Autism is known as a “spectrum” disorder because there is wide variation in the type and severity of symptoms people experience.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that affects communication and behavior. People with ASD have difficulty with social communication and interaction, have restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors. Symptoms generally appear in the first three years of life. Few of them are:
- Difficulties in normal back-and-forth conversation
- Reduced sharing of interests or emotions
- Challenges in understanding or responding to social cues such as eye contact and facial expressions
- Deficits in developing/maintaining/understanding relationships (trouble making friends), and others.
- Hand-flapping and toe-walking
- Playing with toys in an uncommon way (such as lining up cars or flipping objects),
- Speaking in a unique way (such as using odd patterns or pitches in speaking or “scripting” from favorite shows),
having significant need for a predictable routine or structure,
exhibiting intense interests in activities that are uncommon for a similarly aged child - Experiencing the sensory aspects of the world in an unusual or extreme way (such as indifference to pain/temperature, excessive smelling/touching of objects, fascination with lights and movement, being overwhelmed with loud noises, etc), and others.