Exceptional visual perception might be an early hallmark of autism, which could help predict a child will be diagnosed with the developmental disability, a new British study suggests.
Infants who more quickly perceived a mismatched symbol on a screen when they were 9 months old were more likely to receive an autism diagnosis by age 2, the researchers found.
“Although atypical perception, such as better visual search and hypersensitivity to sounds, are common in autism, they were rarely considered as a core feature in early development,” said study lead author Teodora Gliga of Birkbeck Babylab at the University of London. “Our finding is therefore striking since it strongly suggests atypical perception may be a driving force of later poor social interaction and communication symptoms.”
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