Autism Characteristics

Autism is a multi-faceted condition, which makes it difficult to diagnose. The signs and symptoms often don’t become discernable until the child is approximately three years old. Even though autism may be present at birth, it is not easily detectable at that time. The sooner you are able to recognize autism characteristics, the sooner you can get your child to a doctor for an examination and helpful treatment of the condition. Autism occurs in boys four times more than it does in girls.

Autism characteristics can include:

• Great hardship in discerning language and learning to speak correctly.
• Avoidance of eye contact and a tendency to tune out the world.
• Not wanting to be touched or cuddled, except when they particularly desire it.
• Inability to get along with others in play.
• Inability to understand other people’s feelings when they express them.
• Becoming highly distressed when a set routine or pattern changes.
• Complete intolerance to change.
• Seemingly uncontrolled body movements such as pacing, hitting one’s head against a wall or other object, hand wringing or flicking, and rocking movements.
• Lack of sensitivity to cold, heat, or pain.
• Unusual sensitivity to what most consider normal noises and sounds.
• Having no fear and being unresponsive to dangerous circumstances.
• Obsession with toys having movable parts or pieces.
• Temper tantrums and crying spells that seemingly come out of the blue.
• Impulsive behavior.
• Using words in strange ways that are not associated with the word’s meaning at all; using speech in an odd way, such as manifesting an unusual speech inflection.

Two people who have been diagnosed with autism can have all 15 of the above-mentioned autism characteristics or only one or two of them; however having one or two of these traits isn't a diagnosis for autism. Individuals are going to react differently to the condition, and the emphasis placed on certain characteristics might be more or less severe than another.

Not all autism characteristics or cases are the same; some are relatively mild while others are more pervasive. For example, some children, teens, and adults with autism can and do make eye contact; it just may be in a slightly different manner than what is most often seen in a person without autism. With an early diagnosis and proper treatment, a child can increase and advance his or her functioning abilities. Some individuals with autism may do better with sign language than spoken words. While children will not grow out of autism completely, it can be treated and managed and much improvement can be made.

While it is true that children and adults with autism characteristics may not show affection in a normal way (because they process the stimuli differently), they do most certainly have feelings, and they do show affection in their own ways. As a parent or caregiver, it is important to somehow become part of the child's world and learn how the child shows affection and expresses various feelings so that you can reciprocate in terms the child understands.