Identifying the Signs of Autism in Children
As you may know, April is Autism Awareness Month with April 2nd being Autism Awareness Day. It is a perfect time to educate ourselves and each other about the members of society that fall in the autism spectrum. So what is the autism spectrum? It can best be described as a wide range of behavioral conditions which affect an individual’s social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication.
The number of people in the autism spectrum is about 1 in 54 in the United States, but you wouldn’t always be able to tell who falls in it unless they flat out tell you. This is because of the variety of autism, some people that fall in the spectrum require daily assistance while others are entirely independent with some hard work. That’s where we, South Florida Speech Solutions, come in. We can help individuals in all levels of the autism spectrum to break through, so they can learn to communicate with those around them.
“When enough people care about autism or diabetes or global warming, it helps everyone, even if only a tiny fraction actively participate.”
So where do we start as parents? How can we identify that our child does in fact fall in the autism spectrum? We as speech pathologists aren’t able to diagnose autism in a person, but we can recognize behaviors and characteristics within the spectrum. Should signs be identified during our one-hour evaluation, we will explain our findings and provide you with a neurologist and/or psychiatrist contact information for you to schedule an appointment with them. It’s good to remember that not every person with autism will have the same symptoms as another person with autism. In babies we look for milestones such as simple sounds by 4 months or being able to form simple sentences by the age of 2. If a child hasn’t reached certain milestones like these it may indicate a disorder in their development.
For babies and toddlers, the signs to look for are the following:
Not smiling by 5 months old
Not laughing by 6 months old
Not responding to their names by 12 months
Being happy playing alone for long periods
Not making eye contact
Only saying one word at a time
Aside from these, signs that we can look for as a child gets older are the following:
Reliance on a routine
Delayed speech and communication
Avoiding eye contact
Getting upset by minor changes
Focusing on a narrow range of interests
Repetitive ticks such as rocking
In even older children, the following signs can point to being on the autism spectrum:
Interested in playing with just one toy
Not particularly attached to parents
Difficulty interpreting emotions in others
Using formal language, instead of slang like their peers
Having frequent tantrums
Repeating words over and over
We now know what signs to look for, but how are we supposed to behave so we can do our part when encountering a person with autism?
First off, unless engaged first, try not to stare. A lot of people on the spectrum have to repeat things, among other things, before performing a task.
Remember to try to approach a person with autism with a positive attitude and that what they do or say may be offensive to some, but isn’t meant to be rude.
When assisting someone with autism, help them, but do not order them around or try to control their actions. Instead, try to understand what the person with autism is aiming for and help them reach that goal.
“I do not suffer from Autism. I do suffer from the way you treat me.”
People in the autistic spectrum are people themselves. They have feelings, desires, dreams and hopes like the rest of us, they’re just not able to express themselves like the rest of the population. Be a positive beacon for them to feel safe around and above all else, be a friend.
We hope this blog has helped you become a little more aware of autism and the autism spectrum.
South Florida Speech Solutions is always here to help you and your child along on your speech journey! We’d like to once again remind you, speech pathologists cannot diagnose autism, but we are happy to help a person with autism with their speech woes. Helping our patients flourish fills us with joy and satisfaction. Schedule a free screening with us by emailing us at info@southflspeech.com or contact us to schedule an appointment. For your convenience, we are seeing patients in-person and online via our teletherapy service.
