Healthcare workers can enable early detection of autism by identifying red flags specific to autism during routine immunisation, said a paediatric neurologist at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
Taking to social media platform X, Dr. Sheffali Gulati, Professor and faculty-in-charge at the Child Neurology Division, Department of Paediatrics at AIIMS Delhi, explained what autism is and how it can be identified early.
“Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by social deficits and qualitative impairment in communication, along with some fixed interests and behaviour,” Gulati said. She noted that the condition comes with “some fixed patterns of interest, and there may be sensory issues within them.”
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She explained how to identify autism in a baby within 2 years. “If a 6-month-old baby is not responding to his/her name or has not started babbling till one year; if he/she is not speaking words at 16 months; is not speaking two words at 24 months; or has forgotten some vocabulary, then autism may be suspected in him/her,” Gulati said.
“It is important for us to look at all the development milestones, along with the red flags specific to autism, whenever children come for immunisation,” Gulati said, emphasising the importance of early intervention in the disorder. She further noted that behavioural therapy comprised the major part of early intervention along with some medications “which can help their development to become better in the future.”.
She also called on people to accept the diversity brought about by the children with autism and to begin acceptance right at home. “We have to keep in mind that these children with autism are different from the rest. Everyone has different diversity, which has to be accepted. And when we talk about inclusion in society, it should begin at home, then in school and society”. The children with autism “have the same right to a dignified life as anyone else,” said Gulati, while urging people “to move forward with a humanistic approach.”
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A recent study, published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal, showed that autism is a significant health burden in India. The study, based on the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021, showed that India had 708.1 cases of ASD per 100, 000 persons in 2021. Of these, 483.7 were females, while 921.4 were males. About 140 per 100,000 persons suffered poor health and disability due to ASD in India in 2021. Globally, an estimated 61.8 million people, or one in every 127 persons, were autistic in 2021.
