Autism, the developmental disorder that causes abnormal communication, social interaction and behavior, appears to begin before birth. Johns Hopkins neurologist Carlos Pardo, M.D. believes that the answer lies in the brain's exposure to inflammation before birth, and Dr. Eric Courchesne found that most children later diagnosed with autism have smaller than expected head circumferences at birth, yet not all autistic children show signs in the first year. Some do well and then seem to regress.
Risk Factors
Many researchers have sought to discover the cause of autism, and as of 2010 most agree that it is due to damage occurring before birth, which makes finding signs in early infancy more plausible.
A study conducted by researchers from Harvard and Brown Universities found that the highest risk factors were diabetes during pregnancy, which doubled the risk, and any episode of bleeding during pregnancy, which increased the risk by 81 percent. Using psychoactive medications during pregnancy increased the risk by 68 percent, though which medications were used was not analyzed. In addition, for every five years a man waits to father a child after age 25, he contributes an additional 3.6 percent increase to that child's risk of autism.
It is also important to know that preeclampsia and high blood pressure are not autism risks, and its interesting to learn that children whose mothers were born in Mexico have a 40 percent lower risk than kids whose mothers were born in California.
Three-Month Signs
Autistic infants show no specific differences at birth when all human beings are relatively unable to connect to others. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants parents to recognize a child's failure to reach developmental milestones as a possibility that autism or another developmental disorder is present.
At three months the autistic infant usually does not smile or play with other people. She doesn't show expressions of joy, sadness and discontent and she will not try to copy other people's movements or facial expressions.
The ability to track visually is altered in babies who are autistic and they show no interst in watching faces or following moving objects. To the autistic child who is not forming visual memory well, there is no recognition of people seen from a distance, and poor hand-eye coordination may prevent him from reaching for objects.
Seven- to Eight-Month Signs
By seven to eight months, the differences become more obvious. The autistic child doesn't cuddle and show affection for his mom and dad. He has no interest in playing peek-a-boo or searching for hidden objects and he seems to care less when his parents leave the room.
Whereas healthy infants are babbling constantly at this age, the child with autism either doesn't make sounds or doesn't use them in a back and forth manner with other people. He doesn't giggle when tickled and he does not seek to be held when tired or hungry.
Most importantly, parents say that their autistic child seems to stare through them instead of engaging them and sustaining eye contact. This demonstrates the inability to connect with others and is the foundation of later developmental difficulties.
Early Intervention
Dr. Catherine Lord of the University of Michigan and Rebecca Landa, Ph.D., Director of Kennedy Krieger Institute's Center for Autism and Related Disorders believe that the brain of a child predisposed to autism can be healed, at least partially, by intensive early behavioral interventions. Some evidence from their research says that this is possible, especially for mildly autistic children who begin treatment in infancy.
Sudden Regression
Sometimes an infant begins development normally, meeting most of his early developmental milestones, and seemingly overnight he regresses and stops interacting and babbling. When this happens, parents often assume that it was something the child was exposed to that caused autism to develop.
In 2008, researchers from the University of Cincinnati published their discovery that regressive autism is linked significantly to a family history of autoimmune thyroid diseases, specifically Graves hyperthyroidism and Hashimoto's hypothyroidism.
References
- Johns Hopkins Medicine: Autism: An Immune Connection?
- "British Journal of Psychiatry": Prenatal risk factors for autism
- "Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health": Risk of ASD in Children Born after Assisted Conception
- "Journal of the American Medical Association": Evidence of Brain Overgrowth in the First Year of Life in Autism
- American Academy of Neurology: Early Intervention in Autism
