Author: Hunter Grillo

Is Your Child on the Spectrum? Recognizing 10 Early Symptoms and Signs of Autism

December 3, 2021

If you notice that your child is experiencing delays or is behaving differently from kids, as a parent you may be thinking to yourself, does my child have autism? It can be so hard to know what is “normal” and what could indicate an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Luckily, there are symptoms and signs of autism that parents should look out for. With enough awareness, parents can help their autistic children receive early intervention treatment. These early warning signs include sensory issues, repetitive movements, delayed communication skills, difficulties making eye contact or maintaining conversations with others, and social isolation. If you recognize any of these signs in your child and would like to learn more information about what therapies and assessments we offer for autism, please contact Side by Side Therapy to set up a no-charge consultation today.

When Do the First Signs of Autism Appear?

Signs of autism become noticeable around 18 months of age. Typically, parents begin to notice if their child starts missing speech milestones or if they’re not picking up on social cues as well as their peers or siblings. Children as early as 6 months can start to show symptoms of autism. Let’s talk about 10 early signs of autism to look out for:

1. Avoids Eye Contact

Avoiding eye contact is very common in autism. If you notice your baby is not making eye contact by 6 months of age, this may be a sign of autism. Avoiding eye contact gets carried into adulthood sometimes, so you may notice autistic people of all ages engage in this behaviour. The reason for not making eye contact is different for each person. Understanding social cues from a person’s eyes can be challenging for an autistic person. This can be overwhelming and make them feel uncomfortable. Sometimes they have a hard time focusing on making eye contact and listening to what someone is saying to them at the same time. Therefore, even if they are not making eye contact with you when you are speaking to them, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they are not listening to you.

2. Lacks Response to Other’s Voices

If you notice your child doesn’t respond to or look at someone when they’re being spoken to, this may be a sign of autism. Many parents assume this behaviour is associated with their child having hearing issues. Over time, it becomes clearer that the child can hear fine and instead their behavior has more to do with being withdrawn. When you’re trying to talk to an autistic child, they probably don’t seem engaged in the conversation and won’t respond in a timely manner. For example, your child doesn’t respond to their name when it’s being called. Autistic people are also more sensitive to sounds and have a hard time filtering out these noises. This means that they may be distracted by the sounds around them and are struggling to pay attention to the person talking to them.

3. Hand Flapping

One of the many signs of autism is stimming. Stimming is when a person repeats the same action over and over again. An example of this is hand flapping. Autistic children do this as a form of stimming, which is calming for them. Sometimes, autistic children also flap their hands when they get very excited or feel other strong emotions, like stress. It is common for some children to flap their hands, but make sure to pay attention to how long they’re doing this. If the child stops hand flapping around the age of 3, there’s no reason to worry. With children that hand flap all the time, take note that this may be an indicator of autism.

4. Frequently Walking on Tip Toes

Another type of stimming is frequently walking on tip toes. Instead of walking on their entire foot, they prefer to walk on their tippy toes and if you notice your child is doing this all the time, it may be a sign of autism. There are a few reasons why an autistic child prefers to walk on the tips of their toes. If the child has sensory issues, they may feel uncomfortable putting all their weight on the surface of the floor Although this behavior is often harmless, it can still put the child at risk of injury because they could lose their balance and fall. Both Occupational Therapists and Physical Therapists are qualified to develop strategies to help reduce toe walking.

5. Trouble Controlling Emotions

If you’re a parent and have been out in public with your child, there have probably been incidents where your child gets fussy or throws a tantrum. For an autistic person, these tantrum behaviors can be more intense and last for long periods of time. Usually, the fussiness isn’t a result of not getting access to a toy or treat, rather it can be happening because of the bright and loud conditions of the public space, which can lead to them experiencing a sensory overload. A typical tantrum lasts only a few minutes, while a sensory tantrum can last hours.

6. Aggressive Behaviour

Aggressive behavior is another indicator of autism. Autistic children can be more aggressive than others and sometimes there’s no clear reason as to why they behave like this. If the autistic child is used to getting a strong response from others when they’re aggressive, sometimes it increases the chances of them acting this way again. Another example is if the child has previously been able to receive access to something they want, such as a toy, by acting aggressive towards others. If the child realizes that they can get what they want through aggression, they will most likely continue to behave this way. Therefore, it’s important that interventions, like Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), targets aggressive behaviour as early as possible, to prevent injury to themselves and others.

7. Rigid Play

You may notice that your child plays a little differently than their peers. Perhaps, they’re a little rigid in their play routines. This means that they prefer to play with their toys in a certain way and may repeat the same play actions over and over again. For example, you may notice your child lines up all their toys in a row, or repeatedly spins them. Most likely, they will play with the same toys all the time and rarely switch them up. When autistic children play with their preferred toys, most of the time they are playing by themselves, almost as if they are in their own little world.

