ASD has a tendency to run in families, but the inheritance pattern is usually unknown People with gene changes associated with ASD generally inherit an increased risk of developing the condition, rather than the condition itself

More than half of school-aged kids were age 5 or older when they were first diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, the study showed Less than 20% were diagnosed by age 2

Researchers have assumed that mothers are more likely to pass on autism-promoting gene variants That’s because the rate of autism in women is much lower than that in men, and it is thought that women can carry the same genetic risk factors without having any signs of autism

A diagnosis of autism can typically be made by age 2 The average age at diagnosis in the United States is more than 4 years old

There is no cure for autism, but early intervention using skills-training and behavior modification can yield excellent results This type of educational and behavioral treatment tackles autism symptoms — impaired social interaction, communication problems, and repetitive behaviors

Screen Time for Babies Linked to Higher Risk of Autism-Like Symptoms Later in Childhood Sitting a baby in front of a tablet or television, as well as less parent-child play time, are associated with developing greater autism spectrum disorder (ASD)-like symptoms later in childhood

Yes, watching TV is better than starving, but it’s worse than not watching TV Good evidence suggests that screen viewing before age 18 months has lasting negative effects on children’s language development, reading skills, and short term memory It also contributes to problems with sleep and attention

Nonverbal communication have trouble reading nonverbal cues, like body language or tone of voice, to guess how someone else is feeling – for example, they might not understand when adults are angry based on their tone of voice, or they might not be able to tell when someone is teasing them or using sarcasm

Hyperlexia II is when children on the autistic spectrum are hyperlexic They are obsessed with letters and numbers, arranging them endlessly, taking magnetic tablets to bed instead of other toys or stuffed animals

Age five is a key year for supporting your child’s reading skills At this age, kids begin to identify letters, match letters to sounds and recognize the beginning and ending sounds of words They’ll start to have a basic grasp on the idea that words in a book are read left-to-right and top-to-bottom

Hyperlexia is when a child can read at levels far beyond those expected for their age “Hyper” means better than, while “lexia” means reading or language A child with hyperlexia might figure out how to decode or sound out words very quickly, but not understand or comprehend most of what they’re reading

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and dyslexia are both neurodevelopmental disorders with high prevalence in children Both disorders have strong genetic basis, and share similar social communication deficits co-occurring with impairments of reading or language

Literacy doesn’t start only when your child starts school From birth, babies and children are gathering skills they’ll use in reading The years between ages 3 andical to reading growth, and some 5-year-olds are already in kindergarten

‘Reeling people in’ Chris has Williams Syndrome (WS), a rare genetic disorder affecting around one in people in Britain It has often been dubbed the ‘opposite of autism’ People with WS are empathetic, social, friendly and endearing but they tend to have a low IQ, making tasks such as counting money difficult

Childhood disintegrative disorder This was the rarest and most severe part of the spectrum It described children who develop normally and then quickly lose many social, language, and mental skills, usually between ages 2 and 4 Often, these children also developed a seizure disorder

Autism is diagnosed by looking for social delays, along with communication differences and behavioral markers SOCIAL CHALLENGES: Children with autism lag their peers in social skills Social and behavioral signs could appear as early as six months old