A wide and varied spectrum that may have some particular characteristics in the way of being, communicating, thinking and interacting of each person with this diagnosis. And that can also manifest a set of alterations that affect the neurological development of children in their first years of life.
ASD encompasses a group of disorders that include Asperger syndrome, classic autism, childhood disintegrative disorder, and nonspecific pervasive developmental disorder. Dr. Erik Dahlbeck, a specialist in child neurology at the Chair and Department of Pediatrics at the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the UNA, stated that the greatest difficulty of a child with ASD is communication and social relationships.
“Previously there were three aspects, today they are reduced to two. Before it was the language problem associated with a social disorder, and certain interests restricted to repetitive behaviors. Today, the delay in language has been left out, there are children with autism who may have a normal language, but what draws attention mainly are the alterations in the social part, socialization and certain behaviors or repetitive interests or deviations within the normal development of a child,” explained Dr. Dahlbeck.
He pointed out that since it is a neurodevelopmental disorder, early detection of the warning signs that could lead to a definitive diagnosis as soon as possible should be aimed at, in order to carry out evaluations and corresponding therapies in time, since, according to what he said, “it is something that can be improved”.
He stressed that for the diagnosis, the main thing is to treat immediately after the pediatric evaluation of the child’s development from birth, month by month, to observe the development and see if these altered behaviors are detected early, without waiting for him to have fully constituted the alterations that the boys with this condition could present.
“With a simple evaluation of the development by the family pediatrician from the first months they can already detect some alterations such as the lack of a social smile, the lack of pointing in the first months, the lack of communication with the parents or of interaction other children, that isolation or behavior of playing alone, of being isolated during the early years or of having some interests in some objects that call his attention or fascinate him, such as objects that rotate, colored objects, some unusual behaviors that the child has in the first months, they can indicate some warning signs, and from that, guide us to the diagnosis and subsequent referral for a more in-depth evaluation with specialists such as a psychologist, physiotherapist, neurologist or speech therapist, who are the ones who are going to make a further evaluation structured for a better orientation towards the diagnosis of autism”, he added.
Then there are several tests such as questionnaires that can be done and from which to evaluate the different areas of development and alterations that are compatible with a child with autism. “The treatment is multidisciplinary and the most important thing today is to detect early those small alterations that are perceptible even in the first months of a baby. With the simple fact of not looking you in the eye, not smiling, being very isolated and not having the interaction that an 8 or 9-month-old baby already has with his parents, the lack of attachment already gives us certain indications that something is not right. to intervene.” The professional was emphatic in stating that a rapid intervention can change a child’s life by detecting these alterations during those first months or years of life.
Delaying that diagnosis time translates into other complications or difficulties, which would not have them or would be minimal, unlike early treatment. “There is no medication for autism, since the cause of autism itself until today is multifactorial, that is, there is no specific cause. Currently, the biological or pathophysiological cause that could explain the characteristics of a person with autism is being sought,” said the specialist.
What is often treated are the alterations or comorbidities that could occur with autism, such as anxiety disorder, behavior disorder or attention deficit disorder and that serve to regulate this type of behavior and that begin to be administered to children in the school stage. In addition, medications for said comorbidities, improving these behaviors in the patient so that they function better.
He also stated that more and more cases of children with traits of autism spectrum disorder are observed, since many times they come with traits, not yet with the constituted syndrome; hence the importance of early detection.
He said it can be for many reasons, including excessive use of screen devices in children. “Today we are seeing children at a very early age with cell phones, computers or tablets, even the American Academy of Pediatrics prohibits the use of cell phones by children under 2 years of age, precisely because they isolate themselves and do not socialize. So, in the absence of stimuli that allow socialization such as language development, adaptability or interaction as a consequence of the excess of this type of device and that many times can contribute to the child not developing properly, and can have a great influence in children who have a greater predisposition to present an autism spectrum disorder”.
Covid-19 pandemic
The child neurologist asserted that the confinement and isolation due to the Covid-19 pandemic also had a great influence on the fact that today there are several children with autistic traits or within the disorder; because the child in the development stage requires an adequate environment for his stimulation and the confinement conditions to which the pandemic subjected us, were not the most adequate, causing the child to isolate himself, remain locked up without being able to play or interact with other children , affecting not only socialization, but the development of language and everything that has to do with the comprehensive and expressive part of language, of setting limits to which the child was not exposed in a positive way.
The Department of Pediatrics of the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the UNA, through its Hospital de Clínicas, offers a Neuropediatrics office from Monday to Wednesday, in the morning shift. Consultations are made by referral from the pediatrician, prior scheduling.
