Common Symptoms Associated with Autism

If your child is autistic, they’ll likely exhibit developmental issues in three important areas:

  • Language
  • Social interaction
  • Behavior

Due to the diverse range of symptoms, two autistic children may act very differently and excel in dramatically different areas. However, most children with severe autism will exhibit a standard grouping of impairments or a lack any ability to effectively communicate or interact with others. Neurologists can use several tests to diagnose children with autism.

The earliest signs of autism can become evident at various points in a child’s development– some start in early infancy. Other children may not exhibit any symptoms for their first few years of life. Parents should take notice if their children suddenly:

  • Become more aggressive or withdrawn
  • Start losing basic language skills they’d already developed

We can’t stress enough how unique each autistic child’s indications can be, but there are several symptoms that are commonly associated with this condition.

Linguistic Complications

  • Struggling to communicate with words or sentences
  • Not speaking anymore or has delayed responses
  • Can’t make eye contact when asking for things
  • Starts talking with an unusual rhythm or tone — could be a robotic tone or a singsong voice
  • May repeat a word or phrase but is unable to comprehend their usage
  • Doesn’t seem to comprehend simple requests or questions
  • No longer able to initiate or maintain a conversation

Social Skill Disabilities

  • Not able to make or maintain eye contact
  • Seems abnormally adverse to any form of physical contact
  • Doesn’t respond well to their name
  • May appear to ignore you at odd times
  • Prefers solitary play time over spending time with other children
  • Never asks for help or makes other requests
  • Seems to be indifferent to other people’s emotions

Behavioral Indications

  • Moves around constantly
  • Forms a number of specific routines or rituals
  • Slight disruptions to their routine can be very alarming to them
  • Repeats certain monotonous actions, such as spinning, rocking or hand-flapping
  • Has no interest in make-believe play or imitation
  • May have a proclivity towards certain actions that could be be harmful, such as headbanging
  • Exhibits an abnormal sensitivity towards touch, sound and light while being strangely oblivious to pain
  • Becomes much more detail oriented without being able to comprehend the big picture aspect of a subject.
  • May develop odd eating preferences such as avoiding certain foods and even indulging in non-food items such as chalk or dirt

A child who is autistic will also struggle when it comes to communicating personal experiences with other people. Unlike other children, they’ll likely avoid pointing at pictures when being read to. This “pointing” characteristic is actually a crucial aspect of early language and social development.

Over the years, some autistic children can overcome several of these issues and even become more engaged with other people. There are several cases where people have been able to overcome their symptoms and live normal or close to normal lives. Unfortunately, those with more severe autism will likely struggle with these disabilities throughout their adult lives.

Clinical studies have shown that the majority of autistic children do struggle when it comes to learning or acquiring new skills. However, there are certain patients that exhibit extraordinary cognitive abilities (savants) in the areas of art. music and math.

Time to Talk to Your Doctor

Infants can develop at strikingly different paces, so don’t be surprised if your child isn’t following the prescribed path in most popular parenting guides. Children with autism often show signs of impaired development within their first year. If you’ve grown concerned about your infant’s development, be sure to ask your doctor about it.

It should also be noted that several of these indications could also be caused by other developmental disorders. In either case, studies have shown that early intervention tends to produce better long-term results.

It might be worth looking into further developmental tests with a neurological specialist if your infant:

  • Hasn’t exhibited a happy expression or smile in first 6 months
  • Isn’t mimicking facial expressions or sounds by 9 months
  • No cooing or babbling in the first year
  • No pointing or other gestures within the first year
  • No single words within the first 16 months
  • Doesn’t say any two-word phrases in the first 2 years
  • Starts to lose previously learned language or social skills at any age