Early signs of autism and tips to deal with it - Dr. Sulata Shenoy

Autism is a complex neurological disorder which affecs children as young as one two three years of age typically. These days we are seeing a large number of cases of Autism, where is about 50 years ago we would hardly known any cases of Autism in our circles. Now it is estimated that 1 in 68 children as per the latest statistics are prone to Autism. Autism is also called a spectrum disorder. Autism spectrum disorder refers to a cluster of symptoms which come together child and which are debilitating in social and Communication spheres. The markers of autism are social communication delay or deficits. You may see the child playing all by himself or herself where as his or her peers are playing among themselves. A child is isolated to play by himself and does not even make eye contact with others, this could be your first clue as to whether the child is having autism or not? Secondly it is also a communication disorder in which speech is impaired. It is estimated that some of the autistic children may remain non-verbal, language is very complex and very difficult task in for them and it is very difficult for them to pick up on the nuances of language. So they may restrict them selves to single words, nouns, communicating with gestures or not at all. So this social withdrawal which we see is partly due to the social apathy they have as well as communication delays. Thirdly you mat see the child engaging is small repetitive and stereo typical activities such as rocking the body to and fro, spinning objects, fascination with wheels and rotating object and you may also see the child having a fascination phone numbers, number plates and some things which are not really typical of children's desires or children interests. If you see these symptoms of markers in a young child please remember to have a child evaluated and it is now known that there is no medical cure or treatment on medicines for autism.Certainly behavioral intervention and therapies play a major role this may include speech therapy, occupational therapy and early intervention as well as parent education.