What are some common signs of autism?

There are three distinctive behaviors that characterize autism. Autistic children have difficulties with social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors or narrow, obsessive interests. These behaviors can range in impact from mild to disabling.

The hallmark feature of autism is impaired social interaction. Parents are usually the first to notice symptoms of autism in their child. As early as infancy, a baby with autism may be unresponsive to people or focus intently on one item to the exclusion of others for long periods of time. A child with autism may appear to develop normally and then withdraw and become indifferent to social engagement.

Children with autism may fail to respond to their name and often avoid eye contact with other people. They have difficulty interpreting what others are thinking or feeling because they can’t understand social cues, such as tone of voice or facial expressions, and don’t watch other people’s faces for clues about appropriate behavior. They lack empathy.

Many children with autism engage in repetitive movements such as rocking and twirling, or in self-abusive behavior such as biting or head-banging. They also tend to start speaking later than other children and may refer to themselves by name instead of “I” or “me.” Children with autism don’t know how to play interactively with other children. Some speak in a sing-song voice about a narrow range of favorite topics, with little regard for the interests of the person to whom they are speaking.

Many children with autism have a reduced sensitivity to pain, but are abnormally sensitive to sound, touch, or other sensory stimulation. These unusual reactions may contribute to behavioral symptoms such as a resistance to being cuddled or hugged.

Children with autism appear to have a higher than normal risk for certain co-existing conditions, including fragile X syndrome (which causes mental retardation), tuberous sclerosis (in which tumors grow on the brain), epileptic seizures, Tourette syndrome, learning disabilities, and attention deficit disorder. For reasons that are still unclear, about 20 to 30 percent of children with autism develop epilepsy by the time they reach adulthood. While people with schizophrenia may show some autistic-like behavior, their symptoms usually do not appear until the late teens or early adulthood. Most people with schizophrenia also have hallucinations and delusions, which are not found in autism.

Autism: Signs and Symptoms

Children with autism and other autism spectrum disorders typically display a range of identifiable symptoms. By being aware of these signs, parents can help spot the disorder at an earlier age, which greatly improves a child’s overall prognosis.

Communication

Delay in, or total lack of, development of spoken language
-- Difficulty initiating conversation
-- Echolalia (repeating words or phrases instead of using normal language)
-- Doesn’t respond to name
-- Doesn’t use or respond to gestures and other nonverbal cues

Social Interaction

Doesn’t point to objects or show them to others
-- Doesn’t make eye contact at appropriate times
-- Doesn’t look at other people’s faces as much
-- Doesn’t respond to facial expressions or body language
-- Doesn’t smile back at others
-- Lack of peer relationships appropriate to age level
-- Less interest in other children
-- Not motivated by praise or physical affection
-- Doesn’t clearly demonstrate sympathy or empathy

Behaviors

Engages in highly repetitive play
-- Obsessively preoccupied with a specific interest or object
-- Lack of make-believe or imitative play
-- Dependent on routines, rituals and familiarity
-- Repetitive body movements (hand or finger flapping, eye rolling, twisting, spinning, rocking, etc.)
-- Preoccupation with parts of objects
-- Easily overstimulated by noises, crowds or lights
-- Extreme dislike of certain sounds, textures or situations
-- Doesn’t have strong response to pain

Sources: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition); “Helping Children with Autism Learn,” by Dr. Bryna Siegal (Oxford University Press, 2003); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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Increase in diagnoses of autism

Source: Wikipedia.org

The number of reported cases of autism has increased dramatically over the past decade.There has been an explosion worldwide in reported cases of autism over the last ten years. In the last decade, the population of the United States has increased by 13%. There has been an increase in non-autism-related disabilities of 16%. The increase in autism is 173%. There has been considerable speculation as to why this might be, with no conclusive proof emerging around any theory. Epidemiologists argue that the rise is either partly or entirely attributable to changes in diagnostic criteria, reclassifications, public awareness, and the incentive to tap into federally mandated services.

A widely cited study from the M.I.N.D. Institute in California (Oct 17, 2002), concluded that the increase is real, even after those complicating factors are accounted for. Other researchers remain unconvinced, including Dr. Chris Johnson, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio and co-chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Autism Expert Panel, who says, “There is a chance we’re seeing a true rise, but right now I don’t think anybody can answer that question for sure.” (Newsweek reference below).

The answer to this question has significant ramifications on the direction of research, since a real increase would focus more attention (and research funding) on the search for environmental factors, while a consensus for little or no real increase would direct more attention to genetics. On the other hand, it is conceivable that certain environmental factors (vaccination, diet, societal changes) may have a particular impact on people with a specific genetic constitution.

There is little public research on the effects of in-vitro fertilization on the number of incidences of autism.

• "M.I.N.D. Institute Study Confirms Autism Increase." U.C. Davis. Accessed on March 6, 2005.
• "As autism cases soar, a search for clues", Newsweek, (Feb 24, 2005)
• "Autism Statistics: More and More Autism Cases", New York Times, (Jan 26, 2004)
• Wing L, Potter D. (2002). "The epidemiology of autistic spectrum disorders: is the prevalence rising?". Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews 8 (3): 151–61. (abstract)
• Croen LA, Grether JK, Hoogstrate J, Selvin S. (2002 Jun). "The changing prevalence of autism in California". Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 32 (3): 207-15. (abstract)
• In 2001, Wired Magazine published an interesting speculative article The Geek Syndrome exploring the surge in apparent autism in Silicon Valley. This is only one example of the media's application of mental disease labels to what is actually variant normal behavior. Shyness, lack of athletic ability or social skills, and intellectual interests, even when they seem unusual to others, are not in themselves signs of autism or Asperger's syndrome.