Dr Ahmad Bazli, Consultant Paediatrician Pantai Hospital Laguna Merbok (PHLM)

As parents, it’s inevitable that we worry about our child’s health and future, especially when our child didn’t seem to hit a certain developmental milestone. Although every child is different and reaches their milestone at different paces, there are some that could be signs of something much bigger.

So when a child is delayed in his speech, could that be a sign of autism?

We spoke to Dr Ahmad Bazli, Consultant Paediatrician Pantai Hospital Laguna Merbok (PHLM) to get a deeper understanding on this topic.

Parenthood (PH): Is it true that if a child is not speaking by a certain age, it’s a sign of autism?

Dr Ahmad Bazli: Undoubtedly slow talking can occur to children with autism. However, this only happens in parts of the child because most children who have problems with slow talking have other factors. Therefore, it is important for parents to consult a doctor to do an assessment.

Children with autism will also have other symptoms other than slow talking. At the age of 18 months, the Ministry of Health (MOH) will conduct an M-CHAT assessment to assess the level of the child’s behavioural development. These tests are part of how to assess whether the child has autism characteristics or not.

PH: What is the autism factor?

Dr Ahmad Bazli: Autism is categorised as a neurological development (neurodevelopmental disorder) problem. This causes the child to have problems in terms of language/speech/communication development, social relations problems, and behavioural problems. An example of a problem in terms of communication/language is failing to perform bilateral interactions, failing to understand the instructions, and failing to initiate an interaction.

The cause of autism remains unclear. However, there are several factors that can be attributed to autism, among which are children born by parents aged (> 35), a family history that suffers from autism and genetic factors. It is estimated that between 64-91% of autism patients have family history and genetic factors. The use of gadgets at a very early age and in the long term is also associated with autism, better known as “virtual autism”.

PH: What other symptoms should we look out for in autism?

Dr Ahmad Bazli: Apart from the problem of slow speech, autistic children will also show other symptoms such as:

• Dislike hanging out with other children
• Prefer being alone
• Dreamy or tend to walk aimlessly
• Have very specific routines or interests only and do not like if the routine is interrupted
• Dislikes seeing or staring at the eyes of parents when communicating
• Perform strange movements that have no meaning.

Of course, these are only some of the typical characteristics of autism. Therefore, evaluation by a paediatrician and psychiatrist is very important to determine whether the child actually has autism or not.

PH: What are the things that parents should look out for when it comes to a child’s development?

Dr Ahmad Bazli: A child’s development process can be divided into 4 sections. The division includes:

• Development of coarse motors such as crawling, walking, and running
• Development of refined motors – use of the small muscles which control the hand, fingers and thumb. With the development of these skills, a child is able to complete important tasks such as writing, feeding oneself, buttoning and zipping.
• Development of languages and speech (as discussed above)
• Social and cognitive development

PH: What can we do to encourage children to speak?

Dr Ahmad Bazli: Undoubtedly, communication between children and parents is important during the process of learning to speak. Parents should take the time to talk to children using simple languages and correspond to the age level of the child. Give them a reason for them to regularly communicate with you. Some of the important tips that you can use to encourage them to speak are:

• Create opportunities to communicate
• Simplify the conversation and use language that is simple and suitable for the child’s age
• Use body and sign language to add meaning to words. This will indirectly motivate the child to talk more
• Talk more with your child through daily conversations – Teaching children how to express their emotions in new ways takes time, practice, role modelling, and lots of repetition.

Parents are also encouraged to allow their child to play and communicate with peers. This aims to train the children to learn to speak while they are playing without the intervention of adults.

If your child does not show any improvement, do not wait too long to get an assessment from a Medical Officer or Paediatrician. This is because early speech therapy can help your child to recover from this problem.