The Autism Symptoms
Facts Sheet

Aspergers Syndrome

Prevasive Developmental Disorder-PDD-NOS

Childhood Disintegrative Disorder

Fragil-X Syndrome

Rhett Syndrome

Autism symptoms can be confusing to diagnose in young children. As an occupational therapist who has worked with many children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)I can offer this advice to parents get help early. Early intervention services have been proven to be very beneficial at improving the outcomes of children with this disorder.

Spectrum disorder means that people with ASD can be bright, verbal, or as well as mentally retarded and non-verbal. The most significant shared symptom is difficulty with social communication which is sharing eye contact, joint attention with another and communication.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)states that approximately 6 out of every 1000 children will be born with symptoms of the ASD.

If you suspect that your child might be presenting with any of the symptoms listed alert your doctor and get help.

Autism Symptoms in Early Childhood

• Be overly sensitive in sight, hearing, touch, smell, or taste (for example, they may refuse to wear "itchy" clothes and become distressed if they are forced to wear the clothes)
• Finds security in rituals and routines and has trouble adapting when routines are changed
• May have repeated body movements like hand flapping,finger flicking or toe walking
• Makes repeated sounds
• Has unusual attachments to objects and becomes upset when object is taken away or lost
• May repeat or echo words that are said to them or use pronouns incorrectly. Instead of saying "I want" the child might say "you want"
• Has little language or none at all for age
• Does not look at or point at objects when others show them something of interest
• Does not play pretend play like feeding a doll or driving a car
• Is content to be alone and does not show interest in people
• May avoid direct eye contact
• Has heightened or low senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell,or taste
• May find normal noises painful and hold hands over ears
• May withdraw from or avoid physical contact
• Rubs surfaces, mouths or licks objects
• "Acts up" with intense temper tantrums and takes an unusual amount of time to calm down
• Fixes on a single task and repeats it over and over (perseveration)
• Has a short attention span

The genetically linked ASD has autism symptoms that appear from birth. I have had numerous parents tell me that they knew almost from the beginning that their baby was different due to his behaviors like irritability and lack of social enjoyment.

The kind of ASD that may be triggered by environmental factors is the one that seems to appear around 18-24 months and has reports of skill loss such as communication and play.

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Hanen Program -It Takes Two to Talk

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