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Autisitic Behaviors Are Hard To See |
By:
Leigh Day |
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Spotting Autistic Behaviors
There has been a lot on the news lately about autism. This is a condition that is widely misunderstood. Some mistake it as mental retardation, but they are not the same thing. There are some cases where children have both, but most autistics are actually very bright and score high on intelligence tests. They say that more and more children are being diagnosed, and that this is an epidemic, but it might just be that the testing for autism is better than it used to be. Whatever the case, parents should be aware of autistic behaviors so they can see a doctor if anything seems to be wrong.
It is hard to see autistic behaviors in children under one year of age, but there are a few that parents can see. Some with autism will be under or over stimulated by loud sounds and even colors and textures. When a child jumps at everything, or they don’t respond when there is a loud, startling noise, something may be wrong. As long as you know a child does not have hearing problems, this signals something is serious enough to be medically evaluated. Other early signs are a child not responding to their name, or not pointing to things or interacting with their environment.
As children move above one year of age, the autistic behaviors they may exhibit will be more obvious. Some children with autism do what is called stimming. This is the act of repetitive motion or action uses to self soothe. These behaviors are very obvious and easy to spot. Other autistic behaviors might include a lack of communication skills, or a regression in language once a child has built a vocabulary. You may also notice that your child is not interacting with other children, and seems to prefer to play on their own most of the time.
When you spot any autistic behaviors in your child or children, you should have them in to see a doctor as soon as you can. Treatments that are available are much more effective if the condition is caught early. Your doctor will have a serious of tests that your child will undergo. Remember that autism is a rather hard condition to diagnose, and is often what is found once everything else is ruled out. Some children will display just one of the autistic behaviors, and some will have many of them. If you see one, look up information on the rest of them to see if you notice some of the same issues.
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Article Source: http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article76483.html |
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