Signs of Autism

At this time there is no agreed upon cause of autism, although some theories include genetics, environmental toxins and vaccinations. There are no known psychological factors in the development of a child known to cause autism.

Autism can affect any family, any lifestyle and any economic or educational level. It is an “invisible disease” in the sense that the average person can not distinguish an autistic child from a "typical" child.

The sooner a child is identified as having autism, the sooner a child can receive interventions such as occupational and speech therapy. Those who have early intervention have a better improvement rate.

Autism is often overlooked by parents and misdiagnosed by well-meaning professionals, and as a result, many children are not diagnosed with ASD until after the age of five.

Parents, relatives and other caregivers might adapt a “wait and see” approach, hoping or believing a child will “out grow” the inappropriate or atypical behaviors.

Other adults may think a child is undisciplined and misbehaving intentionally.

And some parents and professional are unaware that a child can have ASD and still be very verbal, e.g., Aspergers Syndrome or High-Functioning Autism

Also, certain autistic behaviors mimic characteristics of other disorders or conditions.

The word “spectrum” in 'Autism Spectrum Disorder' means there is a wide spectrum of traits and attributes related to autism.

Some children on one end of the spectrum, considered low-function, will exhibit pronounced traits, such as rapid hand flapping and screaming, while others will display milder behaviors.

A parent may notice something is “not quite right” with a child; perhaps an infant withdraws from human contact, cries often or seems overly-stimulated by the environment, but the same parent may not know the symptoms of autism.

Other parents may notice something is wrong when a sudden change occurs with their child's behavior. A seemingly typical child may appear to suddenly loose interest in social interactions or stop developing language.

Other children will exhibit autistic traits from the beginning of their life, and in the first few months not make eye-to-eye contact with their caregivers.

As a child with autism grows older it is easier for parents and doctors to detect the child's social and language deficiencies, particularly when compared to typical peer behavior. For example while a parent might not have concern when a two-year-old child is building blocks alone in the bedroom for an hour, the same parent may have concern when a five-year-old child is insisting on building blocks for an hour instead of playing with friends.

A child with autism will have difficulty conversing, perhaps failing to start a conversation, not listening, or failing to continue a conversation.

In early years the child may repeat a phrase or word over and over(echolalia). A child with ASD may confuse the word order in a sentences while another child will speak only single words. A child may have delayed speech. And some children with autism remain mute throughout their life.

When children on the autistic spectrum communicate facial expressions, body movements and gestures rarely line up with what they are expressing. Their tone of voice may seem absent of emotion or sound atypical.

The child may use a high-pitched, sing-song or robotic-sounding voice. Children with Aspergers (high-functioning autism) have a pedantic speech with above average use of vocabulary, and sound like “little professors”.

Children with ASD have difficulty interpreting what other people are communicating. Starting from a young age children with autism will have significant problems developing nonverbal communication skills such as: making eye-contact (will look down at the ground), appropriate facial expressions (smile when someone is hurt), and body posture (curl the body forward).They do not readily recognize social cues such as body language and voice inflection.

A child with ASD may interpret a parent’s screams and laughter the same way.

The child with autism may have one friend, but more than often the child will fail to establish friendships with children the same age.

The child may play alone and appear to have no interest in other children. Children on the autistic spectrum will demonstrate a lack of interest in sharing enjoyment or interests with others. A person with autism often has to be taught social skills, like a child is taught to read or write, or to ride a bike.

Children with ASD misinterpret emotions and have difficulty regulating their own emotions. A child has a difficult time understanding another person's perspective and thinks in literal terms. For example, a person with autism might not understand the phrase "He was fired", and think someone literally caught on fire.

A person with autism may have a lack of empathy (an inability to relate to and understand how another person is feeling). The child might laugh when another person is sad and crying, and will have difficulty understanding the emotions of pain or sorrow.

A child with ASD may loose the ability to control emotional outbursts. Outbursts can turn into “melt downs” where the child may throw or bang things, attack others or themselves (bang head, pull hair or bite skin).

Children with autism also become upset from too much sensory stimulation. Common day sounds such as a dog's bark, the hum of the television or a person's voice can irritate a child with ASD. Loud noises in particular, like a blender, can cause a child with autism to scream and run away or hit a person.

Smells, textures, and anything related to the senses can upset the child. A child may develop food aversion such as a fear of soft cheese. The child may avoid certain clothes. Physical touch, such as hugs, may feel painful to a child with autism.

A child with autism will have fixations or an intense preoccupation about certain topics and display obsessive-like behavior. For instance, the child may develop a passion for trading cards or super heroes.

The child will become unusually focused on parts or sections, such as the particular motion of a toy, like the spinning of a wooden wheel on a toy train. A child with autism will stack and line objects.

When a person has autism, there is a great need for predictability and set routines. A person with autism will exhibit anxiety when a schedule is changed. For example a child in school might hide under his desk if there is a substitute teacher or might scream when told to stay inside on a rainy-day recess.

1. The U.S. Department of Education has identified autism as the largest growing recognized disability. Not long ago Autism was assumed to be rare, 1 in 10,000 people. Today, Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDS) affects as many as one out of 150 individuals.

2. Autism is the fastest-growing developmental disability. (ASA: Autism Society of America)

3. Growth comparisons during the 1990’s: U.S. population increase 13%, Disability increase 16%, Autism increase 172% (usinfo.state.gov.)

4. 1 out of 166 children born will be diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. If you include adults, more than a million people suffer one of the autistic disorders. Autism is 5 times more common than Downs Syndrome and 3 times more common than juvenile diabetes. In the past 15 years the number of autistic children in California seeking services has quadrupled. (Time Magazine, April 29, 2002)

5. Autism has increased significantly in California, and is currently the most frequent diagnosis in new referrals to Regional Centers. (Placer County, CA website 2005)

SBI!

The Signs of Autism