Early Signs of Autism

By dr. gromatzky

Article Sources

Article Sources

• 1. Martínez-Pedraza, Frances de L., and Alice S Carter. “Autism spectrum disorders in young children.” Child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of North America vol. 18,3 (2009): 645-63. doi:10.1016/j.chc.2009.02.002
• 2. Ozonoff, Sally et al. “The onset of autism: patterns of symptom emergence in the first years of life.” Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research vol. 1,6 (2008): 320-8. doi:10.1002/aur.53
• 3. Webb, Sara Jane, and Emily J H Jones. “Early Identification of Autism: Early Characteristics, Onset of Symptoms, and Diagnostic Stability.” Infants and young children vol. 22,2 (2009): 100-118. doi:10.1097/IYC.0b013e3181a02f7f

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8. Temperament and Affect

Temperament describes how a person tends to naturally behave. Some people have a quiet and shy temperament while others may tend to have a loud and boisterous temperament. A person’s affect slightly differs from temperament in that it describes how a person shows the emotions they are feeling.

Temperaments in infants showing early signs of Autism may manifest as extreme passiveness or extreme irritability but ‘temperament-related behavioral problems” are typically first observed in toddlers.³Webb, Sara Jane, and Emily J H Jones. “Early Identification of Autism: Early Characteristics, Onset of Symptoms, and Diagnostic Stability.” Infants and young children vol. 22,2 (2009): 100-118. doi:10.1097/IYC.0b013e3181a02f7f Children with Autism may also have a flat affect.¹Martínez-Pedraza, Frances de L., and Alice S Carter. “Autism spectrum disorders in young children.” Child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of North America vol. 18,3 (2009): 645-63. doi:10.1016/j.chc.2009.02.002 A flat affect describes a person who does not show signs of reaction or facial expressions to their emotions. For example, a person with a flat affect will have the same non-response to joy and sadness.