Autism spectrum disorder

By Blue Dog Websites | September 12, 2018

Autism spectrum disorder impacts how a child perceives and socializes with others, causing problems in crucial areas of development — social interaction, communication and behaviour. Some children show signs of ASD in early infancy.

Other children may develop normally for the first few months or years of life, but then suddenly become withdrawn or aggressive or lose language skills they’ve already acquired.

Each child with ASD is likely to have a unique pattern of behaviour and level of severity — from low functioning to high functioning. Severity is based on social communication impairments and the restrictive and repetitive nature of behaviours, along with how these impact the ability to function.

Because of the unique mixture of symptoms shown in each child, severity level can sometimes be difficult to determine. However, within the range (spectrum) of symptoms, below are some common ASD actions and behaviours.

Social communication and interaction

  • Fails to respond to his or her name or appears not to hear you at times
  • Resists cuddling and holding and seems to prefer playing alone — retreats into his or her own world
  • Has poor eye contact and lacks facial expression
  • Doesn’t speak or has delayed speech, or may lose previous ability to say words or sentences
  • Can’t start a conversation or keep one going, or may only start a conversation to make requests or label items
  • Speaks with an abnormal tone or rhythm — may use a singsong voice or robot-like speech
  • May repeat words or phrases verbatim, but doesn’t understand how to use them
  • Doesn’t appear to understand simple questions or directions
  • Doesn’t express emotions or feelings and appears unaware of others’ feelings
  • Doesn’t point at or bring objects to share interest
  • Inappropriately approaches a social interaction by being passive, aggressive or disruptive

Patterns of behaviour

  • Performs repetitive movements, such as rocking, spinning or hand-flapping, or may perform activities that could cause harm, such as head-banging
  • Develops specific routines or rituals and becomes disturbed at the slightest change
  • Moves constantly
  • May be uncooperative or resistant to change
  • Has problems with coordination or has odd movement patterns, such as clumsiness or walking on toes, and has odd, stiff or exaggerated body language
  • May be fascinated by details of an object, such as the spinning wheels of a toy car, but doesn’t understand the “big picture” of the subject
  • May be unusually sensitive to light, sound and touch, and yet oblivious to pain
  • Does not engage in imitative or make-believe play
  • May become fixated on an object or activity with abnormal intensity or focus
  • May have odd food preferences, such as eating only a few foods, or eating only foods with a certain texture

Most children with ASD are slow to gain knowledge or skills, and some have signs of lower than normal intelligence. Other children with ASD have normal to high intelligence — they learn quickly, yet have trouble communicating and applying what they know in everyday life and adjusting to social situations. A small number of children with ASD are savants — they have exceptional skills in a specific area, such as art, math or music.

As they mature, some children with ASD become more engaged with others and show fewer disturbances in behaviour. Some, usually those with the least severe problems, eventually may lead normal or near-normal lives. Others, however, continue to have difficulty with language or social skills, and the teen years can bring worse behavioural problems.

Credit: Mayo Clinic