Autism refers to a broad range of biological disorders that affect the brain, particularly in reference to behavior and social skills. In most cases, the behavior characteristics of autism will begin to show before a child celebrates his or her third birthday. Autism can manifest itself from mild to extreme degrees, so each child must be treated as an individual.
Early Signs
Because autism has gotten more publicity in recent years, many parents are actually aware of what signs to look for as they try to determine if their child might have autism. Again, these signs can vary, and determining autistic behaviors in infants can be difficult. However, the following characteristics could be warning signs, and if you notice these, contact your pediatrician with your suspicions.
- Extreme behaviors, such as crying often or not crying enough
- Feeding difficulties, which could include a poor sucking reflex
- Appearing to be ambivalent about her surroundings, not showing emotions such as excitement, joy, fear, etc.
- Lack of response to others, including avoiding eye contact, not turning toward sounds, etc.
- Delayed speech; does not babble by the first birthday; may not form simple phrases by age two
- Regression in development. The child may have been developing normally, but all of a sudden a pronounced regression is noticed.
Autistic Savant
Many people associate autism with the movie Rainman. Dustin Hoffman played an autistic individual with savant skills. While this is certainly a fascinating subject, an autistic savant makes up only about 10 percent of individuals with autism. Savants usually exhibit an extreme skill in a specific area, such as art, numbers, music, memory, etc. They may be unable to interact socially, but they are considered a genius in the area in which they excel.
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