Every child is precious and as a parent you wish the best for your child. You will never want to think that your precious baby has any problems. But when it comes to certain developmental problems, you can do the best only by helping to detect them at the earliest.
Autism is a spectrum of such related developmental problems, which have certain characteristics in common. These can be seen from the early infancy and a vigilant parent like you can definitely spot it out as it shows difference in normal childhood experiences. You can see some problems in certain areas like the social interaction, communication, thinking and behavior.
The best thing is that, the early you are able to detect the signs of autism the better for the development of your baby.
Signs of autism
- Baby does not look at you in the eyes or avoids eye contact
- Baby does not visually follow objects or toys being moved in different directions
- Baby does not respond to your gestures or does not smile when smiled at
- Baby does not communicate by any means like waving, smiling or with any gestures
- Baby does not make sounds to draw your attention
- Baby does not show any interest in the surroundings, toys or does not point to any object
- Baby does not show interest in children playing around or does not play with people around
- Baby does not enjoy cuddling or responds differently when cuddled or kissed
- Baby dislikes regular cleaning practices like touching or washing the hair, cleaning mouth, etc
Warning signs
While some features can be shown by some babies just as a part of normal behavior, it is important to check if your baby is consistently behaving the same for a long period of time. Apart from these behavioral signs there are some warning signs related to the baby’s developmental milestones. It is better to give medical attention in case these milestones are not reached by the given age. They are,
- By 6 months – No big smiles or expressions of joy
- By 9 months – No interactive play using sounds, gestures and expressions
- By 12 months- No response when the baby’s name is called out, no babbling or no exchange of gestures like waving, pointing or reaching for objects of interest, etc
- By 16 words – No words spoken
- By 24 months – No meaningful speech that includes phrases of two words other than repetition or imitation.
