AUTISM

Autism typically appears during the first three years of life. Some children show signs from birth. Others seem to develop normally at first, only to slip suddenly into symptoms when they are 18 to 36 months old. Autism is four times more common in boys than in girls. It knows no racial, ethnic or social boundaries. Family income, lifestyle or educational levels do not affect a child's chance of having autism.

Some of the different types of autism include:

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Autistic disorder. It refers to problems with social interactions, communication and imaginative play in children younger than 3 years.
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Asperger's syndrome. These children don't have a problem with language—in fact, they tend to score in the average or above-average range on intelligence tests. But they have the same social problems and limited scope of interests as children with autistic disorder.
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Pervasive developmental disorder or PDD—also known as atypical autism. This is a kind of catchall category for children who have some autistic problems but who don't fit into other categories.
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Rett's disorder. Known to occur only in girls, Rett's children begin to develop normally. Then they begin to lose their communication and social skills. Beginning at the age of 1 to 4 years, repetitive hand movements replace purposeful use of the hands.
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Childhood disintegrative disorder. These children develop normally for at least two years, and then lose some or most of their communication and social skills.

SPOTTING DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS

Every child should do certain tasks by a certain age.

* Gross motor skills, such as crawling and walking
* Fine motor skills, such as stacking blocks or coloring
* Language skills, including speech and comprehension
* Thinking skills
* Social interaction


Childhood Milestones
2 Months....... Smiles at the sound of your voice
3 Months ...... Raises head and chest when lying on stomach, grasps objects,smiles at people

4 Months...... Babbles, laughs, and tries to imitate sounds
6 Months...... Rolls from back to stomach and stomach to back,moves objects from hand to hand
7 Months...... Responds to own name,finds partially hidden objects
9 Months...... Sits without support,crawls
12 Months .... Walks with or without support,says at least one word, imitates people
18 Months .... Walks independently,drinks from a cup,says at least 15 words
2 Years ...... Runs,speaks in two-word sentences,follows simple instructions
begins make-believe play
3 Years ........Climbs, speaks in multiword sentences,sorts objects by shape and color
4 Years...... Gets along with people outside the family,draws circles and squares
Rides a tricycle
5 Years ...... Tells name and address,jumps, hops, and skips,gets dressed,counts 10 or more objects

Children who are premature may not have the same rate of muscle strength and development and that can cause a delay in motor skills.
Other causes of significant delays include genetic disorders such as Down syndrome and developmental disabilities such as cerebral palsy or mental retardation.

EARLY INTERVENTION METHODS

# Physical therapy for gross motor delays
# Occupational therapy for fine motor delays
# Hearing evaluation and speech therapy for language delays
# Special preschool programs

HELP YOUR BABY
Gross Motor Skills

* Place infants on their tummies while awake to develop neck and back muscles
* Create a safe home environment and put babies on the floor to explore
* Give older children time outside where they can run and jump

Fine Motor Skills

* Provide toys with different textures that encourage babies to explore with their fingers
* Provide age-appropriate puzzles, blocks, paper, and crayons
* Encourage older babies to feed themselves

Language Skills

* Play music for newborns to stimulate hearing
* Talk to your child
* Read to your child
* Name objects as you point to pictures in a book

Social Interaction

* Laugh,smile and play with your baby