Autism is a common developmental disorder characterized by impaired social abilities and interaction skills, and issues with both verbal and nonverbal communication. People with autism are also known to have rather unusual and limited activities and behaviors. It is believed about 3-6 children out of every thousand or so will have autism. There are various early autism symptoms that babies can experience that parents should look out for.
Early Symptoms
According to the National Institute of Medical Health, there are various possible early indications of autism in babies. These early signs include avoidance of eye contact, not responding to their name, not saying a word by 16 months of age, not pointing, babbling or making meaningful gestures by 1 year of age, lack of social and language skills, not knowing play with toys, not combining two words together by 2 years of age, not smiling, seeming to be hearing impaired at times, lining up toys or objects and being attached to specific toys or things.
Time Frame
In general, children are not diagnosed with having autism until they are approximately 3 years of age, although it is also often commonly believed that children start to exhibit signs of autism as early as 6 months in age from avoidance of eye contact to not smiling.
Irregular Brain Growth
A study cited in The Journal of the American Medical Association showed that children with autism exhibited abnormal brain growth. Autistic children in general had much smaller head sizes at birth (25th percentile), but then had rapid head growth spurts in which their heads grew to the the 84th percentile at around 6 to 14 months of age.
Other Early Signs
Some other less common early signs of autism in babies include difficulty nursing -- an early symptom of possible oral motor issues, unusual crawling on the floor -- a sign of gross motor issues related to the larger muscles, and starting to walk a lot later -- around 16 months or longer.
Prevention/Solution
Many parents of children who possibly have autism can find themselves very frustrated as they are often told by doctors to wait out the condition or to not worry. However, it is a good idea for parents -- who are with their children all day and night and see all their behavioral patterns -- to believe their instincts and get their children thoroughly evaluated by autism specialists if possible.
Tags: around months, autism babies, avoidance contact, early signs, have autism, motor issues