Is talking less a sign of autism?

"Your Xiao Ming is already 3 years old, why does he talk so little?" "My baby is a slow talker, he will be fine when he is two years older." This is a conversation between two parents. Many parents think that there is no need to worry about children who talk little, as they grow older, their speech development will catch up with that of children of the same age; sometimes we also find some "little chatterboxes" at work, but when we listen carefully to them, they are incomprehensible. Some people think that these babies are very talkative and there is no problem, because babies with autism will not have such good speech development. However, autism is not as simple as everyone thinks, and parents have many misunderstandings. Therefore, only if we work hard to understand it can these lovely babies receive timely and effective intervention and reduce the burden on families and society.

What are the symptoms of autism?

Typical examples include social interaction disorders, narrow interests, and stereotyped repetitive behaviors. Therefore, the amount of speech in children is not a criterion for judging autism. Many children with autism often speak later than their peers, but some children may have normal speech development for a period of time, and at a certain age, their speech gradually decreases or even disappears; some babies speak a lot, but their speech is meaningless, repetitive, and stereotyped, and most of the communication is one-way. Therefore, children who can speak may also be autistic.

Does speaking less have anything to do with tongue tie? Old people often say that babies speak less because the "tendons" under the tongue are pulled. This is not completely unreasonable. There is a tongue tie under the tongue, which is what we often call "tendons". A tongue tie that is too short will affect the child's pronunciation, which will manifest as unclear pronunciation, but it will not affect the amount of speech the baby has. Babies with tongue ties that are too short need surgical treatment if necessary.

Is delayed speech development autism? Can it heal itself?

The answer is no. Children with delayed speech development need to go to professional medical institutions for evaluation, develop personalized rehabilitation training plans, and undergo comprehensive rehabilitation training. Parents need to be reminded that the period before the age of 3 is a critical stage for the baby's speech development. Timely and effective intervention will help the baby catch up with children of the same age as soon as possible.

Five aspects of initial identification of autism:

1) Not (rarely) speak: rarely communicate with others verbally;

2) Not (rarely) look: rarely look at the surrounding environment;

3) No (little) response: Failure to answer when the name is called;

4) Not (rarely) pointing: Not able to point with the index finger to express one’s needs;

5) Inappropriate behavior: preferring to play alone, stereotyped behavior, stubbornness, and temper tantrums.

If the above behaviors occur at the same time, he needs to be taken to a professional hospital for evaluation and treatment in time.

Most babies talk less, which may be related to articulation organs, hearing, intelligence, autism, etc. Therefore, the cause needs to be identified first. If a baby talks less, he should be taken to a professional hospital for comprehensive evaluation and examination in time, and early active intervention should be carried out.