Autism also known as autism spectrum disorder is a neuro developmental disorder that impairs a child’s  ability to communicate and interact with other people. This disorder can cause serious significant impairment in social, occupational and other areas. Babies with autism usually crawl, sit and walk  on time and as a result  differences in the development of gestures, pretend play and social language usually go unnoticed.  Parents may also notice changes in the way the child interacts with his peers.

One child with autism may have totally different symptoms from another child with the same disorder. The severity and number of symptoms may also vary vastly.

Social differences in children with autism

• makes very little or no eye contact
• fails to respond to his name or appears not to hear you at times
• doesn’t show empathy for others
• doesn’t respond to parent’s smile or facial expressions
• resist cuddling and holding and prefers to play alone
• lacks  facial expressions
• doesn’t point at objects or events to get parents to look at them
• doesn’t look at objects or events parent is looking at or pointing to
• doesn’t point to or bring objects to share interest
• unable to make friends or not interested in making friends
• may not be able to perceive what others may be thinking or saying by looking at their facial expressions

Communication differences in children with autism

• doesn’t say single words by 16 months
• can’t start a conversation or keep one going
• repeat words or phrases that others say but doesn’t understand how to use them
• refers to self as “you and others as “I ” and  may mix pronouns
• may lose language and other social milestone around age  15 to 24 months . This is often referred to as regression
• doesn’t use toys and other objects to represent people or real life in pretend play
• may have a good rote memory for especially  for numbers, letters, songs and specific topic
• doesn’t point at things . May also not indicate needs or share things with others

Behavioral Differences (Repetitive & Obsessive Behaviors) in Children with Autism

• performs repetitive actions such as hand flapping,  spinning and rocking
• may be resistant to change
• likes specific routine and rituals and has difficulty with change
• may be very sensitive or not sensitive at all to smell, light, sounds and touch
• unusual  use of vision such as  looking  at objects from an unusual  angle
• may be oblivious  to pain
• are more fascinated by parts of an object such as the wheels of a toy car , but not the whole thing
• may be obsessed with a few or unusual activity and do them repeatedly the whole day
• have odd food preference such as eating only a few food foods with certain textures or eat only a few foods

How can you tell the difference between a child with autism from other children

12 months

• a child will turn head when she hears her  name
• a child with autism will not turn or look when she  hears her  name even if it is repeated several time but will respond   to other sounds

 
18 months

• a child with speech delay will make up for not talking by pointing , using facial expressions or gestures
• a child with autism makes no attempt to compensate for the delayed speech.  She will limit her  speech to what she  just heard or what she  hears on tv

 
24 months

• • a child may bring a photo to her  mom and share her joys with her
  • a child with autism will bring a bottle to her mom to open but will not look at her  mom when she  brings it . She will not even share the pleasure of playing together.

If you have any concerns about your child’s development  such as the way she talks, speaks, play , moves or acts, talk to your pediatrician about your concerns .
 
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