Signs of Autism in Infants: Can Early Intervention Help?

Infants may show early signs of autism, although studies have found that Black children don't typically get a diagnosis until three years after a parent expresses concern. Now, a new study suggests that jumpstarting therapy might stave off that diagnosis altogether.

Researchers say their preemptive, parent-led intervention could have a significant impact on children's social development and longer-term disabilities.

"What we found is that the babies who received our therapy had reduced behaviors that we use to diagnose autism. And, in fact, the therapy was so effective in supporting their development, that the babies who had received the therapy were less likely to meet clinical criteria for autism," study author Andrew Whitehouse says. He's a professor of autism research at Telethon Kids Institute and the University of Western Australia.

Early Autism Intervention

Here are three early autism prevention activities you can try to reduce your child's risk of developing a clinical diagnosis.

1. Organized playdates

This is a great way to get your child to socialize with other kids early. Try hosting playdates with other kids around your child's age. Getting involved by organizing games and activities for the kids in a natural way will teach your child how to interact appropriately with others. Start with the following games: simple chase-and-tickle games, bubble-blowing, or sensory activities such as swinging, sliding, or wriggling through a tube. Once your child's abilities grow, you can advance to back-and-forth turn-taking, collaborative, or make-believe games.

2. Read books

Reading is a great activity to bond with your child. It can also enhance your child's social development. Several books teach social learning tips and activities.

Many therapies try to replace developmental differences with more "typical" behaviors. This new therapy instead works with each child's unique differences to create a social environment that would work for that child, according to the researchers.

Reading can provide parents with increased sensitivity to their child's unique communication.

3. Eye contact

Eye contact is something that children with autism often struggle with. To prevent this, try placing stickers of eyes on your forehead. This can train them to look in that direction and jumpstart them into getting comfortable with making eye contact.

Using this approach, "we've reduced the level of disability to the point that they don't

receive a diagnosis. What we can expect or hope is that these reductions in disability will translate to real-life, real-world, longer-term outcomes in terms of what they can achieve in their education, employment and everyday lives," Whitehouse shares.

However, this isn't in any way a cure for autism, nor is that an aim they believe in.

"The purpose of the therapy is to help the parents observe, reflect and change the way in which they interact with their child," Whitehouse says.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can include impairments in social interaction and communication and repetitive behaviors, according to the study. In the United States, about 1 in every 54 kids has autism, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Children are often born with small differences in the way they process the world, but those small differences can create larger disabilities later, Whitehouse explains.

"Parent-child interactions are in no way a cause of autism. Absolutely not," Whitehouse adds. "What we're saying is that parents are the most prominent and important people in their children's lives and they can play such a powerful role in helping support their development."

Researchers plan to follow these children up to age 6 or 7 to get greater confirmation of the findings, published Sept. 20 in JAMA Pediatrics.

The study is exciting for several reasons, Dr. Victoria Chen, a developmental-behavioral pediatrician at Cohen Children's Medical Center in New York says.

"It is impressive that this low-intensity intervention showed a decrease in the number of children with clinical diagnosis of ASD at age 3 years old in the intervention group versus the control group, though the impact on multiple developmental and parental outcomes were not as significant," Chen says. "It is also impressive that these differences in symptoms of ASD were sustained over the two-year study period."

Although parent-child interaction therapy isn't a total cure for autism, it has been used for many disorders such as ADHD and anxiety. It has been proven to be effective for parents in helping them find parenting techniques that work best for their child.