Autism Symptoms: How to Recognize Autism Spectrum Disorders in Children
The symptoms of autism can be very heterogeneous and vary in both complexity and severity, mainly affecting social interaction. An early diagnosis of autism in children requires the intervention of a specialist, but below we can help you identify some signs and symptoms typical of the autistic disorder spectrum, of which we will also investigate causes and diagnosis. how to make a game for children in three minutes:
Autism: symptoms and spread of the disorder
The symptoms of autism can be different and vary with time or according to the specific disorder. The disorders of the autism spectrum, in fact, represent a heterogeneous set of neurological development disorders, characterized - according to the definition of the Ministry of Health - by "deficit persistent in social communication and social interaction in multiple contexts and patterns of restricted, repetitive behaviors, interests or activities ".
According to the data also reported by the Ministry of Health and collected by the "Observatory Project for the monitoring of autism spectrum disorders" co-coordinated with the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, autistic disorder is now widespread among 8-year-old children in a percentage of about 1 in 54 in the United States, 1 in 160 in Denmark and Sweden and 1 in 86 in Great Britain. In Italy, on the other hand, the estimate is that of 1 in 77 children aged between 7 and 9, with a prevalence in males equal to 4.4 times more than in females.
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What are the causes of autism?
The causes that can lead to the development of autism in children, with the related symptoms, are not entirely clear to the scientific community, despite the advances that have been made in research in recent years.
Among the main causes, the genetic component seems to prevail: if a child with autistic disorder is already present in the family, it is easier for another to be born. The risk is about 20 times higher than a child born to an unprecedented family of autism spectrum disorders. Environmental factors, however, are also to be counted among the possible causes: autism can be due to particular infections contracted during pregnancy by the mother, exposure to certain drugs or toxic agents by the parents, or their advanced age.
In general, therefore, it is believed that autism can be generated by a concatenation of genetic and environmental factors. The Ministry of Health underlines without a shadow of a doubt that a possible correlation between children's autism and their vaccinations is completely excluded because devoid of scientific evidence.
How to recognize autism spectrum disorders in children?
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders gives precise indications regarding the symptoms of autism. The autism spectrum disorder, according to this Manual, is characterized first of all by persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction in different contexts: autistic children demonstrate a poor ability in social reciprocity, in non-verbal communication and in the management and understanding of interpersonal relationships.
Among the other symptoms of autism reported by the Statistical Diagnostic Manual there are particular patterns of behavior, interests or activities that are restricted and rather repetitive: these patterns may concern particular movements, the use of objects or non-verbal and verbal communication stereotyped and repetitive, fixed and anomalous interests, usually very limited. Autistic children also demonstrate hyper-reactivity in response to sensory stimuli that come from the surrounding environment or, on the contrary, a hypo-reactivity.
How to recognize autism in younger children? In the first years of life, a child with an autism spectrum disorder tends to have an elusive gaze and to show little interest in social interaction, and therefore in the other's attempts to involve him (also from parents) An autistic child hardly shifts his attention to an object or something of interest when recalled by his parents, and does not look for others to play, always tending to play alone.
When an autistic child seeks contact with another it is often only to achieve a goal. If you call him by name it is difficult for him to answer and shows difficulty or lack of development in language, both verbal and non-verbal, from gestures to expressions.
Autism: symptoms from the first year of life onwards
Children with autism spectrum disorder tend to show symptoms of autism itself from the first year of life. In the first year, in fact, the main symptoms of autism that can be noticed for an early diagnosis are the lack of eye contact, behavior abnormal physical contact, little interest in movement games, lack of reaction when the child is called by name.
In the second year of life, a child with this type of disorder tends to show symptoms of autism such as a lack of shared attention and an inability to play pretend play, an inability to point to objects or people, a lack of interest in any object. is shown or indicated.
From the second year of life, the main symptoms of autism that a child may show are a lack of language development and an inability in non-verbal as well as verbal communication, a tendency to play alone and refuse the company of others. children, fixation on some precise games and rejection of others, lack of interest in stories and picture books, bizarre movements, fascination with rotating objects.
If a child with an autism spectrum disorder develops language, they will tend to repeat the same expressions, will have difficulty holding a conversation and pronouncing pronouns correctly (usually reverses them). In social interaction he will show difficulty in adapting and will hardly catch humor and sarcasm. Another of the symptoms of autism is precisely the inability to adapt the tone and content of his speech to what the situation would require.
Symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome on the Autism Spectrum
Asperger's syndrome, included in the Statistical Diagnostic Manual as a subcategory of Pervasive Developmental Disorders, takes its name from the Austrian doctor Hans Asperger who first identified this particular disorder in social interaction in children. Unlike other interaction disorders, however, it is characterized by the lack of a delay in language and cognitive development.
Unlike the symptoms of autism, the child with Asperger's syndrome wants to approach others, even if in his own rather eccentric and often one-sided way: however, his attention goes to interests that are rather atypical for his age. L " Istituto Superiore di Sanità specifies that Asperger's Syndrome is in fact attributable to the category of the autism spectrum, but it should be specified that the person concerned does not have an intellectual disability and has a certain autonomy, "without the need for intensive support".
The symptoms manifested by those with Asperger's syndrome are a certain difficulty in making friends with the other (often ending up being bullied), delay in social maturity and difficulty in controlling and communicating one's emotions, a rather broad and complex vocabulary together to an elaborate syntax, rather unusual interests, equally unusual learning difficulties, need for assistance in the organization.
Other common symptoms are awkwardness in walking and lack of coordination, a great sensitivity to sounds, tastes and touch. Children with Asperger's syndrome also have difficulties in non-verbal communication (especially in decoding it), they tend to literally interpret what other people say, they appear rather rude while being naive and honest.
Children with Asperger's syndrome have a different kind of self-awareness and some delay in developing persuasion, compromise and conflict resolution skills. For example, they take some time to process social information because they use more intellect than intuition. Socialization, in general, for these children is quite tiring and requires some effort.
Autism Diagnosis and Therapy
The diagnosis of autism in children is obtained following an evaluation process by a physician who specializes in childhood and developmental neuropsychiatry. To obtain his diagnosis, the neuropsychiatrist can make use of the involvement of other professionals such as speech therapists, therapists or educators.
Only once the diagnosis and awareness of autism has been obtained will it be possible to understand what type of support and path the child must carry out in order to implement his skills for social interaction and non-verbal communication.
An early diagnosis allows you to start a support intervention for the child as quickly as possible, so that he can be helped in his developmental path and be able to limit the symptoms of autism. Promoting knowledge of autism disorders is undoubtedly important for an early diagnosis of disorders of this spectrum.
Once the diagnosis has been obtained, it is good to act with a personalized intervention: the reference professionals will have to help the children and their families in order to support them with a program that fits them perfectly ... each child has a story of its own, and so specific needs!
- Ministry of Health
- Autism Italian Switzerland
- Higher Institute of Health
