Springtides, Inc.Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a group of related brain-based disorders that affect a child's behavior, social and communication skills.
- Autism Spectrum Disorders include 3 of 5 disorders known as pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs). These are autistic disorder, Asperger's Syndrome, and PDD-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS).
- Autism Spectrum Disorders affect an estimated 4-6 out of every 1,000 children.
- Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorders:
- Social Differences
- Doesn't snuggle when picked up, but arches back instead
- Doesn't keep eye contact or makes very little contact
- Doesn't respond to parent's smile or other facial expressions
- Doesn't look at objects or events parents are looking at or pointing to
- Doesn't point to objects or events to get parents to look at them
- Doesn't bring objects to show to parents just to share his interest
- Doesn't often have appropriate facial expressions
- Unable to perceive what others might be thinking or feeling by looking at their facial expressions
- Doesn't show concern (empathy) for others
- Unable to make friends, difficulty interacting with others
- May prefer to be alone
- Communication Differences
- Doesn't say single words by 15 months or 2-word phrases by 24 months
- Repeats exactly what others say without understanding its meaning (parroting or echolalia)
- Doesn't respond to name being called, but does respond to other sounds (like car horn or cat's meow)
- Refers to self as "you" and others as "I" (pronominal reversal)
- Often doesn't seem to want to communicate
- Doesn't start or can't continue a conversation
- Doesn't use toys or other objects to represent people or real life in pretend play
- May have a good rote memory, especially for numbers, songs, TV jingles, or a specific topic
- Loses language milestones, usually between the ages of 15 to 24 months in a few children (regression)
- Difficulty in expressing needs; may use gestures
- Behavioral Differences (stereotypic, repetitive, and restrictive patterns)
- Rocks, spins, sways, twirls fingers, or flaps hands (stereotypic behavior)
- Likes routines, order and rituals
- Obsessed with a few activities, doing them repeatedly during the day
- Plays with parts of toys instead of the whole toy (for example, spinning the wheels of a toy truck)
- May have splinter skills, such as the ability to read at an early age, but often without understanding what it means
- Doesn't cry if in pain or seem to have any fear
- May be very sensitive or not sensitive at all to smells, sounds, lights, textures, and touch
- Unusual use of vision or gaze--looks at objects from unusual angles
- May have unusual or intense but narrow interests
- Inappropriate laughing or giggling
- Inappropriate attachments to objects
- Social Differences
The information on this page was taken from the following sources:
Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) by American Academy of Pediatric