What is an Autism Spectrum Disorder? Who does this include and what are the indicators that someone has an autism spectrum disorder? Read on as we will go into further depth about Autism Spectrum Disorders and answer these questions and more. Please contact us with any questions or future posts you would like to see on this topic.
Autism Spectrum Disorders include:
- Autism
- Asperger Syndrome – typical cognitive and language development
- Rett’s Disorder – occurs in females and is rare. Child losses previously acquired skills at age 1-2. Unusual head growth and hand ringing.
- Childhood Disintegrative Disorder – same as autism, but develops later in life.
- Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Don’t meet all of the requirements, but have characteristics.
Social Behavior
1. Has difficulty recognizing the feelings of others (mind-blindness)
2. Uses poor eye-contact
3. Has difficulty maintaining personal space, physically intrudes on others
4. Does not seek attention of others
5. Has difficulty imitating actions or works of others
6. Shows little interest or response to praise
7. Has difficulty making or keeping friends
8. Has difficulty joining an activity
9. Chooses or prefers solitary activities
10. Has difficulty understanding others’ nonverbal communication (e.g. facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice, etc.)
11. Appears to be unresponsive to others (e.g. unaware of presence of others; ignores greetings, requests, and own name, etc.)
12. Appears to be in :”own world”
13. Other
Restrictive, Repetitive, and Stereotypical Patterns of Behavior, Interests, and Activities
1. Expresses strong need for routine or “sameness”
2. Expresses desire for repetition
3. Uses objects in repetitive, atypical manner (e.g. spins wheels of a toy car, purposely drops objects, etc.)
4. Appears preoccupied with sensory exploration of objects (e.g. mouths, licks, chews, sniffs, holds close to eyes, squeezes, or uses objects to make sounds)
5. Has preference for objects that move
6. Has intense preoccupation with self-absorption or own unique interests
7. Asks repetitive questions
8. Displays attachment to unusual objects
9. Seems to be motivated by customary rewards
10. Displays repetitive motor movements (e.g. flaps hands, paces, flicks fingers in front of eyes, spins, rocks, etc.)
11. Has problems handling transition and change
12. Has strong need for closure or difficulty stopping a task before it is completed
13. Other
Communication
1. Makes little or no speech
2. Makes sounds or states words or phrases repeatedly [non-echolalic](e.g. humming, “well actually)
3. Makes up new words or creates alternate meanings for words or phrases
4. Displays immediate or delayed echolalic (e.g. recites lines from movies, repeats other person’s questions, comments, repeats, etc.)
5. Interprets words of conversations literally / has difficulty understanding figurative language
6. Has difficulty with rules of conversation (e.g. interrupts others, asks inappropriate questions, makes poor eye-contact, has difficulty maintaining conversation
7. Fails to imitate or respond to social greetings
8. Has difficulty using gestures and facial expressions / makes unusual facial expressions
9. Has difficulty starting, joining, and/or ending a conversation
10. Has difficulty asking for help
11. Does not respond to comments, may speak only when asked a direct question
12. Has difficulty expressing thoughts and feelings
13. Makes up new words or creates alternate meanings fir words or phrases
14. Talks incessantly, —– back and forth
15. Makes unusual voices or special abilities (e.g. babbles, —, grunts, uses — or mechanical speech
16. Has difficulty following instructions
17. Has difficulty understanding language with multiple meanings, humor, sarcasm, synonyms
18. Other
Sensory Differences
1. Responds in an unusual manner to sounds (e.g. ignores sounds or overreacts to noises, high-pitched continuous sounds or complex/multiple noises)
2. Responds in an unusual manner to pain (e.g. overreacts or seems unaware of an illness or injury)
3. Responds in an unusual manner to taste (e.g. resists certain textures, flavors, brands, etc.)
4. Responds in an unusual manner to light or —- (e.g. focuses on —-, shadows, reflections, preference for or dislike for certain colors)
5. Responds in an unusual manner to temperature
6. Responds in an unusual manner to smells (e.g. may comment on smells that others do not detect)
7. Seeks activities that provide touch, pressure, or movement (e.g. swinging, hugging, pacing, etc.)
8. Avoids activities that provide touch, pressure, or movement (e.g. resists wearing certain types of clothing, strongly dislikes to be dirty, resists hugs, etc.)
9. Makes noises such as humming or singing frequently
10. Other
Cognitive Differences
1. Has excellent memory for details (e.g. stories, movies, songs, etc.)
2. Displays weakness in reading comprehension with strong word recognition
3. Has difficulty applying learned skills in new settings
4. Has academic deficits
5. Has attention problems
6. Displays very literal understanding of concepts
7. Recalls information inconsistently (i.e. — forget previously learned information
8. Has difficulty understanding the connection between behavior and resulting consequences
Motor Differences
1. Has balance difficulties
2. Resists or refuses handwriting tasks
3. Has poor handwriting
4. Has poor motor coordination (e.g. accident-prone, difficulty using fasteners, etc.)
5. Writes slowly
6. Displays atypical activity level (e.g. overactive/hyperactive, underachieve/proactive)
7. Has athletic skill deficits
8. Displays awkward gait
9. Displays unusual body postures and movements or facial expressions (e.g. odd postures, stiffness, “freezing”, facial grimacing)
10. Has difficulty starting and completing actions (e.,g, may — —-] or verbal prompting—)
11. Other
Emotional Vulnerability
1. Easily stressed
2. Appears to be depressed or sad
3. Has unusual fear Responses (e.g. lack appropriate fears or awareness of danger or is overly fearful)
4. Appears anxious
5. Exhibits rage reactions or “meltdowns”
6. Injures self (e.g. bangs head, picks skin, bites nails until they bleed, bites self)
7. Displays inconsistent behaviors
8. Has difficulty tolerating mistakes
9. Has low frustration tolerance
10. Has low self-esteem, makes negative comments about self
11. Has difficulty identifying, quantifying expressing, and/or controlling emotions (e.g. can only recognize and express emotion in extremes or fails to express emotions – “emotionally flat”)
12. Has a hard time understanding others’
Feel free to contact Sarah to follow up if you have any concerns about your child.
Check out these other blog posts about Autism:
What Autism Looks Like
What are the Puzzle Pieces of Autism?
Autism Survival Guide