. For instance, the first thing to do after getting up in morning is go to washroom, wash hands and then brush. They might now understand the relevance of doing three activities in a proper flow. Don't take it as a tantrum or disobedience if it prevails for long.
As autistic children don't consider them one of the group, they may develop ideas of their own. They could relate these ideas and thoughts with a specific object or a person. It may make them have special attachment or extreme hate for the object depending on what idea they have created in their head. For instance, they can relate to a toy and it may make them feel comfortable and loved.