In fact, there is a difference between their interactions with their caregiver and the stranger. It typically first starts to appear around four months of age with infants behaving differently with caregivers than with strangers. Stranger anxiety develops slowly it does not just appear suddenly.

3.1 Modelling in stranger anxiety in ASD.

3 Stranger anxiety and autism spectrum disorder.This enables the child to feel a certain reassurance seeing that their caregiver does not show any sign of fear in the presence of this individual. For example, they employ a calm tone of voice, they smile and hug the stranger. It is less probable for toddlers to experience anxiety in the presence of a stranger if a figure they trust, such as their caregivers, perform positive interactions with this person. However, some children can still experience apprehension up until the age of four. As children reach the age of two, their feelings of anxiety in the presence of strangers are nearly gone. Although anxiety can go away in few minutes, it could also last a long time. The fear of the unknown elicits the anxiety. For example, the child worries they can be taken away from their caregiver or harmed. A few of these are based on the actions the stranger could unexpectedly take. The anxiety a child feels when facing a stranger is based on various fears that arise in them. When in the presence of a male, the child feels more anxious than in front of a female. The gender of the stranger contributes to the level of anxiety a child experiences. In addition, children are more fearful of a stranger when they are standing in close proximity to them, while their caregiver is farther away or completely out of their sight. The taller the person, the more frightening they seem. This is due to the height of the individual.

When a child is in the company of an unknown child, they are less frightened than if they were with an unknown adult. The stimuli which provoke a child's anxiety in the presence of a stranger are influenced by the individual's age, gender and his or her distance from the toddler. This reaction enables children to develop instincts to guide them when they feel endangered and seek the protection of a familiar and trusted individual to ensure their safety and survival. Experiencing fear causes toddlers to sense they are in a potentially threatened position and therefore, they go towards their caregiver in order to seek protection from the stranger. The child discovers this feeling when facing the stimulus, in this case a stranger, for the first time. They are not born with the awareness that meeting a stranger for the first time will cause them to be fearful. The anxiety children experience when meeting a stranger is based on the sensation of fear they develop when introduced to an unfamiliar factor in their life that elicits the feeling of fear. Foster children are especially at risk, particularly if they experienced neglect early in their life. Children may become hesitant to play with unfamiliar children. As a child gets older, stranger anxiety can be a problem as they begin to socialize. It peaks from six to 12 months but may recur afterwards until the age of 24 months. It can occur even if the child is with a caregiver or another person they trust.

Stranger anxiety is a typical part of the developmental sequence that most children experience. Stranger anxiety and stranger fear are two interchangeable terms. Stranger anxiety is a form of distress that children experience when exposed to strangers. Crying is a common sign of anxiety in children

Cry of fear taller