Autism Spectrum Disorder during Infancy: Implications for Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Therapeutic Approaches

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex psychiatric and neurodevelopmental issue related to delays in the acquisition of behavioral and social skills. The main symptoms of ASD are impairments in communication, limited interest and skills in social interactions, and repetitive behavior. In the present chapter about ASD during infancy, we reviewed the behavioral indicators of ASD, different ways of diagnosis, and the significance of an early and correct diagnosis. While children with ASD are usually diagnosed between ages 2-4, many pediatricians and psychiatrists are interested in understanding the developmental course of ASD in early infancy and infancy. Such an understanding would help both infants with ASD and their family members to identify useful interventions to cope more favorably with difficulties related to the infants’ symptoms of ASD. We highlighted that ASD traits unfavorably impact a child’s and their family’s social, behavioral, and the family’s economic status and conditions. Given this, an early diagnosis and timely and appropriate interventions should mitigate ASD-related issues in everyday life. To this end, assessing a child’s behavior is the gold standard for ASD diagnosis. Most of the symptoms appear in the second year of life; often language acquisition is impaired. Considering the signs of ASD in infancy, promising perspectives on ASD diagnosis will be introduced in the future.

Keywords: ASD, Autism spectrum disorder, Behavioral skills, Brain development, Childhood, Children, Clinical approach, Communicational skill, Diagnosis, DSM-5, Early diagnosis, Early intervention, ICD-11, Infancy, Infant, Intervention, Neurodevelopmental disorder, Quality of life, Signs, Symptoms, Treatment.