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Print ArticleAutism Spectrum Disorders Health Center
Understanding Autism - Symptoms
What Are the Symptoms of Autism?
Symptoms of autism include:
Each child with an autism spectrum disorder will have his or her own individual pattern of autism. Sometimes, a child's development is delayed from birth. Other children with autism develop normally before suddenly losing social or language skills. In some children, a loss of language is the impairment. In others, unusual behaviors (like spending hours lining up toys) predominate.
Parents are usually the first to notice something is wrong.
Continue reading about types of autism spectrum disorders, such as Asperger's, Rett's, and more.
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- Extreme difficulty in learning language.
- Inappropriate response to people. A child with autism may avoid eye contact, resist being picked up or cuddled, and seem to tune out the world.
- Inability or reduced ability to play cooperatively with other children or to make friends.
- Inability to understand other people's feelings.
- Need for a rigid, highly structured routine -- and being very distressed by changes in routines.
- Extreme hyperactivity or unusual passivity, and extreme resistance to change.
- Repetitive body movements including pacing, hand flicking, twisting, spinning, rocking, or hitting oneself.
- Insensitivity to pain or lack of response to cold or heat.
- Impulsive behavior and no real fear of dangers.
- An unusual attachment to inanimate objects such as toys, strings, or spinning objects.
- Frequent crying and tantrums for no apparent reason.
- Peculiar speech patterns. An autistic child may use words without understanding their meanings.
- Abnormal responses to sensations such as light, sound, and touch. At times an autistic child may appear deaf. At other times the child may be extremely distressed by everyday noises.
- Some of these symptoms occur in children with other disabilities. Symptoms can change as the child grows older.
Call Your Doctor About Autism If:
- Your infant or child resists cuddling and doesn't respond to his or her environment or to other people.
- By about the age of 1 year, your child is not pointing to objects, bringing items to you or engaging in simple interactions such as "peek-a-boo."
- By the age of 16 months your child is not using any words or attempting to communicate.
- Your child bangs his or her head or demonstrates self-injurious behavior or aggression on a regular basis.
- Your child demonstrates unusually repetitive behavior, such as repeatedly opening and closing doors or turning a toy car upside down and repeatedly spinning its wheels.
WebMD Medical Reference
Reviewed by
John M Goldenring, MD, JD, MPH on November 27, 2008
© 2008 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
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