Experts offer tips on what to look for
By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
Autism expert, physician Stephen Shore, once said, “When you meet one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.”
The oft-quoted comment underscores the uniqueness of any person, including those with autism. While every person is an individual, parents should be aware of traits that could indicate that their children could be on the autism spectrum.
• “The autism diagnosis age and early signs vary widely. Some infants show hints in their first few months. Others’ behaviors are more obvious at age 2 or 3. Not all children show all the signs; some with autism show a few. That’s why a professional evaluation is recommended.
• “What can show a child is at risk is if the child exhibits shows loss of previous acquired speech, loss of babbling, persistent preference for solitude, avoidance of eye contact, lack of understanding of others’ feelings, repetition of words, resistance to minor changes, narrow range of interests, repetitive behavior like rocking, flapping or spinning, unusual or intense reaction touch, sounds, texture, taste, lights and or colors.
• Not all children with these have autism, not all children with ASD have these.
• “Before preschool, as early as 2 or 3 years, a young child’s brain is still forming and is more malleable. Because of this plasticity, the treatment is more effective and skills gained are more automatic.”
— Physician Michelle Hartley-McAndrew, an autism spectrum disorder specialist with UBMD Pediatrics and clinical associate professor of Pediatrics at Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo and medical director of the Children’s Guild Foundation Autism Spectrum Disorder Center at Oishei Children’s Outpatient Center.
• “At an early age, it’s hard because typical toddler behavior can look like it’s behavior on the spectrum.
• “If they’re far behind on words, that can be a sign.
• “Some will avoid eye contact and socializing.
• “Some line things up over and over to the exclusion of playing in other ways.
• “My son at 2 stopped eating everything he had liked.
• “There are so many variations. As a parent, go with your gut if things don’t seem right. Early intervention is key when you have an early diagnosis. Getting the therapies in early is the best thing anyone can do.
Sometimes parents have an idea or the school will say they might be on the spectrum. Sadly, some parents say, ‘I don’t want my child to have a label,’ but without those therapies, you do that child an extreme disservice. None of us want our child to have an illness or disability but when there is a problem, you have to do the best you can to help them. That’s early intervention.”
— Debbie Cordone, founder and president of Fantastic Friends of WNY, Cheektowaga.
• “For some of the early signs/symptoms, parents notice differences as early as 18 months to 2 years.
• “Some of the core features we see are impairment in social communication, language impairment, impairment in cognition skills and emotional-behavioral challenges. We see differences in sensory and feeding challenges.
• “We look at things like joint attention. When you are sharing the focus of two or more people on the same object, like a favorite toy. If you want the baby to engage with a toy and they’re not paying attention.
• “There’s no interest in interacting with others. It’s not unusual that at some point kids have to have mom and dad do everything. But there should be some acknowledgement of others, even if they’re afraid of people outside their family.
• “They don’t understand if others are happy or sad.
• “If you don’t see a word by 12 months, that’s a red flag.
• “Also, get a hearing evaluation. Typically, a first word is a person in the child’s environment or a favorite toy. If a child does approximation for words, I’d think to get a speech language evaluation.
• “Play issues include interacting with age-appropriate toys in a typical fashion or functional way. If they’re taking blocks and throwing them, that’s not a functional use, or if they’re mouthing items more than anything or trying to ingest them.
• “If they’re doing repetitive motions, like spinning the truck’s wheels instead of rolling the truck, that can be a sign. They may have a favorite truck they take everywhere, but they’re using it on the floor, not fixating on the wheel and anything else that spins. When a child is sensory stimming on an item, the attention is very fixated. A wheel just keeps spinning. They could do it for hours. It obsessively catches their interest.
• “Things are less obvious like modulating the volumes. They might talk very low or soft. Some kids almost have robotic sounding speech. They have trouble understanding nuances like sarcasm. Kids on the spectrum are very literal speakers.
• “When transitioning to table foods, they may be very restricted in foods they’re willing to eat, like they will not eat crunchy foods or like only bland or spicy foods. Some will eat nothing but chicken nuggets. Check with your pediatrician to rule out anything medical. Some kids have eating issues and difficulty with chewing and swallowing. Others just don’t like the texture although they can manage it.
• “A child on the spectrum will not exhibit every item on the list. That’s why you should follow up if you’re concerned. Early intervention for kids age 0 to 3 is so critical. The sooner you can intervene, the better the long-term outcome. Any parent who wants an early intervention evaluation should check with their county health department.”
— Tracy A. Panzarella, licensed speech-language pathologist, director of Clinical Services, Autism Services, Inc., Amherst.