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As early as 12 months of age, babies who later develop autism repeatedly spin and rotate their toys more than typically developing children, according to a new study. They are also more likely to glance sideways at objects or stare at them for long periods.

In the U.S. the average age of a child being diagnosed with autism diagnosis is 3 years. But as many parents and clinicians know, signs of autism are often obvious much earlier.

In this study, researchers at the University of California, Davis, M.I.N.D. institute studied 35 1-year-old ‘baby sibsʼ ― children whose siblings have already been diagnosed with autism and who are therefore considered at high risk of autism ― and 31 typically developing controls.

Of the 66, 9 went on to later be diagnosed with autism (including 1 from the control group) and, of those, 7 showed the distinctive play with toys, the researchers reported in the journal Autism.

Thereʼs some evidence that early intervention can alleviate the symptoms of autism, so this is good news, and could be another approach in the efforts to diagnose autism earlier. The researchers have already launched a larger five-year study to confirm the methodʼs usefulness.