Recently on one of my autism mom pages I saw a mom comment that it hurt her feelings someone said her son looked like he had autism. We noticed early on in our autism journey that both Jace and Justin had a broader forehead and almost like a little fatty place between their eyes that my other boys didn’t have.
Facial measurement has been used as a tool to help identify individuals with autism. A recent study found that facial measurements taken from photos of children with autism were significantly different from those taken from photos of typically developing children. We learned early on to grow thick skin and not get offended as our boys do have the autism look. Most people that noticed had someone in their family with autism too and were just trying to connect.
The study on this is really neat. Specifically, the study found that autistic children had significantly broader faces, wider eyes, larger mouths, and shorter noses than typically developing children. Additionally, the study found that autistic children had significantly wider cheekbones, larger chin-to-ear distances, and larger forehead heights than typically developing children. These differences in facial measurements could be used to help identify autism in children at an early age.
However, further research is needed to determine the accuracy of facial measurements as a screening tool for autism. Autism does in fact have a special look. It is a look of love and understanding. There is a light at the end of the autism tunnel it shines through your child’s eyes every day. Now when someone says Does your child have autism? He looks like he does. We say thank you yes he does.
