Signs of autism in children from 6 months old

Right from the first year of life, children with autism have had other signs of normal infant brain reactions, the scientists said.

Experts including Dr. Kristelle Hudry from Latrobe University in Melbourne conducted a study on 104 infants aged 6-10 months and retested three years later. They found that babies with autism have an unusual pattern of brain activity in response and eye contact with others.

These findings help predict the risk of future autism in 6-month-old babies.

Autism is a disease that affects about 1% of the world population. Children with autism have slow intellectual development, are unable to communicate effectively and are difficult to integrate with society. Therefore, doctors always want to find a way to diagnose this condition as soon as possible so that it can intervene to help autistic children develop coping skills.

Often the signs of autism do not appear before the first 2 years of life and therefore, before, diagnosis is only made for children 2 years of age and older.

The team used a passive sensor placed on the scalp, helping to record the reactions in these babies' brains after someone was staring at them and suddenly turned away.

The results showed that, in the later group of babies developing normally, there is a clear difference in brain activity at two times when the person looks at them and when he or she turns away. In contrast, for babies who later have autism, this difference is much less.

Experts say this is a step forward in the early diagnosis of autism. However, they must continue to conduct further research to be able to assess with certainty.