Autism in a child: what shows up first

Autism spectrum disorders are not about a "withdrawn character" and not about poor parenting. They are a feature of how the nervous system works, in which social interaction and communication come hard to the child, and behaviour becomes repetitive and rigidly tied to a familiar order. A spectrum is called a spectrum because there is more difference than similarity between two children with the same diagnosis.

Early signs: what parents notice

What disappears, or never appears, comes earlier than words — things that in typical development are there long before speech:

• the pointing gesture — the child does not point at what interests them and does not follow your pointing;
• shared attention — does not bring a toy to show you, does not glance back at you to check your reaction;
• response to their name — does not turn, although they react instantly to the rustle of a wrapper;
• gaze — looks past you or "through" you, eye contact is brief and accidental;
• play — not pretend play but play with details: lining things up, spinning wheels, switching lights on and off;
• repetitive movements — hand flapping, rocking, walking on tiptoe, especially when excited;
• sensitivity — intolerance of particular sounds, fabrics or food textures; or, conversely, striking indifference to pain;
• a rigid order — the route, the crockery, the sequence of actions; any change brings a violent reaction;
• regression — words were there and disappeared; this is a separate warning sign that calls for urgent attention.

What must be ruled out

Several conditions produce a similar picture, and they need to be sorted out before a program is drawn up:

• reduced hearing — an objective test, not a reaction to a clap;
• sensory alalia — the child does not understand speech, which is why they do not react to it;
• epileptiform activity — especially where speech has regressed; an EEG is needed, including during sleep;
• genetic syndromes — some of them present with autism spectrum features;
• the consequences of organic brain damage.

How we work in our centers

We do not "treat autism" and we do not promise to have the diagnosis removed. We work with specific deficits: perception of speech, attention, behaviour, sleep, readiness to learn. The program is assembled after an in-person consultation from the following approaches:

• High-Frequency Therapy — stimulation of the speech areas with voice signals through ordinary and bone conduction headphones. The task of the first stage is for speech to stop being background noise to the child.
• Visual Wave Therapy — work through the visual channel based on EEG data, restoring the alpha and beta rhythms. More often than not it is the first thing to change what troubles the family day to day: sleep, excitability, tolerance of change.
• Micropolarization — following an individual scheme drawn up for the child after the consultation.
• The vibrophone — an additional tactile channel for perceiving sound, for children who "do not hear" speech among other sounds.
• Oxygen therapy and speleotherapy — supporting procedures, especially for children with frequent respiratory infections and weakened immunity.

The high-frequency therapy program is written individually; the course is 25-35 hours, spread out in whatever rhythm suits the family. For children who find a new place and unfamiliar people hard to bear, the course can be run at home with a specialist's support.

What helps at home

• Predictability. The same daily order and warning about changes in advance remove half of the behavioural problems.
• Visual prompts. A picture schedule works where a spoken instruction does not get through.
• Short instructions. One action — one phrase. Without "now then, let's you and I".
• Respect sensory differences. Headphones in a noisy place, or refusing a particular fabric, is not a whim but a way of not becoming overloaded.
• Follow the child's interest. Any lasting interest — even in wheels and lifts — is a ready-made bridge to shared attention and first words.

Frequently asked questions

At what age can autism be noticed?

The signs are most often visible by 12-18 months, although the diagnosis is usually made later. What draws attention first is not words but eye contact, the pointing gesture and the wish to share pleasure: the child does not show you something interesting and does not check whether you are looking at it too.

My child does not respond to their name — is that autism?

Not necessarily. Children with reduced hearing and children with sensory alalia behave in exactly the same way. They can only be told apart by the whole picture and after a hearing test. That is precisely why we start with an assessment rather than a label.

Can autism be cured?

Autism is a feature of how the nervous system develops, and it cannot be "cured" like an infection. But a great deal can be helped: speech, understanding, behaviour, independence, the ability to learn. The difference between early help and no help is enormous and is still visible in adult life.

My child repeats phrases from cartoons but does not answer questions. What is that?

That is echolalia — repeating what was heard without relying on its meaning. It occurs both in spectrum disorders and in sensory alalia. Echolalia in itself is not a verdict: it is often the first building material for future speech, if it is worked with correctly.

What should be done first once the diagnosis has been said out loud?

Three things, in order: test hearing by an objective method, do an EEG, and find a specialist who will see the child in person and build a program. A diagnosis in a file does not describe a particular child — the program is built around what is actually impaired.

See also

• Early childhood autism: Kanner's and Asperger's syndromes
• Sensory alalia: why it is confused with autism
• ADHD: when attention difficulties come on their own
• Visual Wave Therapy: working through the EEG
• High-Frequency Therapy: how the course works

This material was prepared by the specialists of the Vlada Tarasenko Speech Restoration Centers. This material is for information only and does not replace an in-person consultation with a doctor or a speech pathologist. Only a doctor can make a diagnosis.