Autism is a neurological disorder that affects children before the age of three years. The autism disorder shows up as impairment in speech, retraction from outside world, impairment in social interaction, and abnormal or inappropriate responses to the external stimulus.
As a parent you cannot see any physical signs or symptoms, but you can notice certain abnormal behavioural changes hitherto you have not seen or heard elsewhere.
Initial ymptoms
The first signs or the initial symptoms of autism in your child may not be common, as the symptoms are quite different with every child. Few children are born with the malady, and other children develop the complications and start showing up the symptoms suddenly.
Any autistic child will be non-responsive to people and may not look for many toys but stick to one particular plaything or toy. They will avoid eye contacts and never entertain affectionate gestures such as touching or hugging.
Autistic child will be slow in developing speech than the regular children and they will be very aggressive for no reasons and that leading to many self-injuries. As a parent you may first notice the abnormal behaviour, but in many cases your friends and relatives will brush away such behaviours as “crazy”.
The moment you see any abnormal behaviour in your child, it is better you seek for guidance from doctors immediately as autism in children requires immediate therapies to correct the malady.
The Child Doctor
Today’s pediatricians are well equipped to know and identify the possibility of autism in children. The pediatricians are aware of this neurological disorder, and they can tell whether your child is well within the normal behaviour patterns or not.
But the symptoms of autism are still evading diagnosis, as there are no standard medical tests for diagnosing autism in children. If you can see any problem or see your child lacking in proper speech, then it is time you have sought for doctor’s help to rule out the possibility of autism in your child.
Autism being a neurological disorder, your child may show up a lack of interest in playing with toys or may show intermittent outbursts for no valid reasons or even exhibit peculiar gesticulations.
Though there is a possibility for some other neurological problem, it is better you consult your doctor for testing your child and for ruling out the autism disorder. However, in case of diagnosed autism, you need to consult a specialist for treating your child.
Consulting Experts experienced in Autism Treatment
Experts or specialists well trained in treating autism in children has several time-tested techniques and instruments that can assist in diagnosing the autism in your child. These specialists use a standardised rating scale to measure your child’s observed behavior and decide on the condition after making a well structured interview with parents and after getting to know the symptoms.
Any photographs or videos can also assist in knowing when the first symptom cropped up and at what age so as to help the doctor in pinpointing the disorder. Even after matching the results with the possible autism in your child, the specialist should consider all other associated conditions that may be very close in resemblance to autism in children.
Once the specialist rule out other possible disorders and be able to pinpoint on the autism angle due to the presence of poor social relationships, poorly developed communication skills, repetitive behaviors, etc., you can decide as to how to deal with the situation and start working out the methodologies of the treatment.
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