Symptoms of Autism

All Autistic People Do Not Look Alike

There is a saying in the autism field: "if you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism." In other words: every person on the autism spectrum is unique, and one person's set of symptoms is just that ... one person's set of symptoms! This is, in part, because autism is a spectrum disorder: you can be a little autistic or very autistic.



But there's more to it. An array of problems are relatively common among autistic people such as seizure disorders, gastrointestinal issues, mental retardation and mental illness. At this point, no one knows why these conditions are so common among people with autism spectrum disorders. It is possible that these additional conditions are indicators of different kinds of autism, each caused by a slightly different set of circumstances.
While the conditions listed above are more common among autistic people than among the general population, they are by no means universal among people on the autism spectrum. In fact, many autistic people have no apparent mental or physical illness at all.




Social and Communication Symptoms

Most of the time, autism is suspected in a child or adult because of deficits or stereotyped differences in social and communication skills. Some examples of these differences include:

• Delayed or unusual speech patterns (many autistic children, for example, memorize video scripts and repeat them word for word with the precise intonation as the TV characters)
• High pitched or flat intonation
• Lack of slang or "kidspeak"
• Difficulty understanding tone of voice and body language as a way of expressing sarcasm, humor, irony, etc.
• Lack of eye contact
• Inability to take another's perspective (to imagine oneself in someone else's shoes)

While many autistic people have terrific language skills, there are many who have no language at all. In between, are people whose verbal skills are idiosyncratic: They may be perfectly able to talk, but have a difficult time with conversation, small talk, and slang.





Sensory and Motor Symptoms

A majority of autistic people are either hyper or hypo sensitive to light, sound, crowds and other external stimulation. Some have both hyper and hypo sensitivities. This often results in autistic people covering their ears, avoiding or reacting negatively to brightly lit areas, or -- on the other hand -- crashing hard into sofas and craving strong bear hugs. While it's unusual to find an autistic person who is obviously physically disabled as a result of the disorder, most autistic people do have some level of fine and gross motor difficulty. This often manifests itself in poor handwriting, difficulty with athletic coordination, etc. As a result, when autistic people get involved with sports, it's usually in individual, endurance sports such as running and swimming.


Personality Differences

While autistic people do differ from one another radically, it is fairly typical for people on the spectrum to:

• Engage in repetitive behaviors and ritualized activities, ranging from lining up items to following a rigid routine,
• Have one or a few passionate interests,
• Have difficulty in making and keeping multiple friends,
• Prefer activities that require relatively little verbal interaction.

It also seems to be the case -- for as-yet-undetermined reasons -- that certain interests are of particular interest to many people on the autism spectrum. For example, an enormous number of young children with ASD's are fascinated by trains (and the Thomas the Tank Engine toy), while a great many older children and adults on the spectrum are interested in computers, science, technology, and animals.

Diagnostic
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