What to Watch For? Characteristics of Autism

The following are early signs of autism that appear in early childhood (ages 2-6) and a bunch of different strange and unexplainable beahviours. If you are worried about your child, or another child you take care of, educate or are involved with, watch out for these early signs of autism. These symptoms can be divided into five groups, in several important areas of life and child development.

The following list of characteristisc will help you not only to determine whether or not a child or an adult needs to get diagnosed or get special help, but more importantly – help you understand the child or adult who is suffering from autism, and be able to help them in your day to day interaction with them. Aristotle said that we cannot love something we don’t understand, so therefore I urge you to learn more about people in our community that are disabled. They deserve to be loved just like any other human being. Understanding, acceptance and love are really powerful things. They can bring reconciliation and peace to the hurt ones, and help them be at peace with who they are. In return, they become a contributing resource to our community, in many ways – some obvious - such as being able to work and pay taxes; and some more subtle - such as teaching us about our own weaknesses and strengths, and forcing us to be better people every day.

Verbal and Non-verbal Communication:

• Speech and language skills may begin to develop and then be lost, or they may develop very slowly or they may never develop.
• Preference for non-verbal communication such as gestures, pointing, or reaching.
• Difficulty or inability to imitate sounds and words.
• Echolalia (repeating what was last heard). For instance: repeating questions instead of answering them, or repeating the last choice when given two or more options to choose from.
• Words may be used without their usual meanings.
• Difficulty in understanding non-verbal communication gestures (i.e. waving goodbye, pointing, facial cues and expressions)
• Language Sound Patterns: Intonation may sound flat, or inability to control how loud or soft the voice is, irregular rhythm in speech.
• Extreme difficulty in initiating communication, maintaining a conversation
• Inability to understand personal boundaries (may stand or sit too close to people when communicating with them).
• Autistic people with more vocabulary and language skills may have hard time listening to other people and flowing with the conversation (may go on and on about what interests them rather than having a back-and-forth exchange of information.

Repetitive Behaviours:

• Ritualistic actions that they repeat over and over again (i.e.: spinning, rocking, staring, finger flapping, hitting self, etc.)
• They may be overactive or very passive and can show intense anxiety or an unusual lack of anxiety. Anxiety, fear and confusion may result from being unable to "make sense" of the world in the usual way.
• They may take unusual risks with no fear of real dangers.
• Unusual postures, walking or movement patterns.
• Extreme dependence on routines, insistence on keeping everything the same, and resistance to change. Even the smallest changes in the environment may throw them off balance and make them feel intensely threatened and insecure (which often triggers extreme stress, fear, or even a tantrum).
• Restricted interest: constantly talk about or obsess on one thing, idea, activity, person, etc.

Sensory Integration / Responses to Sensations:

• Auditory and/or visual processing problems. Sensory input my be scrambled and/or overwhelming to them. Sensory sensitivities vary all the way from mild to severe hyper or hypo sensitivities.
• Unusual sensitivities to sounds, sights, touch, taste and smells
• Unusually high or unusually low pain thresholds
• Effects on Learning
• Many of the characteristics and aspects of autism discussed above can strongly interfere with the ability to learn through typical teaching methods:
• Lack of spontaneous or imaginative play (e.g. may use only parts of toys; line up or stack objects; no imaginative/pretend play).
• An inability to imitate others. (e.g. sounds, gestures, gross or fine motor movements, etc.).
• Inability to focus on the task at hand. Some will have a very short attention span or concentrate only on one thing obsessively.
• Difficulty sharing attention with others.
• Difficulty with abstract ideas (e.g. difficulty using items or toys to represent real objects).
• Difficulty grasping the concept of time and order of events.

Effects on Learning:
Many of the characteristics and aspects of autism discussed above can strongly interfere with the ability to learn through typical teaching methods:

• Lack of spontaneous or imaginative play (e.g. may use only parts of toys; line up or stack objects; no imaginative/pretend play).
• An inability to imitate others. (e.g. sounds, gestures, gross or fine motor movements, etc.).
• Inability to focus on the task at hand. Some will have a very short attention span or concentrate only on one thing obsessively.
• Difficulty sharing attention with others.
• Difficulty with abstract ideas (e.g. difficulty using items or toys to represent real objects).
• Difficulty grasping the concept of time and order of events.

Co-occurring Conditions:

• Many individuals with autism have other health problems:
• Neurological disorders including epilepsy
• Gastro-intestinal problems, sometimes severe
• Compromised immune systems
• Fine and gross motor deficits
• Anxiety and depression

These were adopted from the website of Autism Society Canada. Remember, these are various symptoms, and do not necessarily all occur in each individual suffering from autism.

To read more personal stories and examples, visit the Pumpkin Blog.