Strange play in infancy may point to autism

According to U.S. researchers, babies who were later diagnosed with autism played with toys in unusual ways, spinning or rotating them more than other babies.

Babies who went on to develop autism also stared noticeably at objects such as bottles or looked at them out of the corners of their eyes, Sally Ozonoff of the University of California Davis and colleagues found.

"There is an urgent need to develop measures that can pick up early signs of autism, signs present before 24 months," Ozonoff said in a statement."

"The finding that the unusual use of toys is also present early in life means that this behavior could easily be added to a parent check-list or quickly assessed during a visit to a pediatrician's office," Ozonoff said.

"The earlier you treat a child for autism, the more of an impact you can have on that child's future."

They studied around 66 1 year old babies who were considered at high risk only because they had siblings who had autism. The result, nine of them were eventually diagnosed with autism, and seven of these spent significantly more time spinning, rotating and looking sideways at objects than the other children.

Although we are still not certain of where autism really came from or how to cure it, these are still signs of a positive future in terms of finally being able to cure autism. For now, all we can do is pray.