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.
Babies will also start smiling around this age, begin babbling, and grasp objects in their hands. Those who may be on the autism spectrum will mostly avoid any type of eye contact and will typically not smile or exhibit many facial expressions.
Impaired affective expression, including social smiling, is common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and may represent an early marker for ASD in their infant siblings (Sibs-ASD).
Limited eye contact. A mother might notice her baby does not make eye contact while nursing. Autistic babies might have difficulty smiling or giggling.
Making little or no eye contact. Difficulty in following objects with their eyes. Hearing their name does not produce a response. Having limited or no reaction to loud sounds, or not turning their head to locate sounds.
At 6 months , a baby should recognize other people's emotions and be able to respond to them. An autistic baby, on the other hand, may not respond to a smile or other facial expressions. They may also respond to certain expressions or experiences with facial expressions that are inappropriate.
Autistic children can have particular sleep and settling problems, including: irregular sleeping and waking patterns – for example, lying awake until very late or waking very early in the morning. sleeping much less than expected for their age, or being awake for more than an hour during the night.
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.
The cries of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) contain atypical acoustic features. The cries of typically developing infants elicit automatic adult responses, but little is known about how the atypical cries of children with ASD affect the speed with which adults process them.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Some babies experience sensory-overload, so that any physical contact may disturb them. This obviously engenders very difficult feelings for the parents, but it is important to explain that the baby is not rejecting them, but has real difficulty with his tactile sense and regulation.
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.
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.
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.
In previous studies, children with autism have been found to have unusually wide faces and wide-set eyes. The cheeks and the nose are also shorter on their faces (Aldridge et al., 2011).
Children with autism seek sensory input in a myriad of ways. Some enjoy the physical touch of loved ones through hugs, tickles, cuddles, and kisses. While on the other hand, others find more enjoyment in the sensory input from the physical environment in which we live.
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.
Some autistic children might graze all day, and some might eat too much at meals. If your child has overeating habits, it's good to work out why. This can help you manage your child's eating behaviour. Some children eat more because their medicine increases their appetite.
Neurological disorders affecting the part of the brain that controls emotions can also cause laughing during sleep. These disorders are rare, but they're important to be aware of. For babies, neurodevelopmental disorders like autism spectrum disorder can be behind sleep laughing.
Eating problems are common among children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but it is unknown to what extent infant eating behavior is associated with later autistic traits.
At 9 months, the children later diagnosed with autism were more likely than children in the other two groups to wake up three or more times a night. At both ages, those in the autism and disability groups are more likely than the controls to transition quickly from whimpering to intense crying.