Earliest Signs of Autism

Autism affects all areas of life, but most profoundly it can be defined as a condition in which shared attention is extremely challenging.

Until the age of 18-24 months, most autistic children seem to develop typically. They reach the major milestones of development in a similar age and show barely any signs that anything is out of the ordinary with their development.

The reasons for that are unclear. Is autism a disease that only sets off at 18 months? Is something in the early medical history of the child responsible for the development of autism? Or perhaps, it is only when the child has reached the age when the milestones of speech, language and complex communication are expected to be apparent, that the autism finally reveals itself in the child even though it might have been there since birth.

There are, however, some very subtle signs that may be found in infants as early as 6 moths of age that are early signs of autism.

The following is based on the article

Autism: recognising the signs in young children By Jennifer Humphries

Gaze
The quality of the gaze of an infant with autism is different. While typical infants don’t usually notice people, and may not look them in the eye, an autistic baby has a gaze that is brief and out of the corner of the eye.

Hearing
While only few autistic children have actual hearing loss or deafness, abnormalities in hearing is a common thing amongst infants with autism and many of them are suspected of being deaf. Irresponsiveness to the infant’s name being called, ignorance of loud noises that startle most babies. This is believed to be caused by either blocking out noises and sounds – either because they are too threatening, or because of lack of interest in them (and a restricted interest in a specific type of noise).

Social development and play
Play and social activity are very highly related in infants and in early childhood. Parents may notice that the infant responds in odd or unexpected manner to their play and communication initiatives. They may either not be interested or not seem to enjoy the types of play that most infants naturally like from very early stages in their life.