Autism diagnosis at 3 years of age isn’t something that happens suddenly. It evolves, there are deficits seen early on and markers that are evident prior to 3 years. Some of them are cascading events – with problems in one area like motor function, other behaviors like reaching, grasping, and learning about the environment and interactions with other people are stunted. Sometimes, these cascading moments lead to a loss of language. Early intervention can turn these early deficits around so that communication, learning and daily functioning are continually supported and instead of one trajectory, another can be reached. This podcast highlights studies that demonstrate that with data, and with theory. But it is never boiled down to one thing, despite early studies that screen time use is linked with an ASD diagnosis.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35098539/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35099540/

https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cdep.12439