The Early Identification of Autism Spectrum Disorders by Patricia O’Brien Towle is a unique visual guide aimed to equip readers with the skills to recognize autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children as young as 15-18 months old. It provides a systematic framework for understanding the
complex nature of ASD. From social interaction to communication to restricted and repetitive behaviors, each chapter focuses on key symptoms and uses photographs to illustrate and enhance understanding of presenting or absent behaviors. It is written in an accessible style and covers all of the core aspects of ASD, giving readers everything they need to be able to successfully identify the behavioral indicators of autism.
Chapter 4-Social Interaction in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Difference and delay in social development is at the absolute core of ASD. Some children show normal first-year social development and then start
to lose those skills in the second year, while other children evidence delays right from the start. The behaviors to be described and illustrated in this chapter fall into the following three general clusters:
- Social engagement and interest: How does the child show that he is interested in others and ready to be engaged? To this end, where does the child place himself physically so that he has the opportunity to get involved with others? How does the child use eye contact to signal interest in engagement, and monitor the faces of others to extract information about how the interaction may go? How does the child get social interaction going with others, and how does he respond when others initiate social interaction with him?
- Emotional signaling: How does a child exchange purely emotional information with others, and signal her internal state?
- Capacity for interaction: How easily does the child fall into a give-and take pattern across a variety of circumstances, from predictable and scripted routines to a free-flowing, reciprocal social interchange? Can he sustain an interaction once it is started?
Download the chapter 4 extract here.
Patricia O’Brien Towle, Ph.D., has 30 years’ experience with early childhood developmental disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorders. She is a clinical child psychologist at the Westchester Institute for Human Development and assistant professor of psychiatry, pediatrics and public health at the New York Medical College. In addition to her extensive clinical experience, Dr. Towle carries out research on the prevalence and developmental course of ASD, supervises psychology interns and post-doctoral fellows, and gives presentations to professionals and parents nationally. She lives in Westchester County, New York.