It’s a fact that parents really can tell when something is off with a child, even though autism symptoms can be quite different in children. Autism shares similar symptoms with other medical problems, and that’s why it’s imperative that a professional assessment is performed to determine autism. Our discussion centers on the usual symptoms found in autistic children, and these symptoms are not all expressed equally in all children.

The first symptom we’ll discuss is failure to imitate. a normal child will imitate almost everything they see right down to smiles and sounds. However most autistic children do or can not. Babies soon learn to smile when someone smiles at them. As we progress through life we learn to speak, walk, and act by watching the same actions of others. you won’t see an autistic child pick up this type of behavior although it is a normal part of development. These imitative behaviors are not often seen in autistic kids like they are in normal kids. Autistic children often do not develop the ability to speak until much later but can communicate in ways that may be difficult to understand by others. Another range of symptoms concerns a lack of understanding regarding communication with others such as observing body language or hearing/understanding varying tones in other people’s voices. the result is the autistic person is unable to detect signs in other people that related to various feelings and emotions. Also with communication, they do not understand language devices that are not literal. so successful communication will happen when highly literal words are spoken to them. there are high functioning autistic people, but they still seem to face the same challenge in this area of effective communication.

One symptom of autism is a fear or dislike of any changes in daily routines. Autistic people, from the lowest to the highest functioning, tend to like repetition and ritual. Movement and routine are basically self taught and self managed such as how they prefer to stand or certain types of movement. regardless of what the routine is, if you try to force a change they will become disturbed. taking into consideration how change affects the autistic person is an important factor in treating this condition.

There are more symptoms that are considered common in autism, and that are seen frequently in the very young child. the range of symptoms is different from one person to the next, and that is why any treatment for this condition must be constructed based on that person’s particular symptoms and situation. Autism research has been an ongoing concern for many years, and obviously more needs to be done so the disease can be unraveled and understood.

Observation, not Medical Testing

Because there is no medical test for autism, diagnosis is made based on observation of behavior. Although developmental screening and evaluation relies on tests, the responses to the questions on those tests are behavior-related. it may seem, then, that autism is a subjective diagnosis, but it is not. While two children with the same diagnosis may not share the same symptoms, the broader categories of impaired communication and social functioning are hallmarks of autism.

Parents may realize that their child is not developing normally or seems to be “different” without being able to put their finger on a specific delay or deficit. it is important, then, for parents to understand how an autistic child may act, speak, talk, move, and interact. the sooner these observations are made, the sooner a child can be screened and evaluated, diagnosed and treated, so early observation of behaviors is critical.

Hallmarks of autism are deficits in social interaction, deficits in communication, and repetitive behaviors. the autistic child may appear not to know how to play and not engage in the give-and-take of normal social interaction or be able to play pretend games. an autistic child may not, for instance, pretend to feed a doll or role-play with action figures or other toys.

Autistic children may speak very little, or not at all, or fail to meet developmental guidelines for language acquisition and use. the child may appear to be in his “own world” or appear not to be listening when spoken to. Babies who are not responding to their own names by around age 1 may be exhibiting a symptom of autism.

Repetitive behaviors like touching objects or repetitive gestures may be present in the autistic child. Autistic children may have limited interests and an inability to determine when their interest is not shared by others. for instance, an autistic child may know a great deal about airplanes but very little else, and talk continuously about airplanes to the exclusion of other topics even when his audience is clearly not interested.

Observe and Learn

For parents, reading about these behaviors is certainly useful since it can help parents to understand that their child’s behavior may have an underlying, treatable cause and that their child is not the only one affected by these behaviors. But actually seeing what these behaviors look like in diagnosed children can present a learning opportunity for parents.

Patricia Towle, Ph.D., a clinical child psychologist with the Westchester Institute for Human Development in Valhalla, new York, has produced a 90-minute DVD called “Autism Spectrum Disorder in Young Children: a Visual Guide/ Volume I: an Overview, Learning to Observe Across the Three Symptom Domains.” the DVD, as the name suggests, lets parents see what the behaviors associated with autism look like in young children. This visual guide presents a unique opportunity for parents to observe behaviors they may have observed in their own child. Seeing these behaviors “in action” may help parents to better understand their own child’s behaviors and help parents become better advocates for their child’s care.

The DVD is available for order here.