What are possible red flags for autism in children?

Ms. Li's son is 3 years old this year. He is white and fat. He is the baby of the family. He does not pester others or make trouble. He likes to play by himself and can play for a long time. The child likes to clap his hands and play. He likes to hug an inflatable dog when sleeping. He cries when he takes it away. He doesn’t play with children and doesn’t pay much attention to others. He doesn’t pay attention to anything he is told. Let’s call him deaf, even if he is listening in another room. Stop and watch TV when commercials or weather forecasts come on. There is also the fact that the child always talks less, does not imitate others' speech, and does not take the initiative to call relatives. Ms. Li had long thought that there was something wrong with her child and wanted to see the hospital. However, her grandparents thought that it was normal for children to speak slowly because it was normal for children to speak slowly. The teacher said that the child did not speak, did not listen to the teacher's instructions, and was not gregarious. Playing games with children and going to kindergarten was not appropriate, so the parents took their children to the hospital for treatment. After completing some examinations, they were diagnosed with autism.

The main obstacles of autistic children include the following aspects, which represent danger signs of the disease.

(1) Language disorder

Speech development disorder is very common and serious. Parents often seek medical treatment for children with language problems. Patients are silent or use less language, and tend to express their wishes and requirements with gestures or other forms. If they want to drink water, they will pull the adult to the kettle without pointing. The ability to use speech is very poor. He does not take the initiative to talk to others. He often talks to himself. He often uses pronouns or incorrectly uses pronouns such as "you", "I" and "he" in his speech, or uses stereotyped and repeated speech and imitated speech. , if you say "What is your name" he will say "What is your name". Disorders in speech pitch and rhythm manifest as self-stimulating use of speech, often screaming, humming, or uttering "words" that others cannot hear or understand, or talking to oneself, also known as "egocentric language." About 1/3 of autistic children used to be eloquent and expressive, but gradually lose this ability after the age of two, and even cannot speak at all. Even if they can speak, their speech expression lacks flexibility.

(2) Social communication disorder

"Loneliness" is the most common symptom of autism, which is characterized by "not being close to relatives and being indifferent to strangers". When you want to pick him up, you often don't stretch out your hands like normal children to show that you expect your loved ones to pick him up, and refuse to hug him closely. There is no obvious expression of attachment when the parents go out, and there is no expression of happiness when the parents come back. The expressions are similar to those of the parents when meeting strangers. Sometimes they call their names, but they often ignore them and show no response, which makes people suspicious. Does he or she have hearing problems? Most of the social communication barriers are not obvious until the age of two, and the degree of barriers in this area is reduced after the age of 5. In childhood, he lacks the tendency to actively interact with others. He is not interested in playing with children, or even actively avoids them. He is unwilling to establish personal friendships, prefers to act alone, does not understand other people's feelings, lacks sympathy, and lacks normal relationships with others. Emotional response. They cannot use expressions, movements, and postures to interact with others; they lack the imagination that normal children should have, and cannot use toys to "play house" or "build a house" like normal children. The lack of binocular gaze is considered to be a characteristic symptom of autism. The avoidance of other people's gaze can be shown in infancy, and the symptoms become more obvious by 12 to 30 months.

(3) Rigid and stereotyped behaviors and interests

There are obvious differences in the activities and interests of autism and ordinary children, which are manifested in limited, stereotyped and repetitive behaviors, interests and activity patterns. . They lack interest in toys, activities or games that ordinary children like, but often mechanically repeat certain fixed actions, such as playing with their hands obsessively, looking at their hands, or raising their hands to swing left and right, rotating, knocking on the table, slapping the wall, and Self-injurious behaviors such as head banging. Likes to play with toy car wheels (or bottle caps, spinning tops, cup lids) and often can't put them down. He watches the rotating objects for a long time and likes to lick or smell the objects first instead of playing with them.

On the contrary, they have a special interest in some things that are not usually toys, some almost to the level of obsession, such as they stereotypedly hold a piece of string, a plastic bag, a piece of soap or a plastic card and other items It never leaves my hand, and when I take it away, I cry and become inconsolable. They are not interested in children's favorite cartoons, but are particularly obsessed with advertisements or weather forecasts. Even if they are in another house, they will run over to watch them as soon as they hear the sound of advertisements or weather forecasts, and run away after watching them. Some people also have a strong desire to keep the environment unchanged. For example, they will feel extremely uneasy and irritable when items placed in fixed locations are changed.

(4) Intellectual Developmental Disabilities

Children with autism are often accompanied by varying degrees of mental retardation, and their poor social skills lead to significantly lagging behind in social adaptability. Some children are hyperactive and disobedient to instructions, and parents often take them to the doctor for suspected ADHD. 25% of children have normal intelligence, 25% have mild mental retardation, and 50% have moderate to severe mental retardation. However, individual children with mental retardation may have "island activities", that is, they show some special abilities in one aspect, such as numbers, numbers, etc. The ability to memorize routes, events, etc., or show extraordinary abilities in calculating dates, calculating numbers, etc., such as being able to recite a lot of poems or singing very well or calculating very quickly, thus appearing as an "idiot genius"

Phenomenon.

What causes children to suffer from autism? Kanner originally proposed that the cause of autism is due to parental emotional indifference. This theory has been overturned after extensive research. Researchers are working hard to find the pathophysiological basis of the disease. The cause of autism is currently unknown. Not clear. Therefore, there are currently no specific drugs for the treatment of this disease, and treatment mainly relies on early detection and early intervention. The family is the cradle of children's happiness, and children are the source of family happiness. So how do you find out that your child has abnormalities? Some children show symptoms of autism in their early infancy, while others develop autism symptoms after the age of two. There are many behavioral characteristics used to describe children with autism, but usually children with autism do not have all the typical traits. feature. Parents should be alert when they find that their children are growing and developing differently from other normal children of the same age. If a child has more than half of the following symptoms, you should consider that he may have autism: ① not getting along with other children; ② looking like a deaf person; ③ resisting learning; ④ not afraid of real danger; ⑤ resisting daily life changes; ⑥ Use gestures to express needs (holding the adult with your hands instead of pointing with your hands); ⑦ Laughing or giggling inappropriately; ⑧ Resisting close hugs; ⑨ Obvious hyperactivity; ⑩ Avoiding eye contact with others; Inappropriate contact with objects; Likes to rotate the body; Plays weird games for a long time; Indifferent to people, regardless of familiarity. Then you should go to a professional medical institution for examination as soon as possible so that you can intervene after the problem is discovered.