Autism Symptoms
Autism can be stated as disorder of brain usually associated with various developmental problems like social interaction and communication. It is very important to have early diagnosis of this disorder so that it can be taken care of with medical attention and extra care from the family. Autism symptoms are prominent by the age of three years. In fact the first symptoms are seen by the age of three. In some infants it is noticed from the very beginning due to particular gesture or act but usually become more apparent as the child grows. Often autism is misunderstood with deafness or mental imbalance but it is not actually related to these problems. Many a times it is even looks like a combination of these two and many more similar disorders. Autism symptoms can be put in a checklist and that can act as a diagnostic tool. But the checklist of each individual suggests a variation in the patterns.
Before we go to the checklist of autism symptoms it is important for us to know how an autistic infant is different from a normal baby. A normal baby at the age of six months gets attracted to objects around it and also responds whereas an autistic baby would not respond to it. A six month baby responds to parents, at least to mothers or anybody else who is making gestures. However, an autistic baby would not even respond to his/her mother. They would stare at one object and would not respond to anything.
It is important to have a checklist for autism. Though it is a combination of characteristics but the common symptoms are as follows:
1) Children suffering from autism would never make an eye contact and would refrain themselves from facing anybody. They would look somewhere else as if they have not heard it. This normally gets mistaken for deafness.
2) They do not like to mingle with others and keep themselves alone. They like to live in their own world and they look totally lost.
3) They have very few friends and many a times they don’t even have friends as they enjoy loneliness.
4) Autistic children have problem with loud noise and bright lights. They cry inconsolably even to loud music or roadside horns of vehicles passing.
5) They show lack of interest in any activity or even playing games. They play but in their own way which is very different from the normal kids which could make them look abnormal.
6) They do not smile or laugh at humor and respond very less to people around them.
7) Autistic children have no fear to dangers and many a times they are very aggressive for no apparent reason.
8) An Autistic child would blabber and have communication problem like repeating words and even acts. They keep rocking or even flapping their hands involuntarily and repeatedly.
9) They throw tantrums on unnecessary reasons and would jump or even cry differently.
10) Usually they are preoccupied with one or more stereotyped and restricted pattern of interest. It can be either abnormal in terms of intensity or even focus of the activity.
It is not necessary that all the above mentioned symptoms be very prominent, but one should consider medical attention if four to five symptoms amongst these are visible in their children. It is important to get the disorder diagnosed as early as possible so that the child starts getting medical treatment.
