What can be done to identify autism in children early?
Children with autism who are diagnosed early (before the age of 3) have a much greater chance of becoming normal and integrating into society.
According to Dr. Nguyen Thi Huong Giang, Department of Rehabilitation, Central Children's Hospital, parents can identify autism early by observing unusual signs in their children.
Early warning signs of autism in children aged 0-6 months:
- Indifference to sound (it feels like the child is deaf).
- Abnormal behavior: hyperactivity (agitation, difficulty sleeping, excessive crying, difficulty being soothed, frequent abdominal cramps due to gas, unexplained irritability) or apathy, quietness, seemingly preferring solitude, and demanding little parental attention.
- Poor concentration: Not paying attention or focusing as well as other children of the same age. Making little or no eye contact with the person speaking.
- Motor abnormalities: reduced activity, abnormal posture when being held.
Early warning signs of autism in children aged 6-12 months:
- Development of unusual behaviors: playing alone, playing with fingers and hands in front of the face, using objects in unusual ways such as scratching, rubbing, or scratching...
- Not paying attention to other people.
- No pronunciation or very little pronunciation.
- Motor abnormalities: Decreased or increased muscle tone, decreased or excessive activity.
- Little or no use of nonverbal communication skills (waving, saying goodbye, pointing, etc.)
Early warning signs of autism in children over 12 months:
Children with deficits in social communication skills:
- Loss of or no response to sound
- Absence or reduction of nonverbal communication skills (eye contact, body language, facial expressions of joy or sadness, nodding or shaking the head...). Abnormal eye contact (may turn away, avoid staring, vacant or dull gaze, or avoid eye contact altogether...).
- Making little or no sound, not laughing aloud. Not speaking, speaking slowly, speaking poorly, speaking fluently but rarely initiating conversations, not speaking when meeting strangers...
- Group activities decrease, difficulty participating in games, poor playing skills, repetitive and indifferent behavior.
- Abnormal behavior: self-harm, hitting others, unusual hand and foot movements (waving hands, twisting hands, walking on tiptoes, etc.), self-stimulation (shouting, waving hands, running in circles, touching genitals, etc.)
Parents can also refer to the 5 early warning signs of autism from the American Academy of Neurology: - No babbling, no use of gestures or signs around 12 months. |
According to VnExpress-NT