Since it is important to identify the early signs of autism, you may be wondering what are these early signs? There is a set of early signs that parents and physicians can monitor at the child's well-child visits. The following are early signs of autism from age of 3 months to 24 months:
Possible Signs of Autism at 3 Months:
- Not smiling at others.
- Not making eye contact with parents.
Possible Signs of Autism at 6 Months:
- Not making eye contact with parents.
- Not babbling or making cooing sounds.
- Not imitating a smile when parents smile at child.
- Not taking turns making sounds with parents.
- Not participating in a game of peek-a-boo.
Possible Signs of Autism at 12 Months:
- Does not try to speak.
- Does not point at items (when trying to communicate a want/need), wave at others, or grasp for objects.
- Does not responsd when his/her name is called.
- Repeats body motions (i.e. rocking back-and-forth or flaps hands in front of face/down side of body).
- Becomes fixated on an object.
- Becomes oversensitive to textures, smells, sounds.
- Struggles when there is a change in routine.
- Loses language that he/she once had.
Possible Signs of Autism at 24 Months:
- Does not verbally say two-word phrases independently.
- Loses language or developmental skills (had it in the past, but now he/she doesn't have it).
It is important to note that if your child demonstrates any of these early signs of autism, it doesn't necessarily mean that he/she is autistic. It does, however, mean that your child's physician and you need to monitor the child's exhibit of the behaviors. If they do not improve, an assessment may need to be done to determine whether or not your child is autistic as well as whether he/she needs to receive services for an early intervention. Some websites are showing clips of videos of children with and without autism to help parents and physicians have a visual sense of behaviors that are related to autism and those that are not. This information can be found on the MSNBC website.
