Autism spectrum disorders
Children with autistic disorder may appear normal for the first few months of life. More often an abnormal pattern of development can be seen from the birth. Your child may then become more and more unresponsive to you or other stimuli. Delay in language development is the most common reason children who are later diagnosed with autism are brought to the doctor. Your child, depending on his or her age, may have a number of symptoms in the following areas:
Social skills
- Resists being cuddled; may scream to be put down when held.
- Remains withdrawn from parents and others and fails to form relationships.
- Avoids eye-to-eye contact.
- Prefers to play alone.
- Is indifferent to the feelings of others and to social norms.
Use of language and imagination
- Speaks later than other children of the same age.
- Cannot understand or copy speech or gestures.
- Rate, pitch, tone, or rhythm of speech is abnormal.
- Unable to start a conversation or keep one going.
- Unable to engage in fantasy or imaginative play such as role playing and storytelling.
- Responds inappropriately to sounds.
- Acquired speech is immature and unimaginative. He or she makes up words and echoes what someone says.
Behavior, activities, and interests
- Develops habit behavior and compulsive routines.
- Greatly resists even the slightest change; becomes enraged if his or her obsessive routine is altered or activities are disrupted.
- Hyperactive.
- Obsessed with one topic or idea; may become attached to unusual objects.
- Walks on tiptoe and/or flicks or twiddles fingers for long periods.
- Bangs head, rocks, or stares.
- Has sudden screaming spells.
- Injures himself on purpose.
- Has trouble learning manual tasks.
No child with autism will have all of the above symptoms nor is this a list of all the symptoms.
Referral sources that can often help children with autism
- Developmental Specialist
- Evaluation by Early Intervention
- Hearing evaluation
- Speech therapy
- Physical therapy
- Occupational therapy
- Pediatric GI specialist (if child has intestinal symptoms)
- Neurologist (if seizures present)
- Child psychiatrist / psychologist
- Social worker / family counseling
- Local parent support groups
Oregon resources for children with autism:
Further resources for children with autism:
Book list:
- The OASIS Guide to Asperger Syndrome: Advice, Support, Insight, andInspiration
by Patricia Romanowski Bashe (Author), Barbara L. Kirby (Author), Tony Attwood
- A Parent’s Guide to Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism
by Sally Ozonoff, Geraldine Dawson, and James McPartland, 2002
- Asperger Syndrome, Edited by Ami Klin, PhD, Fred R. Volkmar, MD, and Sara S. Sparrow, PhD
- Book from Amazon titled Taking Care of Myself: A Hygiene, Puberty and Personal Curriculum for Young People with Autism
