Dr Mariam Haider and Dr Tanya Soomro talk about some important signs and symptoms of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).
The purpose of this section is to help you understand how children below the age of 5 years develop.Every age has certain “milestones” that the child should complete to consider that the development is happening at a natural rate. Please note that every child develops differently and unless there are stark delays in the development, do not be alarmed. However, if you have a concern you should voice it immediately. It is important to remember that not all concerns will result in your child being diagnosed with a developmental disorder, nevertheless being proactive is always better.
Developmental Milestones
Each child is different. Every child develops differently, especially during the first five years of their life. However, there are some key milestones all children developing in the usual manner are expected to reach by certain ages. The following is a list of milestones that your child should be reaching according to their age group.
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0-6 Months
- Repeats the same sounds
- Smiles when spoken to
- Recognises familiar objects and people
- Smiles at the sound of your voice
- Turns head toward sounds
-
7-12 Months
- Understands and responds to own name
- Enjoys face-to-face play
- Can find partially hidden objects
- Babbles using long and short groups of sounds
- Explores with hands and mouth
- Struggles for out of reach objects
- Uses voice to express joy and displeasure
- Babbles chains of sounds
-
13-18 Months
- Combines gestures and voice
- Points to recognised objects
- Imitates gestures
- Expressive vocabulary 3 to 20 or more words
- Follows simple commands
- Uses echolalia and jargon (slang language used by a child)
-
19-24 Months
- Uses words more frequently than jargon
- Expressive vocabulary 50 to 100 or more words
- Receptive vocabulary 300 or more words
- Answers 'what's that’ questions
- Accurately names a few familiar objects
- Sits down on his/her own
- Enjoys play activities
-
2-3 Years
- Speech is above 50% intelligible
- Understands people talking
- Verbalizes toilet needs
- Requests items by name
- Identifies several body parts
- Receptive vocabulary 500 to 900 or more words
- Expressive vocabulary 50 to 250 or more words
- Uses words that are general in context
- Enjoys listening to short stories, songs and rhymes
- Begins developing rhythm
- Scribbles
- Has good balance
- Undresses self
-
3-4 Years
- Understands object functions
- Understands differences in meaning asks and answers simple questions (what, why, where, when)
- Uses language to express emotion
- Receptive vocabulary 1200 to 2000 or more words
- Expressive vocabulary 800 to 1500 or more words
- Increases speech rate
- Speech is 80% intelligible (understandable)
- Engages in long conversations
- Runs and plays active games
-
4-5 Years
- Uses grammatically correct sentences
- Asks for word definitions
- Speech is usually intelligible to strangers
- Receptive vocabulary above 2800 words
- Continues understanding of spatial concepts
- Pays attention to stories and answers simple questions about it
- Uses toilet independently
- Has a good grip
If you think that your child is falling behind these milestones, then there is a chance that your child has some developmental delay. However, it is still very early to detect autism or any other disorder, especially without proper medical support. Parents must look for signs of autism in children that are behind on these developmental milestones.
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