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Signs of autism in children

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What is autism?

The word ‘autism' comes from the Greek word autos, meaning ‘self', and accordingly, ASD can affect anyone, any ‘self', with developmental delays from these three main categories:

  • Communicating verbally and non-verbally
  • Relating to others and the world around us
  • Thinking and behaving flexibly

The symptoms and signs of autism vary greatly from child to child, and so while some children with autism have only mild symptoms, others have to face challenges which affect every part of their day.

Autism Awareness Course

Do babies show signs of autism?

It is very common that children with ASD show developmental differences when they are still babies. As babies are developing their ability to pretend play and use social skills, parents will come to recognize symptoms of autism mostly through their baby's use of words and language. Although babies who do not have autism can express some of the early symptoms below, here are some developmental red flags parents can watch out for:

  • By 6 months: No warm smiles or other big, jubilant expressions.
  • By 9 months: No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or other facial expressions with parents, family or friends.
  • By 12 months: Unlikely to turn to respond to name, to use ‘baby talk', or share back and forth gestures, including waving, pointing or showing.
  • By 12 months: No babbling or “baby talk.”
  • By 16 months: No consistently spoken words, and might just begin repeating what they hear on TV or what they just heard.
  • By 24 months: No meaningful two-word phrases that don't involve imitating or repeating.

What age does autism usually show up?

As we have just discussed, ASD can begin before the age of 3 years, and will continue to present itself throughout a person's life. Some children with autism gain new skills and meet the usual developmental milestones, but then around 18 to 24 months of age, will often stop gaining new skills or start to lose those they have recently developed.

What are early signs of autism in children?

Here are some more general signs for autism that parents can look out for as their child grows into a toddler and starts school:

  • Repetitive movements, such as flapping their hands or rocking their body
  • Not talking as much or sharing their interests with other children
  • Getting upset or overwhelmed if they do not like a certain taste, smell or sound
  • Not responding to their name
  • Not noticing when they are hurt or sad
  • Repeating the same phrases
  • Avoiding eye contact
  • Not smiling when you smile at them
  • Do not engage in pretend play
  • Not able to gauge other people's emotions and feelings
  • Finding it hard to say how they feel
  • Taking what you say very literally – for example, they may not understand phrases like 'break a leg'

Restricted or repetitive interests and behaviours can include:

  • Following specific routines
  • Lining up toys or other objects and then getting upset when order is changed
  • Having obsessive interests for long periods of time
  • Playing with toys the same way every time
  • Focusing on particular parts of objects

How to handle autistic children

If you are the parent of a child with autism, you will know best of all, through experience and through getting to know your child, how you can support them with their autism. However, if you feel like you are getting stuck in a rut, or want a few more ideas, then here are some alternative tactics to consider:

  • Monitoring your child's development. An essential way to work out the problems your child faces with their autism is to keep a close eye on or just record how they are developing. Make a list of the key social, emotional, and cognitive milestones they have or have not met and from this, decide if there is anything more you can do, with resources, environments and professionals, which can help them get there.
  • Not just accepting a wait-and-see approach. A lot of concerned parents are told not to worry or to just wait and see, but waiting can risk losing valuable time at an age where your child is still actively developing and is more open to change and new experiences. Therefore feel confident to express your concerns to teaching staff and healthcare professionals so that no opportunities for support and improvement are wasted.
  • Use Makaton or sign language. If your child is feeling particularly stressed, and you feel that talking to them will just exasperate them further, then teaching, and applying, sign language from an early age may become a less invasive way of speaking to them. This may even calm them down, and put your view across in a simpler way that is easier to understand.
  • Use your wording carefully. Depending on the needs of your child, think about how you word your language. Try to make it as simple as possible. This strategy will make sure that nothing is lost in translation. Also, as some children with autism can take things very literally, it is worth checking that they have really understood what you have spoken about.
  • Think about your tone of voice. As well as the wording you use, also think about the tone you take with your child. It's quite natural to adopt a tone that reflects your emotions, but sometimes one might be harder for the child to understand, and another may trigger their audio sensitivities and cause distress. Therefore it is important that you really understand the state your child is in, and are conscious of how the tone you use will affect the type of message you want to get across.
  • Help your child feel happy or comfortable to talk. Children with SEND can often find expressing themselves, and talking about how they feel, difficult. It is recommended that you make talking, in any type of form, as familiar as possible at home. From an early age listen to, retell and sing nursery rhymes together. You could even turn a familiar story into a little play, or memory game.

What are my next steps?

We hope that the discussion above has been useful. If you think your child might be autistic then you should speak to:

For more information, please visit:

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