Children with autism spectrum disorder have good vocabularies but unusual ways of expressing themselves. They may talk in a monotone voice and do not recognize the need to control the volume of their voice, speaking loudly in libraries or movie theaters, for example.
Some children with autism may start talking at 12-16 months. Most don't start talking until later. Some will start talking between the ages of 2-3 years. Other children talk even later, and some children never learn to talk.
For example, one child with autism may speak early, but as they develop, they may not use language to express themselves. Another child with autism may be completely non-verbal. Depending on the severity of your child's language delay, it may be one of the first warning signs you notice.
Some children with ASD speak in a high-pitched or sing-song voice or use robot-like speech. Other children may use stock phrases to start a conversation. For example, a child may say, “My name is Tom,” even when he talks with friends or family.
In the case of vocal stimming (or verbal stimming), the child might make noises such as groaning, grunting, high- pitched screeching, squealing, humming, or repeating random words, words to a familiar song, phrases, or lines from a movie.
Young children may express more voiced than unvoiced laughter, as they haven't yet learned to purposely laugh. The test group of autistic children laughed just about as often as the non-autistic kids, but the autistic children's laughter was 98 percent voiced, while non-autistic children produced both types.
In some cases, a child may appear to have clumsiness and awkwardness in doing normal activities like walking and running. Some children also have repetitive behaviors such as hand clapping, twisting, or twirling.
Babies readily share enjoyment with you by smiling or laughing and looking at you. Some children with autism smile to show they're happy but don't share their enjoyment. Others show little facial expression or have flat affect and rarely smile so you may not know when they're happy.
Understanding the Response to Affection
For instance, some children with ASD may appear disinterested when engaged in play or in response to affection from loved ones while others may have an overly affectionate child with autism. Individuals with autism can also have an aversion to touch.
The main difference between other speech delays and autism-related speech delays is that children who are just late talkers still attempt to engage and communicate in different ways. For example, they might make babbling sounds, point, and use other types of body language to get what they want.
Because children with autism struggle to pick up these cues, they may unintentionally use flat, monotonous speech. Monotonous speech can sound robotic, emotionless, or sing-songy. Sometimes monotonous speech can be misinterpreted as a judgmental, angry, or disinterested tone.
Level 1 is the mildest, or “highest functioning” form of autism, which includes those who would have previously been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. Individuals with ASD level 1 may have difficulty understanding social cues and may struggle to form and maintain personal relationships.
They usually prefer to play alone and have challenges working together with others. Various types of therapy are available to help kids with autism and their families to play together and build relationships.
Sometimes, autistic children may even not like to be held, hugged, or touched by anyone and may be fussy or reactive when forced to do so.
At both ages, those in the autism and disability groups are more likely than the controls to transition quickly from whimpering to intense crying. This suggests that the children have trouble managing their emotions, the researchers say.
The earliest signs of autism involve the absence of typical behaviors—not the presence of atypical ones—so they can be tough to spot. In some cases, the earliest symptoms of autism are even misinterpreted as signs of a “good baby,” since the infant may seem quiet, independent, and undemanding.
Many children with autism, even those with high-functioning autism, have difficulty learning to engage in everyday human interaction. They may avoid interactions or eye contact or even resist parental attention, hugs, or cuddling.
Many children with autism are drawn to water for its calming, sensory experience. In fact, a 2015 study[1] found that children with ASD enjoy swimming significantly more than children without ASD.
Early signs of autism can be detected in babies by playing peek-a-boo, research has shown. If their brains respond less than they should to the stimulating game they are more likely to be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as toddlers.
Lack of greetings (hi/bye)
Autistic children struggle to understand the process of greetings and farewells. They often don't learn to wave “hi” or “bye” or even use the words “hi” and “bye.” However, some do the process but rarely participate in the process or need to be instructed to do so.
They found that although the autistic children did not differ from the younger, typically developing children in the amount of time spent looking at their own faces, but that they did spend a lot more time looking at objects in the mirror, and that their behavior toward their reflections differed from that of either ...
Babies with autism often selectively respond to sounds; for example, a baby with autism might not acknowledge a parent calling their name, but they may react suddenly to a television being turned on.