8. Issues with Food and Textures

Problems with food, textures or clothes is also common for autistic people. Being a picky eater is something an autistic child may experience due to their sensory related issues. These sensory issues relate to the taste, smell, texture, and look of the food item. Certain textures of food, like pudding, may not be appetizing for them. They may even be particular about their foods not touching each other. Remember that these sensory issues are different in every autistic child. If your child doesn’t like the food, it can be very challenging for a parent to get the child to eat it. Being sensitive to textures is not always related to food though.

Clothes can also be an issue for autistic kids. Sometimes they don’t like the feeling of the material rubbing against their skin. Clothing tags can also be irritating. To avoid these sensory issues, parents can try different clothing materials. For example, switching to seamless materials for socks and underwear. Tagless shirts are a great idea as well however, if you can’t find any you can always flip the shirt inside out.

9. Delayed Speech

Lack of speech and communication are big signs of autism. It is not uncommon for autistic children to miss speech milestones. Autistic children sometimes develop speech later than their peers. By the age of 3, if your child has not started speaking yet, start paying attention to potential speech delays for them. If the child is older than 3 years of age and still has limited speech, we recommend reaching out to your doctor or a Speech-Language Pathologist to help.

10. Repeating Words and Phrases

Another common sign of autism in speech, is when the child repeats words and phrases over and over again. This is called echolalia, meaning the echoing of words. This sometimes happens because it’s a form of stimming and helps them feel calm. In addition, it is a way to communicate if they are learning to speak. Both ABA therapy and Speech-Language Pathology help with improving an autistic child’s communication skills.

How Do I Know if My Child has Autism?

In conclusion, there are many early symptoms and signs of autism for parents to recognize. Although we only touched on a few indicators of autism, we hope this helps parents have a better understanding of what to pay attention to if you think your child has autism. The sooner these signs of autism are recognized, the better. With intervention, autistic children can learn skills to develop independence and self-care. Parents should consult their pediatrician for more information on diagnosis and treatment options if they recognize these early signs of autism in their child. If you would like to learn more about ABA therapy, Speech Therapy, and Occupational Therapy, please contact Side by Side Therapy to set up a no-charge consultation.

The Importance of Finding the Best Therapy For Autism-Is it ABA Therapy, Speech Therapy, a Combination, or Another Therapy All Together?

November 17, 2021

The goal of autism therapy is to help the child develop academic skills, communication and social skills, increase independence, and learn daily living skills. There are many different interventions that have been developed to aid in this process. Choosing an evidence-based treatment is important. This means that it is based on the best available scientific evidence and clinical expertise. There are several types of evidence-based therapies used to treat Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Occupational Therapy (OT), ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis), Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) and Physical Therapy (PT). This is a guide for helping you find the best therapy for autism. Learn more about what ABA, OT, SLP, and PT have to offer!

What is Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)?

ABA Therapy is the science of learning and motivation and is one of the most effective therapies for autism. It helps us understand how behavior works and how it is affected by the environment. The goal is to increase desired behaviors and to decrease interfering behaviors.

ABA focuses on enhancing a variety of skills, including language, social skills, attention and learner readiness skills. There are lots of strategies we use in ABA, such as positive reinforcement (offering rewards) to increase desired behavior. For example, a child gets a star for doing a good job of following the rules at school. And when they get enough stars, they earn a prize, like ice cream with their friends.

A Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) is a Masters or PhD level therapist. They are the clinical supervisors that assess and coordinate the autistic child’s treatment plan. Their role is to make decisions to assist the rest of the child’s therapy team. Depending on the size of your team and how many hours of therapy the child requires, a supervising therapist assists the clinical supervisor on assessing the child’s progress. In addition, an instructor therapist works with the autistic child and collects data for the team to review.

How Much ABA Therapy Does My Child Need?

How many hours of therapy an autistic child receives depends on their skill level and areas of need. The BCBA considers the parents goals along with the child’s assessment results to figure out how many hours of therapy they need. If they decide your child needs more of a Focused ABA approach, then the therapy ranges from 5-15 hours a week. Focused ABA is when children are taught one or two areas of skill development. On the other hand, if the child needs to focus on a variety of skills, they might suggest a comprehensive ABA approach, which is over 20 hours of therapy a week. Comprehensive ABA focuses on both skill development and behavior reduction.

