The average age at which an autism spectrum disorder is detected in the child is between five and six years old, however American scientists point out that autism could be detected in babies through the observation of the child.
Although in some cases the symptoms are not as evident from the first months, there are warning signs that could indicate the manifestation of some developmental disorder at an early age.
Scientists at the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, prepared a questionnaire in which the parents of 10,500 babies under one year answered how their children make use of eye contact, sounds, words, gestures and other forms Communication.
Questions like "Does your baby smile or laugh when you look at him?, Does the child pretend to play with toys?, Can you tell when the child is happy or angry?", could give the pattern of unusual behavior.
Of all the children who participated in the study, 184 had shown problems in the initial exam when they were babies, and were referred to subsequent evaluations. Of these, 32 have received a provisional or final diagnosis of some autism spectrum disorder, while 101 have some other disease related to developmental delay.
According to the researchers, these figures are typical of what might be expected in a population of this size, which suggests that the preliminary questionnaire might work. Of course, it is an easy method to perform, cheap and fast, but the most important thing is parental observation.
Autism can show alarm signals from very early ages. After two months if the baby does not pay attention to light or sounds, experts say. Same as the way of playing during the first months. Certain attitudes such as turning them repeatedly, staring at them or observing them from the corner of the eye is a characteristic of babies who were later diagnosed with autism.
For its part, a subsequent study detects the age of diagnosis at nine months of age by looking at the direction of babies' eye movement when they look at faces, eyes, or objects moving on a computer screen.
That can be identify signs of autism in children since they are babies It is very encouraging news, since early detection is essential to carry out an effective treatment and that the child's development in childhood is as normal as possible.
