小孩的眼神反映他患上自閉症的風險？

易雁嘉醫生

自然療法醫學博士

您半歲大小孩目前的行為，有機會反映他未來患上自閉症的風險嗎？

一項於2010年9月在《兒童心理治療學報》發表的研究指出，幼童在與人缺乏互動時所展現的眼神注視頻率，是一個反映幼童成長後溝通及社交的早期指標。在這項研究中眼神注視頻率，一批六個月大的幼童被安排專注於某一事物或他們的照顧者身上。那些處於自閉症高危群的組別在照顧者不主動互動時，會出現較少的眼神注視；而這些嬰兒相比起低危險群嬰兒，在社交上的參與性較低及顯得較為被動。儘管這些高危險群的嬰兒在照顧者主動要求互動時，仍會作出反應。

是次研究的其中一位負責人，美國甘迺迪克瑞格自閉症及相關疾病中心總監蘭達博士指出，這個不明顯的差異往往很容易同時被家長及專業人士所忽略。

她建議利用簡單的歌謠，配以簡單及可預計的動作教導幼童，以促進孩子的語言及社交發展；而非只利用可供孩童獨自操控及玩耍的電子玩具。她認為人類是互動的社交動物；任何電子玩具、電視節目以及電腦軟件都不能取代小孩與其他人互動交流的重要性。

Infrequent gazing= higher risk for autism?

Dr. Ardyce Yik

Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

Could your six-month-old’s current behaviour indicate a higher risk for autism in the future?

A study published in the September issue of the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry has found that an early marker for later communication and social delays in infants at a higher risk for autism is infrequent gazing at other people when unprompted. Six-month-old infants in the study were given the opportunity to pay attention to either an object or their caregiver. Those in the high-risk group were not as engaged or socially interactive on their own as their peers, though they would still respond when prompted by their caregivers. Dr. Rebecca Landa, one of the authors of the study and director of Kennedy Krieger’s Center for Autism and Related Disorders, says this could be ”a subtle difference that could be easily overlooked by both parents and some professionals.”

She recommends teaching infants simple songs paired with easy, predictable gestures to promote language and social learning, rather than using electronic toys that can be enjoyed and operated without engaging with others. Humans are interactive social beings. No electronic toy, TV show or computer software can replace the interaction with another human being!