Autism Spectrum Disorder - a review on early diagnosis in Primary Care and warning signs for the family.

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.1595225030110

• Palavras-chave: Autism spectrum disorder; child development; early diagnosis

• Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; child development; early diagnosis

• Abstract:

  Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with cognitive-behavioural manifestations characterized by atypical development, deficits in communication and social interaction, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behaviour and a restricted repertoire of interests and activities. Many children on the Autistic Spectrum show warning signs in the first few months of life and the diagnosis is established at around 2 to 3 years of age. Its etiology is still unknown, but scientific evidence indicates that there is no single cause, but rather the interaction of genetic and environmental factors. Environmental factors can increase or decrease the risk of ASD in genetically predisposed people. As this is a genetic disorder that manifests itself in childhood, early diagnosis is essential in order to guide specific treatment interventions and thus help minimize social problems and barriers, enabling a better quality of life for the child and their family. In this sense, primary care and parents play an important role in the prognosis because the first manifestations are usually noticed in the family with clinical signs that vary, such as impaired eye contact, lack of imitation skills, preference for objects and repetitive activities, as well as difficulty or delay in speech. These signs are evident during consultations and are usually investigated by the primary care doctor who, when identifying the suspicion, must refer the patient to specialized rehabilitation care, which will confirm the diagnosis and outline the appropriate therapy. It is therefore up to the professionals involved to have a sensitive eye for observing development and noticing clinical characteristics associated with ASD in the child who arrives for diagnostic confirmation. The aim of this paper is to help with the early diagnosis of ASD, by reviewing the literature and highlighting the main forms of clinical diagnosis, as well as the warning signs that can be identified by parents through family relationships in the first few months of life.