Recognising the behavior of autistic individuals

Autism is a developmental disorder under the umbrella term Pervasive Developmental Disorder as indicated by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV of Mental Disorders, which is the standard used.

Autism, which is sometimes also referred to Childhood Autism, Early Infantile Autism, or Kanner's Autism, is caused by some neurological malfunction that causes marked delays in the development in the areas of communication and social interaction.

Although there is a wide range or degrees of pervasiveness, the behavioral patterns are essentially the same. Still, there are certain things that are only manifested by people diagnosed with mild autism and those who are diagnosed with severe cases.

Although the onset of autism is often placed during the third year of life, some experts believe that even at younger ages, they already manifest marked behavioral patterns.

Research has shown babies with autism are either those that are very good and are often silent and those who are extremely fussy and always agitated.

As they grow, Autistic children show marked delays in speech and in interacting with their fellows. Still some parents of autistic children report that behavioral patterns and development before the third year of life seems normal and that the problem only starts on the third year.

It is however important that diagnosis be done early in life. If one can confirm the presence of autism before age three, it’s better because the sooner one knows what the problem is, the sooner can one provide the solution. Treatments may also be more effective when done early in life when the child is still developing.

To help parents recognized autism, here are some early indicators.

• Tendency to be deaf or not be aware that a person is talking to them
• They are either extremely silent or extremely fussy
• They avoid eye-contact with other people
• They do not appear to be aware of what is happening in their surroundings
• They do not adapt to change easily and may display physical and behavioral resistance when faced with an unfamiliar situation
• They do not communicate the way they should be at their age
• They may repeat words or phrases over and over again without appearing to notice that they are doing so
• They have high tolerance for pain
• They have wither extremely sensitive sensory skills or extreme lack of them
• They have difficulty interacting with other people
• They do not imitate others
• They appear to be perfectionist and displays unusually intense focus on one task
• They show firm attachments to objects

Here are other indicators that may be seen in older children

• There are marked abnormalities, usually complete lack of, facial expressions
• They do not engage in sensory and make-believe play
• Their body movements are extremely limited and can stay in one place for long periods of time.
  There is also limited use of body gestures.
• They fail to develop any kind of social relationship that are appropriate to their developmental level.
• They do not speak to other people or share their feelings and thoughts with others.
• There is marked delay in the development of speech and that there is no attempts to even use alternative modes of communication such as hand signals and gestures.
• For those who can speak, they display a marked impairment in initiating and sustaining their communication with other people
• There is great preoccupation to certain activities, accompanied by really great and infallible concentration and focus.
• There is also some presence of repetitive hand gestures such as flapping of the hands or banging of the head.