Autism Symptoms - An Explanation of the Core Areas of Autism

[George Giles]

Almost all children who display symptoms of Autism are diagnosed by
the time they reach three years of age. It is very common for a child
to appear to be developing normally up to the time they are two or two
and a half years of age. At that point either development may stop
moving forward or the child displays symptoms of regression. Each
child displays unique Autistic features because they are a combination
of three core areas. The degree of each symptom is also different for
each child, creating a unique set of circumstances that treatment
needs to be developed for.
Some very common characteristics of Autistic individuals are the
inability to read the emotions of others or to express their own. They
often don't like to engage in affectionate behaviors either. The
Autistic Spectrum is used to classify the severity of Autism for each
individual because of the unique symptoms they display.
There are three areas that need to be carefully addressed with Autism
as they are the core areas of the symptoms. They include social
skills, verbal and non verbal communication, and behavioral issues.
There must be symptoms in each of these distinct areas for the
diagnosis of Autism to be met.
The symptoms of poor social skills include the inability to read or
use body language, the inability to interpret non verbal signals, the
inability to read facial expressions, and poor eye contact. In many
cases the individual makes no connection between their circumstances
and the emotions that should go with it. Autistic individuals don't
generally care for affection and they have a hard time making friends
or getting along with others at social functions.
Communication problems include the inability to use language to
communicate with others, abnormal speech development, and the
inability to read or use non verbal language skills. This can leave
the individual very frustrated as they can't express their needs or
wants. They often choose to imitate the communication style of those
around them.
The behaviors of an Autistic child are quite interesting. They will
limit the activities they participate in but passionately engage in
them. They love routines and will not respond well to changes to their
routine. The issue of repetitive body movements in Autistic children
is also very common.