Early signs of autism spectrum disorder

In the 2024 year-end report, the Department of Psychiatry received over 45,000 children for general mental health examinations, of which approximately 20% were examined for suspected signs of autism. Thus, approximately 10,000 children are examined for autism each year.

How to recognize if your child is at risk of autism spectrum disorder, Master, Doctor Nguyen Minh Quyet - Department of Psychiatry, National Children's Hospital has given some of the following signs for parents to pay attention to:

Firstly, children have social communication impairments including: Children rarely respond when called by name, rarely make eye contact, prefer to play alone, have difficulty making friends and maintaining relationships; have few gestures and expressions such as hello, goodbye, yes, please...;

Children do not know how to point with their index finger, or pull other people's hands, rarely express emotions on their faces or have difficulty understanding other people's emotions and facial expressions; have difficulty understanding figurative and metaphorical meanings, and implicit rules; do not speak appropriately for their age, have an unusual tone, a monotone voice, have difficulty initiating conversations, and do not know how to pretend play or imagine appropriately for their age.

Second, children have narrow, repetitive behaviors, interests, and activities such as: hand movements (clapping, twisting hands, tapping, admiring hands, waving hands, etc.); unusual postures (walking on tiptoe, swaying body, etc.), repetitive ways of playing (spinning wheels, tearing paper, lining up in long lines, stacking high, etc.); mimicking words or speaking in a unique style (rambling, formal, jargony, stereotyped), repetitive meaningless sounds; strictly following habits or schedules (mealtime, toilet time, bedtime, playing with toys in a certain way, etc.);

Child is irritable or irritable with changes in environment, transitions between events or activities; follows rules strictly in a manner that is idiosyncratic; is interested in topics that are of little interest to peers; is excessively interested in one or more topics in either intensity or concentration;

Children have deep knowledge of a topic (history, astronomy, geography, national flags...), are too sensitive to sensations such as touch (texture of food, toys, utensils, do not like to hug...), sound (fear of the sound of hair dryers, blenders...), have reduced sensation of pain, heat, cold; overreact to the smell, taste, color of food; are attracted to rotating objects, smelling, licking objects...

There are 5 warning signs of autism that parents need to pay special attention to:

-12 months, child does not babble

-12 months, the child does not know how to point, say bye, clap hands, or shake head

-16 months, child cannot say single words

-24 months, child cannot say 2 words

- Children lose language or social skills they had at any age.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/nhung-dau-hieu-nhan-biet-som-tre-mac-roi-loan-pho-tu-ky-post868605.html