Most autistic children reach some of their developmental milestones on time or early—sometimes extraordinarily so—but reach others late, very late, or not at all. Many also end up losing ground over time.
Some autism genes may contribute to growth problems. For instance, people with a mutation in CHD8 or PTEN have enlarged heads, or macrocephaly.
Children with autism usually experience developmental delays in one or more areas, but not every child who experiences a delay in their development has autism. When autism or other developmental disorders are diagnosed at a young age, early intervention can greatly improve your child's development.
Delays meeting certain milestones can also be a sign of autism: 9 months of age: not responding to their name. 9 months of age: not showing facial expressions associated with basic emotions like happy, sad, angry or surprised. 12 months of age: not engaging in simple interactive games like pat-a-cake.
In general, children with ASD develop more slowly than others their age, and sometimes, do not learn common skills in the same way or order. Since autism can have an effect on mental and physical development, it can then cause wider repercussions on a child's learning both at school and home.
School start: Autistic children may benefit from extra support at age 6, when trait improvements often stall out. Autism trait severity decreases from age 3 to 6 in most autistic children, but that progress then stalls for nearly three-quarters of them, according to a new long-term study.
Some children show ASD symptoms within the first 12 months of life. In others, symptoms may not show up until 24 months of age or later. Some children with ASD gain new skills and meet developmental milestones until around 18 to 24 months of age, and then they stop gaining new skills or lose the skills they once had.
Currently, it's a postcode lottery and delays have been made worse by the pandemic with the amount of people waiting for an autism assessment growing by 169% from the pre-pandemic level (Feb 2020) of 52,000.
There are other brain disorders that mimic autism symptoms, like ADHD and anxiety disorders, including selective mutism. Autism can be misdiagnosed as another disorder with some shared symptoms.
To put it simply, a developmental delay is when your child does not reach their developmental milestones at the expected times, whilst Autism refers to a group of complex neurodevelopmental disorders, present from early childhood which is characterised by the difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with ...
A child with ASD can be challenging—they may be restless; have trouble sleeping, eating or speaking; experience seizures; or have meltdowns born of frustration or overstimulation. Expectations for a “normal” life may need to be adjusted.
There is some evidence that suggests that children with autism may start puberty earlier than their neurotypical peers. A 2018 study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders found that boys with autism started puberty an average of 7.5 months earlier than boys without autism.
For parents of such children, communication is a problem that compounds the stress & anxiety of parents. Parents face the challenge that their child is unable to communicate their needs and wants. With children at times unaware of nonverbal communication and cues, the challenges of parenting get compounded.
People who carry certain mutations in gene CHD8, a gene strongly linked to autism, tend to be taller and have larger heads than the average person. They also tend to have intellectual disability, according to a study conducted by geneticists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.
Girls with autism tend to have smaller heads and bodies than their typically developing peers, whereas boys with the disorder tend to have average-sized heads and slightly larger bodies, report two studies published in July.
However, the fitness tests showed that aerobic fitness, flexibility and body mass index of children with autism spectrum disorders was similar to the children without autism. The strength test was the only one that children with autism spectrum disorders did not perform as well in, the study said.
Although the exact cause of autism is still unknown, there is evidence to suggest that genetics play a significant role. Since autism is less prevalent in females, autism was always thought to be passed down from the mother. However, research suggests that autism genes are usually inherited from the father.
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.
Asperger's syndrome.
This is on the milder end of the autism spectrum. A person with Asperger's may be very intelligent and able to handle their daily life. They may be really focused on topics that interest them and discuss them nonstop. But they have a much harder time socially.
Genetics. Several different genes appear to be involved in autism spectrum disorder. For some children, autism spectrum disorder can be associated with a genetic disorder, such as Rett syndrome or fragile X syndrome. For other children, genetic changes (mutations) may increase the risk of autism spectrum disorder.
The study brings hope to those parents who worry that children who are not talking by age 4 or 5 are unlikely to develop speech at all. Some children with ASD develop meaningful language after age 5. "There is a burst of kids in the 6- to 7- age range who do get language," Dr. Wodka said.
Long-term research that involved following a group of individuals with autism for two decades indicates that the average life expectancy for some autistic people is about 39 years. Furthermore, this population generally succumbed to health complications about 20 years earlier than individuals who do not have autism.
The extreme male brain theory posits that it is an overdevelopment in the male traits of cognition that causes ASD patients to over-systematize, leading to a breakdown of verbal and social capacities. Some studies have found correlations between fetal testosterone levels and ASD.