There are many strategies and techniques used to address most areas of need in ABA, such as behavior, communication, social skills, motor skills, and many more. Behavior analysts know that sometimes other specialists, like speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists, need to be added to the team to improve a specific area of need. Let’s talk about the other therapies an autistic child can benefit from!

What is Speech-Language Pathology (SLP)?

Communication is challenging for autistic children. They may find its difficult to socialize with others, to pick up on social cues, and to vocalize their needs. Aside from ABA, Speech-Language Pathology (SLP ) helps reduce communication issues. Speech therapy helps your child improve their language and speech skills. A speech language pathologist is qualified to provide effective speech therapy. An autistic child sometimes struggles with speaking, language, and fluency. Luckily, speech therapy helps with this and teaches them to express themselves better through verbal and non-verbal language. They first conduct an assessment to identify the best treatment method. Next, they create a treatment plan that addresses the child’s individualized needs.

Speech therapists address 5 main areas:

Receptive language
Expressive language
Speech (articulation),
Pragmatics (social skills)
Feeding and swallowing

Along with language issues, autistic children may not be able to articulate their speech well. For example, struggling to pronounce sounds like “ch” or “th”. Not to worry, a speech therapist helps with the pronunciation of sounds and words too.

If your child needs help improving their language and speech, we recommend looking into speech therapy. It is an important tool for autistic children to improve their communication skills. Children can use these skills throughout their lives to make friends and develop relationships with family members.

What is Occupational Therapy (OT)?

In our every day lives, we are expected to take care of ourselves. Starting with self care, we brush our teeth, shower, get dressed, and cook ourselves yummy meals. We go to work and school. We also enjoy leisure activities, such as gardening and biking. For an autistic person, these every day routines can be challenging. Occupational therapy for autism can help make these every day routines a little easier. It teaches people skills that improve their leisure, productive, and self-care skills. Occupational therapists have advanced degrees and receive a lot of training in the field. By using a variety of techniques, they work towards regaining and maintaining an autistic persons independence.

Child exercising during Occupational Therapy for Autism

How Can OT Help with Autism?

An occupational therapist works with your child on improving many different skills, such as:

Printing and handwriting
Fine and gross motor skills (e.g. grasping objects)
Improving sleep and sleep hygiene
Leisure activities (e.g. gardening)
Improving self-care (e.g. teeth brushing)
Increasing attention and focus
Feeding skills
Improving self-regulation skills

For early learners, an OT focuses on sensory integration and sensorimotor issues. This means, they are improving how a person processes and reacts to information coming from their senses. Learning a new skill requires the OT to break it down into small steps. For example, if an autistic child is struggling to learn how to write, an OT breaks that skill down by first teaching the child fine motor skills that can improve their hand strength. This small goal leads to acquiring other skills, such as being able to pick up a pencil and write.

An OT also provides prescriptions of assistive technology and recommends equipment that helps the child. For example, if the child is at risk of falling out of their bed or falling down the stairs, an OT might recommend grab railings to prevent injury.

Occupational therapists for autistic children can be a great help to teachers and parents working with this population. They are knowledgeable about the spectrum of conditions that affects these children. We recommend to start occupational therapy in important early childhood years because it helps children develop more functional skills that they will need later on in life.

What is Physical Therapy (PT)?

Physical Therapy (PT) for autism is similar to OT because they both work towards teaching people skills to help them with their everyday routines. An Occupational Therapist focuses on improving fine motor skills, such as writing, using utensils, grasping objects, and getting dressed. On the other hand, a Physical Therapist focuses on improving gross motor skills for larger muscle movements, such as walking or even learning to ride a bike. They also help with pain management and strength training. For autistic children, a physical therapist assesses their:

Postural strength
Body and safety Awareness
Mobility (e.g. walking and running)
Coordination and balance
Play skills (e.g. bouncing a ball)

Once the assessment is complete, the physical therapist develops goals to work on with the child. Remember that each child has different needs and therefore, there is not only a single physical therapy treatment to use. The physical therapist personalizes the program to the children’s needs. To sum up, we believe that physical therapy is another great treatment that enhances an autistic child’s quality of life.

Choosing the Right Therapy

In conclusion, there are many methods that can be used to help autistic children. There is no one way to treat autism and it is important to find the right treatment for each child with different needs. If you or someone you know has a child with autism, speak with your doctor to determine what type of treatment will work best for them.

At Side by Side Therapy, we offer interdisciplinary services. This means that your child has the opportunity to not only access ABA therapy but also Occupational Therapy and Speech therapy with us. An OT, BCBA, and/or SLP work together to create a therapy plan that works for your child’s individualized needs. If you would like to learn more about the different types of therapy treatments we offer, please contact Side by Side Therapy to set up a no-charge consultation today.