Worried about having autistic child during pregnancy

Many pregnant women worry about giving birth to autistic children, because this disease cannot be cured if it occurs in their babies. The only way to improve their quality of life is through daily care. In fact, female friends should not worry too much when they are pregnant. They should keep calm and do prenatal check-ups in time to avoid this situation.

1. Rett syndrome is only seen in girls, usually onset at 7-24 months. Development is normal before onset, but head development slows down after onset, and acquired speech and social interaction abilities are rapidly lost. There is a serious intellectual disability, and the acquired purposeful motor skills of the hands are also lost, and stereotyped movements of the hands (washing-like movements or stereotyped twisting of fingers) appear. It is often accompanied by hyperventilation, unsteady gait, truncal movement ataxia, scoliosis, and epileptic seizures. The disease progresses rapidly and the prognosis is poor.

2. Childhood disintegrative disorder (Heller syndrome) This disorder mostly begins at the age of 2-3 years. Development is completely normal before onset, but intelligence regresses rapidly after onset. Other acquired abilities (including language ability, social interaction ability, self-care ability, etc.) also rapidly decline or even are lost.

3. Asperger syndrome, also known as childhood schizophrenia, has certain characteristics similar to childhood autism and is more common in boys. Generally, the symptoms become apparent when the child reaches school age around 7 years old, and are mainly manifested in interpersonal communication disorders, limited, stereotyped, and repetitive interests and behaviors. There are no obvious speech and intellectual disabilities.

4. Expressive or receptive language disorders: Children of this type mainly show impairment of language expression or comprehension ability, normal or near-normal intelligence level (IQ ≥ 70), good non-verbal communication, no qualitative defects in social interaction, narrow interests, and stereotyped repetitive behaviors.

5. Childhood schizophrenia: This disease mainly develops in prepuberty and adolescence. The development before the onset is usually normal. After the onset of the disease, symptoms of schizophrenia such as hallucinations, thinking disorders, emotional indifference or incoordination, lack of volitional activity, and strange behavior gradually appear, which helps to identify it.

6. Mental retardation Children with this disorder have no qualitative defects in social interaction. Although their speech level is insufficient, it is consistent with their intellectual level. They do not have obviously narrow interests and stereotyped repetitive behaviors. However, if a child has both typical symptoms of autism and intellectual disability, both diagnoses must be made.