When it comes to autism, we still aren’t quite there yet on questions like how it occurs and to what extent is it curable and how, but, we do know a lot more than we have even a decade ago. And now, we do know that even though it isn’t 100% curable, there are certain steps that can be taken most efficiently when the child that has been diagnosed with autism is as young as possible. But, why, and how? These are the questions that we are going to tackle in this article, so, keep reading in order to find out!
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The thing is, nowadays there is increasing evidence that autism may not necessarily be lifelong as we have previously thought. There are a lot of studies that show a notable number of children, who were previously diagnosed with autism that no longer meet the diagnostic criteria later on. 
Even though this doesn’t really mean that the child has grown out of autism so to say, it does mean that acting early on helps greatly regarding many different aspects that can be worked on. And these aspects are the ones that regard both the diagnostic criteria and the skills needed, that can be learned, which further impact how the child is going to interact with the world as they grow.
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It’s absolutely understandable why many parents choose to try and believe that their child doesn’t have any kind of disorder, but the consequence is that many children with autism do not receive an official diagnosis until they reach school. As experts on autism in toddlers explain, the earlier a child gets a diagnosis - especially in their formative years of development, the sooner the child can start adequate therapy or treatment. This is crucial since the only way to tackle the disorder is to understand the severity early on.
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As we have previously mentioned, earlier the diagnosis - earlier the start of the adequate therapy. But we can’t stress enough the importance of that fact, and that is because the things that need to be worked on are just going to intensify as time passes. So, by having the child diagnosed as early as possible, the probability is high that the strategy of tackling the disorder is going to be a lot more feasible and effective!
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When it comes to autism spectrum disorder, social interactions are perhaps the most widely known impacted factor that the disorder causes. Well, since it’s a well-known fact that social cues are something that is picked up pretty early on, the best way to incorporate a way of social interaction that is going to be less impacted by the autism spectrum disorder is to start working on it at a young age. Basically, for young children with autism, this means that the skills needed to reach their full potential are taught early when brain plasticity is much more pronounced and hence the impact of the treatment is much more comprehensive and effective.
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Well, even if we put the aspect of the autism spectrum disorder aside - we all want to enhance the quality of our children’s lives as much as possible. And when it comes to autism specifically, the best way to do so is to help them to incorporate the tools in their skill set that is going to enhance their quality of life directly. 
If autism isn’t diagnosed in time, it’s less probable that the child is going to be incorporated and immersed in the society as much as they could be with proper treatment early on. In severe cases, it can even lead to engaging in aggressive or self-injurious behaviors due to frustration and incapability to express themselves fully when the person reaches adulthood.
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Whenever it comes to, well, any hardship, the more time passes, the more feasible the strategy of tackling the issue gets. And when we’re talking about autism, this applies both to children and to the parents. That being said - early diagnosis means earlier actions are taken that lead to the betterment of the overall situation.

To sum things up

In the end, it all comes down to doing what’s best for the child in question. As we have previously stated, there still are many unknown factors when it comes to autism, but there are also many things that we do know. And the thing is, when it comes to making different aspects that affect the life of the child easier, even if the child isn’t diagnosed at all - it’s always better to start early. Building big always means starting small.  

WRITTEN BY

Daria Brown