There is a list of habits and skills that need to be formed at a certain age . Their absence may indicate the presence of autism or some other developmental disorder , such as deafness or speech and language development. In order to suspect a violation , it is enough to pay attention to the following list:

  1. The child does not react or reacts very weakly to his name. Name reaction : after 10-12 months the child does not react or reacts very weakly to his name , ie he does not turn his head when called, or he turns it only once when called repeatedly. In this situation, of course, it is necessary to check hearing and diagnose the presence of any developmental disorders, including autism.
  2. Reaction to a speech addressed to him : after 12-13 months the child hears all other sounds well, but pays almost no attention to these situations when they talk to him, tell him something, explain or show him.
  3. Smile : Children with ASD smile often or little, or do not smile at all in response , as if they do not notice when someone smiles at them.
  4. Gestures : Usually at the age of 11-13 months, children should have at least one gesture. In principle, this is a pointing gesture, but there may be others (for example, "give"). In a normal situation, the child calmly and actively uses this gesture and quickly learns from others: for example, "bye-bye", "yes", " feed me " or "open", "help" and so on. If we see that no gestures are formed, this should be considered a reason for diagnosing RAS .
  5. Delay in speech development : if you see that the child does not chatter at 12 months , does not try to repeat , and at 14-16 months does not use a single word , this is an occasion to consult a specialist. If we see that the child's speech develops, but not usually (for example, he repeats many words , letters, interesting names for him, but does not use speech to talk to other people, can not ask for something, difficult to answer questions ), this should tell you about a problematic situation.

If you notice that the child used to be able to do something in the field of social interaction and communication (for example, responded well to addresses, used pointing gestures or words, interacted a lot), and then stopped doing it - this is cause for concern and is by no means normal. For such a condition, of course, there can be many different reasons , it can be not only autism , but also the loss of any communication skills at any age is a problem that needs to be addressed.

At what age can a diagnosis of RAS be made?

Usually the first symptoms of RAS are noticeable at the age of 11-13 months. This is the reduced reaction of the name , of the address, the inability to use gestures or words or the peculiar use of words. As a rule, this diagnosis can be made confidently enough in 15-17 months.

What methods and approaches in treatment are most effective?

The conversation about how to help a child with autism and his family should start with a very important statement: currently there are no drugs to treat RAS , no pills to help people talk , no drugs to treat speech disorders , as there are no drugs to help learn a new language .

Usually the first symptoms of RAS are noticeable at the age of 11-13 months.

All situations with developmental disabilities, as well as RAS , are overcome, first of all, through special training and correction procedures . Within the approach of applied behavioral analysis , there are techniques that are really effective in suppressing the symptoms associated with autism , in increasing the ability to socially interact and communicate, in eliminating problematic behavior . Applied behavior analysis is a way to study a person's behavior, study the factors that affect him, and as a result - change in behavior at the expense of changing these factors. There are laws of behavior , they are very simple (for example, we do what gives us pleasure) and with the help of knowledge of these laws we can make sure that everyone, including people with ASD , does what is necessary for us. , important things for us (for example, to start expressing himself through gestures ) and makes it so that it brings him pleasure, joy and is actively encouraged. Full-fledged comprehensive training programs are developed from such teaching methods, and such programs should be applicable to almost every child with ASD . The aim of this program is to develop habits for social interaction and communication.

The second important aspect is related to the creation of a full- fledged benevolent environment, taking into account the difficulties with his perception . The more people around this child know what autism is , the more they will understand and realize how a person with autism sees the world , what difficulties it can have and the more they take this into account in their reactions and organization of the learning environment. this child will be easier and better. These two factors - the organization of training and the right environment for development - are the main approaches in the treatment of people with ASD.