What is Autism? Autism refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by troubles of social interaction and communication skills, and they are restricted with repetitive behaviour. Parents of the child will usually notice signs when the child is around two to three years. This is a long-term condition, and it is caused by genetics and also due to environmental factors.
In Malaysia, there are around 47,000 children who are suffering from autism but failed to diagnose the condition because parents are not educated on autism. So, here are some of the warnings and signs you can look up to. The earlier you notice, the better so that you can help your little one diagnose autism.
Early signs of Autism
- Your child doesn’t make eye contact
- Your child doesn’t respond to you when you call his or her name
- Your child doesn’t play with people and doesn’t show any interest
- Your child doesn’t smile or have any signs of happy expressions
There are 3 types of autism:
1. Autistic disorder: it’s also known as the classic autism. People with this autistic disorder often have social and interactive challenges, and they may also have intellectual disabilities.
2. Asperger syndrome: people with this disorder usually have a very mild autistic disorder. They do not have language and intellectual skills barrier, but they may have social barriers.
3. Pervasive development disorder: also known as atypical autism. People with this disorder may only have slight social and communication challenges.
Children with autistic disorder also have difficulties recognising and controlling emotions. Babies who are diagnosed with this disorder identifies feelings as to what normal babies do, but as they grow, they are slower with emotional responses compared to normal growing children. As they grow to become teenagers and adults, people with ASD disorder are still not good at recognising expressions such as anger, fear, disgust and surprises too.
How to help your child with ASD to recognise facial expressions?
You can always start as soon as possible by encouraging them to learn about feelings and to improve the way they express things and listening abilities too.
Here are some ideas on how you can help them:
1. When reading a book to your child, point out emotions for them to recognise. For example, if the character is angry, you can point out and say “look, he looks grumpy and unhappy, he’s angry.”
2. Get your child’s attention. If you notice your child ignoring you, speak again. Make sure he or she responds to what you are saying. If your child is ignoring your eye contacts, make sure you get their eye contact before giving them what they want.
As they grow older, their symptoms will vary. There are many signs, and the most common ones are lack of interacting and social skills. Therefore, it is good to notice their symptoms as soon as possible so you can help your child throughout his or her life.
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