Signs of Autism in Toddlers
•Doesn’t respond to their name •Limited or no eye contact •Isn’t interested in taking turns in games •Prefers to play alone •Limited range of facial expressions •Repeats words and movements •Doesn’t see you out to share something they have discovered •Uses your hand as a tool to pick up things they want •Won’t eat foods of certain textures •Gets attached to unusual objects •Does the same thing over and over with a toy or part of the toy like spinning the wheels of a toy car •Lines up toys and resists anyone changing it •Examining objects from different angles •Over sensitive or under sensitive to sensory stimulation •Difficult to control meltdowns and shutdowns
Signs of Autism in School Aged Children and Adolescents
•Talks about a narrow range of topics •Repeats certain words or phrases from books, movies, or TV shows •Has one sided conversation with no back-and-forth •Seems uninterested in starting a conversation •Doesn’t initiate social interactions •May prefer to play with younger children or engage with adults •Appears standoffish when in social situations •Difficulty understanding what others mean like sarcasm •Difficulty using and interpreting body language •Difficulty expressing their feelings or understanding how others feels •Speaks in a monotone or sing-song tone of voice •Avoids eye contact •Finds it hard to see others’ perspectives •Doesn’t understand social rules or notice social cues •Difficulty moving from one task to another •Prefers familiar routines •Has highly focused interests and expecting others to be equally interested in those subjects •Difficulty tolerating changes in routine and new experiences
Signs of Autism in Adults
•Difficulty understanding what others are thinking or feeling •Getting very anxious about social situations •Difficulty forming friendships •Prefers to be alone •Appears insensitive, blunt, rude, or not interested in others without meaning to •Finding it hard to say how you feel •Taking things very literally and not understanding abstract concepts •Needs extra time to process information or answer questions •Having the same routine every day and getting very anxious if it changes •Avoiding eye contact •Noticing small details, patterns, smells, sounds that others do not •Planning things carefully before doing them •Extreme anxiety in social situations •Inflexible with rules and sees everything as black and white
Signs of Autism in Women and Girls
The core symptoms of autism are the same across both genders. However, symptoms in females may present in unique ways in comparison to males. Many female behaviors associated with autism may appear to be typical behaviors therefore many are missed or misdiagnosed. Common misdiagnoses include borderline personality disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), social anxiety, bipolar disorder, mood disorder, sleep disorder.
•Higher social motivation therefore camouflaging and masking their symptoms and can better initially connect with peers •Learning socially acceptable behavior by watching TV, moves and people around them •Forcing eye contact •Creating “scripts” for conversations and social situations •Ability to modify their behavior based on the situation •Internalized symptoms which can lead anxiety or depression •Responding to social difficulties which may appear as being shy •Restricted interested which tend to be age appropriate such as celebrities or animals therefore goes unnoticed •Repetitive behaviors that are not associated with autism such as skin picking, pacing, or hair twirling.
Treatment and Interventions
In most cases, medical insurances will require a medical diagnosis of ASD to cover autism related therapies. There are many effective interventions that can help a child reach their full potential, including: •Applied behavioral analysis:Can improve communication skills, social skills, daily living skills, attention and focus, and decrease problem behaviors. •Social skills training: Improve ability to interact with others and build meaningful relationships by learning and practicing social interaction skills such as conversation, friendship building, and navigating social situations. •Speech & language therapy: Can improve the child's speech patterns and understanding of language. •Occupational therapy: Can help the individual understand and regulate sensory input. Improve deficits in adaptive skills related to daily living such as feeding and dressing, as well as problems with handwriting. •Parent management training: Parents learn effective ways of responding to problematic behavior and encouraging appropriate behavior in their child. Parent support groups help parents cope with the stressors of raising a child with autism. •Special education services: Are provided by schools under an Individual Education Plan (IEP) and can include a range of services and accommodations for social communication deficits, restricted interests and repetitive behaviors. This can include special classes to address language, social skills and other needs.