Autism can sometimes be diagnosed in children as young as one year of age, researchers suggested in newly published studies.

Scientists at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Maryland, USA, made a study on the social development of children aged 14 to 36 months and realized that half could be diagnosed as autistic at their first birthday.

One-year-olds diagnosed with autism were having difficulties to play, communicate and interact socially with adults and other children of the same age.

Instead of interacting with toys normally, children with autism would repeatedly pick them up and drop them again.

Children with autism also have the tendency to have a smaller vocabulary of sounds, words and gestures that they use to communicate.

Study author Rebecca Landa reported that "The fact that we can identify this at such a young age is extremely exciting, because it gives us an opportunity to diagnose children with autism very early on  when intervention may have a great impact on development."

Landa added that if parents have any suspicion that something is wrong they should talk to a healthcare professional. Landa aims to develop diagnostic criteria for very young children with autism.