Motor anticipation failure in infants with autism: a retrospective analysis of feeding situations.

Researchers watched old home videos of babies during spoon-feeding.

They compared 15 babies later diagnosed with ASD to 15 typical babies.

All clips were taken when babies were 4-6 months old, before any diagnosis.

They counted how often babies opened their mouth right before the spoon arrived.

Typical babies opened their mouth early almost every time.

Babies who later got an ASD diagnosis rarely did this.

The difference was large and easy to see on video.

MWFaught et al. (2021) extends this work. They show feeding issues stay common in ASD kids up to age 6. Julie et al. found the first warning sign at 4-6 months. MWG give you a quick scale to keep tracking those issues later.

Özcan et al. (2025) found another early gap. After learning to walk, ASD babies did not add new gestures or sounds like typical babies. Both studies use simple home videos to spot early motor-communication splits.

Setoh et al. (2017) ties it together in a review. They list many small motor delays in ASD babies. The mouth-opening failure Julie found is one clear example you can watch for during everyday feeding.

You can check mouth-opening anticipation in any feeding session. No extra tools needed. If a 4-6-month-old never opens early, flag for further screening. Share the clip with the pediatrician. Early motor signs like this can start the referral process months sooner.