It is estimated 1.5 million Americans have an autistic disorder, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Autism is being called an epidemic by some, and since the early 1990's, the incidence of autism has grown by 10 to 17 percent a year. The National Autistic Society states that it is important for doctors to take parental concern about an infant's development seriously, because parents may notice that their child is behaving or developing differently than other children the same age. As researchers explore further into their understanding of autism, they begin to look for more warning signs of autism in young children.
Communication
According to Dr. Pauline Filipek of Orange, Calif, typically when you hold a baby, he looks at your face, imitates you and makes sounds. By age 4 or 5 months, a baby should try to have "conversations" with parents. The National Autistic Society has found that many children with autism have been suspected of being deaf at an early stage in their lives due to lack of response to audible changes in their environment, yet very few actually had hearing loss. This may be due to a generalized lack of interest in their surroundings or abnormalities in perception.
Social Development
Babies with autism do not point out things of interest, do not take an active part in playing baby games, and do not want to share in activities. Research conducted by Frith and Soares and reported by The National Autistic Society, found that parents of autistic children indicated a lack of joint interest and activity displayed by their children in the first year. This information is further supported by research published in 2004 in the "Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders" from Dr. Wetherby and associates. Researchers found that typical games for infants, such as peek-a-boo, usually elicit a response of smiles or laughter from a child. The lack of these responses should be viewed as a early warning sign to be further investigated.
Gaze
The National Autistic Society explains that avoidance of eye contact is often thought to be a characteristic of children with autism. Though infants do not have fully developed vision and may not appear to see people or look them in the eye, but in babies with autism the gaze tends to be brief and out of the corner of the eye. Geraldine Dawson, director of the Autism Center at the University of Washington's Center on Human Development and Disability, explains that babies naturally fixate on their parent's face and make eye contact, and that lack of eye contact with parents is a red flag for the early detection of autism.
Repetitive Behaviors / Interests
The Autistic Society explains that autistic children may focus solely, and repeatedly, on a single object and their parents may have difficulty redirecting their attention. Repetitive movements of either an object or the body--a common characteristic of autism, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention--should be seen in infants as a possible early warning sign. Many babies enjoy repetition in play within their environment, but the defining difference is that some may become fixated on a particular object to the exclusion of the rest of their environment.
