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The brain gets heavier because most neurons only get connected after birth.

Scans of the brain at birth, 3 months and 2 years reveal increasing density and complexity of connections among the neurons

important advice | early signs of autism | the brain is wiring up | baked-in difficulties

Our Advice
Our method of therapy has been distilled from 30 years of actual clinical work, studying and observing what methods work best, when and how they work, using input from infant re-search, neuropsychology, psychoanalysis, recent theories of the mind and attachment theory and practice. Because we can work effectively with a even the 2-month-old baby, our recommendation is:

Early Intervention is Best
Children who prefer to be by themselves or attend to machines and objects rather than their mothers or other people share a disorder commonly known as autism. This disorder can have organic or mental causes and may lead to delays in the baby’s development and cause serious disturbances in the family which can spiral into vicious circles of unhappiness. We specialise in early diagnosis (as early as 3 to 6 months) followed by appropriate interventions especially designed to individual cases. Parents are often the first to see the signs. They realise that their baby:
• lacks what would seem to be normal reciprocity;
• seems slow and avoids contact with their eyes and body;
• is too calm and seems too content and happy by themselves; or
• makes noises and movements which seem out of place and disassociated.
Parents should insist on getting skilled and specialised help as early as their concerns arise. Evidence shows that early interventions can protect developing babies from possible fixation onto autistic behaviour. Therapies exist to facilitate proper communication and contact. Early intervention with the right therapy can be extremely effective in developing cognitive and emotional capabilities which otherwise would never find expression.

Early Intervention as the Brain is Wiring Up
The idea behind early intervention is simple and powerful: most of brain development occurs in the first 3 years, particularly the first 2 years of life. Since two-thirds of brain development occurs within the first two years, the earlier we can find and maintain attunement, the less damage there will be to the child-parent attachment and communication and the corresponding neurological system.

When we first began our work with infants and parents three decades ago, we were working from clinical intuition. Today, neurobiological research seems to be validating our early findings that healthy bonds and healthy brains depend on quality relationships with the primary caregivers (usually parents) and on the connections of neurons in the brain.

The number of cells (neurons) in the brain – about 100 billion – remains the same throughout our lives at birth. In the first year of life, each neuron forms about 15,000 synapses (connections). By the end of the second year, the brain will have formed 1,000 trillion connections. It is all these connections that make the brain of a 2-yearold so much heavier than the newborn’s – four times as much.

There is much evidence for the “use it or lose it” theory of brain development. Between the ages of 2 and 3 years, some serious pruning must begin in order for the brain to be “wired up” efficiently. Each neuron may prune up to 10,000 of these connections if they are not needed or have not been used. Early events determine which circuits in the brain will be reinforced and retained. New synapses can in fact be formed at any time during life, whenever completely new situations demand it, but never with the same ease as in the early years. This is the neurological basis of the
effectiveness of the early intervention. On the whole, the “wiring” that happens during these early years from the baby’s many “first experiences” with the world lays the foundations for all future experiences.

Early Intervention Before Damage is Baked In
In early life, as nerve-cell connections in the brain are still growing rapidly and largescale pruning is taking place, first experiences and early traumas might also result in “secondary brain-damage” if the avoidant behaviours become a habit and get etched too deeply into the neurological pathways. As with “first experiences”, all of the preautistic baby’s subsequent experience gets layered on top, and being excessively quiet, or avoidant, can quickly become not only a way of life,but the only way of life the growing baby knows and needs in order to feel safe.

The PET scan (below-left) is of the brain of a normal child showing regions of high (red) and low (blue and black) activity. At birth, only primitive structures such as the brain stem (center) are functional. In regions like the temporal lobes (top), early childhood experiences wire the circuits. The PET scan (below-right) of the brain of a Romanian orphan, who was institutionalized shortly after birth, shows the effect of extreme deprivation in infancy. The temporal lobes (top), which regulate emotions and receive input from the senses, are nearly inactive. Such children suffer emotional and cognitive problems.