Symptoms of Autism

Autism is defined as developmental disability and it is characterized by poor language development, social

impairments, communication difficulties, and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior. Autism is one of the autism spectrum disorders. The others include asperger syndrome, rett syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder. Autism is a severe form of autistic spectrum disorder.

Symptoms of autistic disorder vary greatly in different individuals. However, some of the common symptoms of autism are listed below. These symptoms vary in intensity and people affected by autism show a wide range of symptoms.

• Poor social interaction

This is one of the most important symptoms of autism. People affected by this disorder are unable to mingle with other people. They are unable to form friendships. They are unable to maintain their relationships. They show excessive interest and attachment to one person and lack of interest in others. They often tend to talk in great lengths about themselves. As a result they are labeled as self centered and egoistic.

• Language impairment

Their speech is robotic and monotonous. They have marked difficulties in expressing their needs, wants, ideas, experiences and opinions. They cannot construct meaningful sentences. Their speech is lacking in appropriate use of vocabulary and grammar.

• Poor communication skills

They are unable to understand the feelings of others. They cannot express their own feelings. They are unable to interpret the body language and expressions of others. So they have poor communication skills. They cannot initiate or sustain a conversation.

• Poor body language

Autistic individuals are not able to make eye contact while talking to people. They may tend to make repetitive and restrictive movements of the body. Their speech and body language are often described as weird and robotic.

• Obsessive behavior

People affected by autism show excessive or rather obsessive interest in one particular topic. They are good at memorizing facts and figures related to their topic of interest such as railway timetables or constellations of stars. They can talk in great depths about their topic of interest but show lack of interest and understanding in other areas.

• Inability to control their emotions

Autistic individuals are poor at expressing their feelings and emotions. They are extremely sensitive to criticism. They may insist that things should be done in the proper order, meticulously and the way they want, and when this does not happens then they become very angry. They are unable to control their emotions such as anger and depression. They may resort to aggressive behavior when angry.

• Extreme sensitivity

People affected by this developmental disorder are extremely sensitive to external stimuli. They are sensitive to bright and flashing lights, loud noises, loud music, strong odors, different tastes, crowds and unexpected occurrences.

• Stick to routine, rituals and schedules

Autistic individuals often show a strict adherence to routines and schedules. They expect other family members to follow the same routines. Any change in routine upsets them and causes undue anxiety and stress.