5 Early Signs of Autism

Many children on the autism spectrum begin to show signs of their developmental differences as early as 9 to 12 months of age. These signs can range from deficits in language, to lack of emoting or eye contact with others. Since autism is a spectrum, no one with autism looks or acts like another person who may also share in this diagnosis.

Early detection and intervention can be pivotal in a young learner’s life who falls on the autism spectrum. Therapeutic services such as applied behavior analysis therapy can begin as early as 24 months of age with a formal diagnosis from a medical doctor or psychiatrist. But how are these early diagnoses possible? And what can parents look for in their infants and toddlers to raise concerns?

Here are five early signs of autism in children under three years of age:

1.) Repetitive Body Movements:

Hand flapping, rocking, walking in circles, or head shaking are some of the most common repetitive body movements that pediatricians and neurologists see in their youngest patients going through formal autism testing. These behaviors are used as stimulatory movements to help the child regulate sensory input such as loud noises or bright lights. Oftentimes, these movements help our learner increase or decrease sensory input as necessary for their personal comfort level.

2.) Not Orienting to Speakers, or Responding to Their Name:

Delays in responding to communication is related to a lack of joint attention. Joint attention is the ability to look between an object or event and another person and make a connection between the two. It is an early building block for advanced social and communication skills. Engaging in back-and-forth social interactions, such as the exchange of emotional expressions, sounds and other gestures, is called reciprocal social interaction. There are several stages of joint attention. Children on the autism spectrum usually show delayed or absent social communication skills at every stage, which is why it is identified as an early indicator of the diagnosis.

By 12 months of age

By 15 months of age

By 18 months of age

Most children point at objects they find interesting. Children will look back and forth between an object and a parent to make sure the parent is paying attention and receptive to their interests.
Children on the autism disorder spectrum will often point to an object because they want a parent to get it for them, not because they want the parent to understand or interact with them.

3.) Smell, Sound, Sight, Taste, and Tactile Sensitivity

Many parents begin to pick-up on their children’s aversions to typical everyday sights, sounds, smells and tastes. Younger children may show an aversion to being in rooms with increased natural light or bright lights, or being to cry when people or music sounds are too loud. Some commonly overlooked aspects of sensory aversion are the smell and tactile sensitivity. Some children may be hyper-sensitive to smells in the home whether its cleaning materials, food, perfumes, or other odors. Other children may have extreme preferences for certain blankets or clothing items over others, maybe even crying or having increased stimulatory behaviors when in contact with tactile items they do not enjoy. This can result in sensory avoidance, or trying to get away from stimuli that most people can easily tune out. Sensory avoidance can look like pulling away from physical touch, covering the ears to avoid loud or unpredictable sounds, or avoiding certain kinds of clothing.

Many people with autism show certain behaviors when they are experiencing a sensory issue:

Increased movement, such as jumping, spinning or crashing into things
Increased stimming, such as hand flapping, making repetitive noises or rocking back and forth
Talking faster and louder, or not at all
Covering ears or eyes with hands or other objects
Refusing or insisting on certain foods or clothing items
Frequent chewing on non-food items AKA, PICA
Frequent touching of others or playing rough
Difficulty communicating or responding as the brain shifts resources to deal with sensory input
Escalating, overwhelming emotions or need to escape a situation

4.) Lack of Eye Contact or Emotions

A tendency to avoid eye contact is an early indicator of autism, and oftentimes difficulties with eye contact will persist throughout the learner’s lifespan. Eye contact difficulties may underlie social cognitive deficits in ASD, and can create significant social barriers. 1 in 5 autistic people have alexithymia. Alexithymia is known to cause the affected trouble identifying, understanding, and describing emotions. They may also struggle to show or feel emotions that are seen as socially appropriate, such as happiness on a joyous occasion. In young children, both barriers can pose issues for children learning to create and build relationships with persons in their life such as their parents, siblings, or potential friends/peers.

5.) Lack of or Loss of Speech

While many young children are having their first words around 10 months of age, many learners on the autism spectrum are known to not have any language or more than just a few words by the age of 2 years. One third of children on the autism spectrum have even been reported to lose skills or speech within their first 2 years of life. This loss is called developmental regression and can affect speech, nonverbal communication, social skills, and even play and motor skills. Parents have been known to report and describe this regression happening seemingly “overnight,” but it is also known to happen over time as well. This regression is typically reported prior to the children beginning daycare or preschool services, and usually causes delays in starting their early education services. The causes of these regressions are still unknown to date, and there are not any correlations between secondary diagnosis such as epilepsy or autoimmune diseases.